Becky Wike: Grilling While Helping the Environment

With long summer nights already here and the Fourth of July just around the corner, many San Franciscans are planning for outdoor fun. This BBQ season, SF Environment is offering some tips for making your holiday picnic less wasteful.

Why not celebrate our country's majestic purple mountains, redwood forests and Gulf Stream waters by actually helping to conserve them. Here are some simple suggestions for minimizing your BBQ's impact on the environment.

First of all, when you pick a spot for your gathering make sure it's easily accessible by public transportation. Encourage your friends and family to help improve our city's air quality by taking the bus, riding their bikes or carpooling. Your guests, when liberated from the stress of driving in traffic, will arrive smiling and ready to celebrate.

Just as important as how you get to your BBQ or picnic, is what you serve.

Shop wisely for your feast by avoiding products with excess packaging. One third of all municipal garbage is packaging, and most of it wasn't necessary in the first place. You can reduce this waste by buying in bulk and avoiding single-serve products. Picnics are the perfect occasions for family-sized bags of chips and large containers of homemade potato salad.

When buying drinks, choose recyclable containers (aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles) instead of juice boxes. You'll save yourself some money, too.

Bulk items are almost always less costly, and for every dollar you spend on pre-packaged goods you pay at least 10 cents for the container and wrapping.

Now that you've bought your bulk supply of corn-on-the-cob, your next decision is how to cook it. This summer, grill the environmentally friendly way. Avoid lighter fluid, charcoal and wood burning grills, which pollute the air. Instead, opt for a cleaner burning gas grill for warming up those golden ears of corn.

But how are you going to serve your festive fare? Instead of using disposable items like paper plates and plastic forks, go for washable dishes, cups and utensils that you can use over and over again. Replace flimsy paper napkins with cloth napkins, which are less likely to blow away in San Francisco's gusty winds. Besides reducing waste, these items will also make your picnic a more elegant affair.

Set up an area for collecting cans, bottles and other recyclables and recruit someone to take them to the recycling bin.

Finally, plan for leftovers. Bring Tupperware containers or empty yogurt and margarine tubs to send extra food home with your friends.

Becky Wike is the resident BBQ expert at SF Environment, where she also runs the department's environmental education program for SF schools. For more information on waste reduction and composting, call the SF Department of the Environment at (415) 355-3700.