Green Tips for Summer!

Green your outdoor activities with our lifestyle tips.

Eco-Friendly Camping | Protect Your Skin | Beat the Heat | Green Your Barbecue | Staycations

Eco-Friendly Camping

Green Lifestyle Tips for Summer, Camping and the Great Outdoors

There's more to camping food than GORP and s'mores. Here are some green camping tips for your next outdoor experience:

Learn to leave no trace.
Buy bulk organic foods and cook them on the greenest stove that meets your needs.
Choose your camp stove wisely: for backpacking, Sustainable Travel International recommends the Sierra stove, a lightweight, super-efficient model that can burn pine cones, wood chips, tree bark, charcoal or any other solid fuel.
Consider a pollution-free solar oven if you'll be car camping.
Pack biodegradable soap (or none at all) for cleaning up.
Up your culinary game with Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors by Robin Donovan.

Protect Your Skin - and the Planet

We've all been told to wear sunscreen, but it can damage our skin and the environment with chemicals that are useless in terms of skin protection, take ages to break down, and end up bleaching coral reefs. After investigating nearly 1,000 products, the Environmental Working Group put together a special report scoring sunscreens on a scale from zero (no hazard) to 10 (high hazard). Only one (Badger) got no strikes - check out the top three:

Fight bug bites and stings with plant oils, other sweet-blooded adventurers wouldn't dare step into mosquito country without packing a gallon of the hard stuff.

Boost your nature-induced buzz with simple clothing choices. Long sleeves, long pants, closed-toe shoes, and netted hats can keep biters at bay.
Going somewhere really buggy? Outdoor retailers like REI sell mosquito-net clothing and Sawyer Permethrin, an insect repellent that you can wash into your hiking clothes.
Mosquitoes are attracted to darker colors and warmer bodies and can bite through tight-fitting fabrics. So wear light colors and loose fits.

Beat the Heat

Electric fans use 90 percent less energy than centralized air conditioning, and Energy Star-rated ceiling fans are 50 percent more efficient than conventional fan/light units.
Too hot for a fan? Ease your eco-guilt by opting for a solar-powered air conditioner.
Turn off all cooling devices when thereâ€™s no one in the room to increase energy savings.

Green Your Barbecue

Choose a cleaner-burning propane or electric grill over one powered by charcoal, which contributes more to poor air quality. Or, try a solar oven or stove that avoids emissions altogether.
If you do use charcoal, look for lump brands (briquettes may contain coal dust or other additives as binders) made from invasive tree species or harvested from sustainably managed forests. Switch from lighter fluid, which releases smog-forming VOCs, to a chimney starter.
Buy sustainable fish and hormone-free meat for the grill. Better yet, skip the meat altogether and mix it up with locally grown veggies or fruit.
Set your picnic table with reusable dishware and silverware and cloth napkins. If that's not feasible, look for biodegradable or recycled-paper dinnerware, unbleached cups, and recycled-paper napkins.
Clean up with a natural cleaner like Orange Plus (made with orange oil) or SoyClean.
Fight off insect invaders without chemicals. Bug sprays containing DEET are bad for your health and the earth. Opt instead for a natural repellent like lemon eucalyptus.

Staycations

Save money and curb your carbon footprint with these green travel tips:

Take a local vacation: Bike or walk a regional trail to cut carbon emissions and save gas money.
Trade homes with a friend for an easy change of scenery.
Day-tripping: Visit a farm in your area to see where produce is grown, then pack up your locally grown goodies and enjoy a picnic at the nearest park.