Green Tips For The Fourth Of July

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Independence Day is coming up which means it is time to celebrate the great United States of America! This year it is on a Saturday which makes it even easier to celebrate, but a lot of the time July 4th celebrations mean a lot of disposable items landing in landfills and air being polluted by toxic fireworks…Yikes. Here are some tips to green your fourth of July celebration.

• Use reusable dishes, cups, and silverware – When having a Fourth Of July party, it is really tempting to want to use disposable products. However that leads to a lot of waste at the end of the party. How about asking guests to bring their favorite cup and plate to the party? That way they will be responsible for providing and cleaning the dish and you will have less to clean at the end of the day. Plus, guests might get creative with the dish and cup that they bring and it can be a great conversation starter. (Oh this lady bug cup? Well I got it at….)

• Serve organic and/or fair trade food and drinks – Buy organic burgers, chips, hot dogs,  buns,  etc. Most of your favorite snacks and drinks come in organic varieties. (My favorite fair trade wine is the under $10 Neu Direction Malbec. Cheap and Tasty.)

• Celebrate the Day By Doing Something For the Environment – How about gathering a group of friends to do a beach cleanup? Or a river or lake cleanup? Coming together and helping the environment is a fun and green way to get together with friends, plus you are helping the land that is part of the USA! Even better, put together a street/beach/river cleanup the day after July fourth, sadly there will be a lot more trash out there to pick up and recycle.

• Put a recycling bin next to the trash can – When you are having your 4th of July party, people will be a lot more likely to recycle their cans and bottles if there is a recycling bin next to your trash can.

• Carpool, use public transportation, bike, or walk – If part of your fourth of July celebration is travelling somewhere, even if is nearby, try to cut down on released carbon emissions by carpooling, using public transportation, riding a bike, or walking. Plus, if you are attending an event, finding parking is difficult anyway, so you might save time by finding another means of transportation.

• Don’t buy fireworks - Fireworks pollute our precious air, they are expensive, and dangerous. If you insist on seeing a fireworks on the fourth of July, go to your local fireworks display. It is a lot less air pollution if everyone sees one show, rather than everyone having their own fireworks… plus a lot of the time the fireworks displays are put on by the city so they are free…even better.

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