Eco-friendly Backyard Barbeque on Fox5 Atlanta

In the midst of all this oppressive heat, it’s a good time to remember that you can have tons of fun while not creating tons of waste. If you’re a believer (ya know, the whole global warming thing), you know that the waste quotient only adds to the issue. With an average person generating over 1.6 pounds of waste during a typical, four hour event, the trash can really pile up if you’re not being a conscious consumer.

So…here are a few tips to green your summer BBQ:

Décor:

• Like linen: first off, using a washable linen of any fabric is a more sustainable option than something that is not (ie plastic). A new option on the rental market is one made from recycled plastic bottles that can be found at BBJ Linen (www.bbjlinen.com).
•  A fun craft project that my pal & famed Atlanta Caterer Dennis Dean (www.dennisdeancatering.com) came up with is turning a piece of burlap into a BBQ banner of sorts that can be displayed at your entrance or on your table as a runner then reused for the Fall holidays. Use a paper stencil or even a wooden letter to paint on your initials, the theme or a special guest’s name. You can find paper stencils at Sam Flax or wooden letters at Hobby Lobby. Any craft paint will work – opt for a natural hair brush.
• Potted & portable: accent your table with potted sunflowers or other potted flowering plants. At the end of your party, turn your potted flower arrangement into a portable, take home gift for your guests to enjoy on their table or in their garden.

Food & Beverage

• From skin to servingware: use everything inside your orange and out to make a delicious citrus fruit salad (add grapefruit & watermelon to add a multi-color dimension that is also delicious). Cut your oranges in half, scoop out all insides, dry skin halves over night at room temperature. Before your party, simply scoop your fruit salad mix into each half and display.
• Turn your cabbage into the container for your bleu cheese cole slaw. Follow standard directions for cole slaw, add organic blue cheese crumbles. I like the 365 organic bleu cheese @ Whole Foods (www.wholefoods.com).  Use the outer layers of the cabbage (red cabbage tends to offer a bit more color) as your cole slaw container.
• Sauce it up: my favorite part of a BBQ is, of course, the sauce. Offer guests a sampling of various barbeque sauces…either as a competition amongst those coming to enjoy the summer festivity or your own favorite finds. In lieu of making your own, explore local options. Whole Foods is great at pointing out who to check out in your local market. I really like the honey, chipotle and classic sauces the Williamson Bros (http://www.williamsonbros.com) from Atlanta churn out. Since guys love a good BBQ – offer take home samples in reusable, glass jars that ensure your sauce is good to the very last drop.
• Buy in bulk – from chips to Coca-Cola, avoid single-serve containers and ensure your generating less packaging waste overall.
• An apple a day: a great summer drink for kids is a simple glass of apple juice served with an apple slice in a Preserve cup (made from recycled plastic). It’s fun and house-friendly (ie not breakable). Available at Whole Foods.
• Local brew: the best way to cut down on your carbon footprint is to buy and support local. Check out your local beverage options from non-alcoholic (Whynatte) to beer (Sweetwater, Terrapin) or spirits (Horné Rum).
• Box it up: turn an empty box into your go-to recycling container and encourage guests to reduce their waste by recycling all of their glass, plastic and aluminum from your summer BBQ.

To view my segment on Fox5 Atlanta, click video below:

People’s 100 Most Beautiful, Mr. Blackwell’s Best-Dressed, The Top 10 best places to live – all enviable lists to be jotted down on. Not so fun – Mr. Blackwell’s Worst Dressed, The World’s Rudest Cities, and apparently Forbes’ Most Toxic City which my home base, Atlanta, was just crowned.  Most I often talk about how the EPA rates the Event Industry as the second most wasteful in the world….not a list or a ranking you want to be on…and it’s the reason that we, at eventologie, focus on ecotaining – entertaining with a green foundation. Our goal to green the world, one party at a time, is because of horrifying, nauseating, terrifying statistics, lists and, of course, examples that we would like to help change. So, need a little nudge in the non-toxic direction? Check out the AJC article…

Forbes rates Atlanta ‘most toxic city’ in U.S.

So, one of my goals for 2010 is to get my local retailers that we frequent to convert their to-go ware to a more sustainable product. It kinda kills me when I go to get  my favorite chicken salad and it comes in plastic and their iced tea is served in Styrofoam. Ugh – painful! On the flip side, one of our go-to lunch places, Vickerys in Glenwood Park, is already ahead of the game and uses a compostable product that makes us want to go there every day. Believe me, I would – I’m a ridiculous creature of habit but the girls in the office might kill me if they had to eat the same thing every single day.

So back to my goal – we’ve been working with the great folks at repurposenow for the Opportunity Green conference in LA next week. Their products are made from 100% renewable sources – plants – and they’re 100% compostable. I’m setting a target for converting three food retailers by the end of 2009 to a compostable to-go ware option.

What’s your goal?

Party themes can come in all shapes, sizes and, we believe, soda cans. Truth be told, we went a little beyond a soda can for inspiration at this year’s Vision for America Dinner, held by our inspiring client Keep America Beautiful, at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta.  As a subtle shout out to the honoree Novelis, a “world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling,”  we took creative license to infuse their product with the mission of KAB (preventing litter, reducing waste, beautifying communities).

During the cocktail reception, renown recycle artist Nancy Judd of Recycle Runway exhibited several of her eco trash couture creations including her aluminum drop dress originally comissioned by Novelis in 2004. Her jaw dropping dresses are fantastic conversation starters and a phenomenal display of how to turn your trash into a treasure. Imagine what a beautiful community we would have if we all repurposed our recycleables into a fashionable frock!

For the dinner tables, we repurposed Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch aluminum cans into flowers which sprouted from beds of wheatgrass, based in aluminum containers…a significant and sustainable centerpiece. Smaller versions, placed in soda cans, decorated the hi-boy tables for the cocktail reception. I think it’s safe to safe the guests “took to them” as there wasn’t a one that wasn’t taken at the conclusion of the event. Special thanks to our friend Mark Good with markandscott for the fabulous floral and our pal Courtney who spent tireless hours turning our trash into the evening’s treasures.

Lastly, the generous folks at Novelis gifted the guests with (adorable) aluminum peaches – symbolic both in composition and for the city (Atlanta).

Photos by Ross DeLoach of Northlight Photography