With Easter Bank Holiday Approaching, Many People Will Be Hitting The Grill – Ahead Of The Long Weekend, Sheese Share Their Top Tips On How To Have A More Sustainable BBQ.
It’s a fact that barbecuing is synonymous with longer days, warmer weather and extra delicious food and flavour, the scent of freshly cooked food wafting in the summer breeze, catching up with friends and family and great tunes playing in the background. Sounds like summer heaven doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, barbecuing isn’t the most eco-friendly way to cook. But thankfully, with some careful pre-planning, living a more eco-conscious lifestyle doesn’t have to mean giving up barbecues altogether. So, here are some top tips from award winning , plant-based Sheese to help you plan a more sustainable BBQ blow-out.
1. Give Single-Use Barbecues A Wide Berth
Characteristic of our anachronistic single-use culture, steer clear of single-use barbecues – they’re pretty much impossible to recycle and fall into the same camp as plastic bottles, plastic bags and cotton buds. Instead invest in a good grill.
2. Get Sustainable Fuel
Good fuel is key to any barbie, to ensure food is well cooked, so look for sustainably sourced charcoal, which is carbon neutral, as some charcoals have been linked to mass deforestation in developing countries.
Brands such as The Oxford Charcoal Company are UKFS approved, meaning you will also be supporting the regeneration of local UK woodlands, as well as avoiding the polluting paraffin odours of chemical charcoals.
Better quality charcoals will also burn longer, so although at a glance it may seem more expensive, sustainable charcoal lasts longer. Also make sure you use wood-based firelighters over petrol ones which are bad for the environment.
3. Buy Local Where You Can
Eating local ingredients reduces CO2 emissions, plus you’ll be using seasonal produce that’s often riper and tastier. Remember to bring your own bags to reduce the plastic you use, too!
4. Use The Lid On Your Barbeque
For gas BBQ lovers, make your BBQ greener (and more flavoursome!) by only using as much fuel as you need and keeping the lid on the barbecue.
Turning the gas off when you’re not cooking goes a long way to reducing your CO2 output too and make sure to adjust your barbecue’s vents to keep the heat and moisture in. Everything will cook faster and more evenly, and you use less fuel.
5. Make Your Menu Meat And Dairy-Free
The most important tip of all! Forget the risk of undercooked meat and take the opportunity to try new plant-based recipes and show your mates how delicious they can be!
A vegan and veg-heavy BBQ can cut your carbon and water footprint in half, putting you on the fast-track to a more sustainable garden gathering.
A barbecue isn’t a barbecue without burgers, and your BBQ deserves the best. Vegan burgers can be gloriously juicy in their own right, layer them with vegan condiments and extras like sliced avo, crunchy gherkins, browned onion and award-winning plant based Sheese mature cheddar slices which melt perfectly on the BBQ for that gloriously stringy taste and texture.
6. Reduce Bottles And Drinks Cans
A clever way to reduce bottles and cans is to get some fun beverage dispensers in and make your own drinks.
Get creative and toss chopped fruit into Pimm’s, moreish margaritas, lemonades, sangria – the options are endless. For beer lovers, you could source them from local breweries (not only making you look super on-trend but reducing your footprint too).
via veganlifemag.com
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