A Green Picnic
Photos by Syd Cohan
With the arrival of spring time sunshine, came our idea to enjoy and eco-friendly picnic on the set of Envi-image's Envi-TV shoot. There is a "no plastic" policy on Envi-image sets, so we packed our own stainless steel water bottles and real silverware and glasses. Not only does this reduce waste but it's so charming. Plastic cups and utensils are made with non-renewable, petroleum-based materials. They don't biodegrade for hundreds of years and release toxins into the environment during their production, as well as in their breakdown in landfills. There is a new option being manufactured now, plastic fork being manufactured out of potatoes. Obviously biodegradable!
We carried our organic food in lovely woven picnic baskets. The produce was healthy, and tasty and organic of course. If you happen to have the ingredients right in your refrigerator, don't waste, make sure to pack them up! We made a special trip to Whole Foods to get the local farmers market was closed. We had baguettes and cheese and fresh organic fruits and free range turkey for the carnivores! Everyone made their own sandwiches, which eliminated the need for any of those horrible little zip lock bags which so easily blow off in the wind creating sad litter!
The big hit at our picnic was the wine Carrie brought from Parducci. This winery is the first in the U.S. to be carbon neutral. We loved the Chardonnay and thinking about how it is made gave us much to toast to. Parducci is committed to Sustainable Winegrowing practices and yields to quality grapes while protecting the environment and supporting their local farmer. As a matter of fact, their grapes are family farmed.
After we enjoyed our organic wine and yummy food, we all pitched in to clean up. It's important that no trace of our photo shoot or our picnic was left behind. We just loaded everything we came with right back into the picnic baskets so we could reuse, recycle or store the items properly when back home since their was no recycle bins or composts nearby!
If every picnic is eco-friendly, the planet will have has a much better chance of staying a beautiful location for many generations of picnic-goers ahead.
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