How To Have A Zero-Waste Picnic

Sydney loves picnic. Spring is here, and we have a friendly reminder before you lay down your blanket at the park: take back what you bring — leave no trace of rubbish behind.

The less single-use and packaged goods you bring, the less rubbish you're taking back home. How? These waste experts have got it all covered for you.

1. Bake a leftover picnic frittata

Henri Turra, Director at Radish Events, Sydney's first zero-waste event catering company, shared his favourite picnic recipe:

"The biggest pile of plastic containers and half-eaten food come from hummus dips, crackers and cheese. We love a leftover picnic frittata. It's super easy to make. You can use any veggies you've got lying around, even the soggy ones and wilted herbs."

Follow Henri's recipe, guaranteed delicious:

1. 2 eggs per person. Whisk them up, add a good pinch of salt.
2. Cut veggies into chunky cubes. For root veg like potatoes and carrots, cook them first. Same goes for aromatics like onions and garlic. Drop them in your egg mix. Stir to combine.
3. Line a roasting tin with baking paper and oil it up. Pour the egg mix in, top with any grated cheese and dark green leaves.
4. Bake until there's no more jiggle when you shake it (around 30 mins)

2. Get everyone to bring something, make it a picnic feast

Our friends at OzHarvest are never short of hacks to reduce food waste. They share how they do picnics:

• Get your picnic friends to bring food to share. Everyone makes something with what they already have in the fridge. Share food, save money, win-win.
• Too lazy to cook? Shop locally. Before you go shopping, always check what you can take for your picnic feast.
• When your picnic spread is laid out, keep it covered with tea towels or a table cloth.
• When it's time to say goodbye, get everyone to take home a leftover goodie bag — your friends will love you, especially the following day.
• Finally, take your food scraps home. Compost and recycle whatever is left.

3. Pack your picnic food in beeswax wraps

We recently discovered the magic of beeswax wraps from Angie and Joshua, founders of Beeswax Wraps Australia:

"We fold our beeswax wraps into little pouches to store and pack food. You can fold them in half, roll the edges together, and make a perfectly functional bag for all kinds of snacks. For picnic, bring a few spare wraps so that you can cover the leftover too."

4. Reusable, reusable!

Naomi from RePlated shares the same passion for the reuse philosophy. We very much agree with her picnic must-do:

"Take reusable water bottles and coffee cups (also work for wine). Put food in reusable containers. If you can't avoid single-use, choose compostables or glass options.

Getting takeaway? Pack a RePlated reusable takeaway container, take it to a local cafe and fill her up. Find a list of reusable friendly takeaway places in Sydney here."

5. Take your rubbish home and recycle

According to the NSW EPA, takeaway containers are 24% of NSW litter volume. Single-use plastic items such as containers, cutlery and straws are some of the most littered items.

Here are two simple tips from the EPA that are super easy to follow:

• Bring a bag to take your rubbish home in.
• Separate your recyclables from your other waste as you go. You could even stop in at Return and Earn on your way home to reduce litter and get refunds for your drink containers.

‍