The time of transition between the old year and the new year is really very busy with many worries about year-end reports, shopping worries, gifts for the new year. Going away to regain energy is an unthinkable thing, so, what can we do and where can we go to "recharge our batteries"?
Weekend picnics have become a hobby as well as a new habit of mine recently. Picnics do not need to invest too much time, money, as well as material for a trip. The location can be anywhere such as a park, botanical garden, beach, or right in our backyard… The most important thing is that we can enjoy the outdoors and spend precious time with your important people.
Do you know? Being in harmony with nature is considered an effective mental health cure. Take a deep breath, and feel the scent of plants, relax with the breeze through your hair, watch the leaves fall. And let these experiences remind us to take care of the surrounding nature – protecting everyone's "common home".
Today, I'm going to share the ways I go about planning an eco-friendly picnic!
Here is a list of things I prepared for my “green” picnic.
1. Avoid prepackaged foods
Pre-packaged foods are convenient, but they quickly become environmentally harmful waste. To prevent this, try making your own "versions" of these foods, such as making your own sandwiches instead of buying them at the grocery store (it's also healthy to do so). Tronger).
Some healthy and easy-to-prepare foods that help reduce the need for prepackaged foods include appetizers, sliced veggies, fruit salads, and homemade breads.
2. Bring our spoon - fork
To reduce the amount of environmentally harmful waste, try not to use disposable spoons, forks or water cups.
Plastic items will be fine if we can reuse them.
We can easily find convenient compact forks and food containers made of safe glass or plastic that can be reused without worrying about affecting our health.
3. Use cloth towels
Instead of using paper towels, consider using basic cloth napkins. Even such a small thing has contributed to reducing unnecessary waste into the environment.
Currently, I use the Matador 's Trek Nano Dry towel which is also quite good. The scarf encapsulates in just one very convenient keychain, you can check it out!
4. Bring a water bottle
We can also bring any of our favorite drinks with our own water bottles. It is also a way to help us save a little of our budget and avoid releasing unnecessary plastic bottles into the environment.
However, you should also pay attention to the quality of the water bottle to both protect the environment and also protect your health! Here are a few of my suggestions that you can try:
OtterBox Elevation Thermos - This is one of my favorites. Made of stainless steel, the cup is durable for many years of use. In particular, your drinks will always be kept at the right temperature in any environment.
5. Use environmentally friendly sunscreens and insect sprays.
As you may not know, common insect repellent sprays contain DEET, a persistent environmental contaminant (which breaks down slowly in soil and easily enters water bodies). Not only that, it is also an eye irritant and can cause health effects such as rash, blistering and even coma or disorientation.
In addition, while sunscreens are great for preventing sunburn and reducing the risk of skin cancer, many sunscreens still contain suspected carcinogens, skin irritants, and carcinogens. endocrine disorders. Unfortunately, these harmful chemicals in sunscreen can also enter water bodies and have also been found to harm aquatic life and threaten ecosystems.
Side Tips (But equally important for those picnics!)
Picnic blanket: You can use your old bed sheet or comforter to save money. A small tip is that we should prioritize choosing lightweight materials that can be easily cleaned, it will be much more convenient.
Picnic backpack: Of course, we need a backpack to carry the essentials listed above. Usually, people don't ask for too much for a backpack.
However, to save a lot of energy without having to carry heavy loads, I prefer backpacks that are as light and compact as possible.
Below is a picture of my favorite Matador backpack - in addition to the flexible folding ability, the waterproof ability of this backpack also impressed me. You should give it a try!
