When you decide to fire up the grill, your impact on the environment might seem small. However, the collective impact has a noticeable effect on our atmosphere. Luckily, you can take steps to cut down on emissions when you’re grilling up the perfect steak.
Read on to learn about environmentally friendly grilling: a greener way to grill and how you can start cutting down on your emissions.
Use Eco-Friendly Charcoal
More pollution comes from burning charcoal than using an electric or gas grill, but these other grill types don’t produce that unique flavor that comes from grilling with charcoal. Thankfully, there are types of charcoal that are less harmful to the environment.
Use coconut shell charcoal briquettes instead of traditional lump charcoal. These briquettes don’t have harmful additives and can burn for longer, which means you can use fewer. You will also save money because you won’t be burning through your charcoal as quickly.
Light Your Charcoal Sustainably
Burning lighter fluid emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. These chemicals are harmful to the environment, so instead of using lighter fluid, light your charcoal naturally with fatwood or use an electric starter.
Like lighter fluid, self-lighting charcoal contains many additives that produce VOCs when they burn. Skipping out on self-lighting charcoal makes for a safer grilling experience because this charcoal is a common cause of grilling-related accidents.
Account for the Time It Takes To Preheat Your Grill
A charcoal grill takes around 20 minutes to get hot enough to start cooking. Cut down on wasteful burning by accounting for how long it takes to preheat the grill and not letting your charcoal burn for longer than it needs to.
Clean your grill right after you’ve finished cooking because it will still be hot. Next time you grill, you’ll cut down on preheating time because you won’t have to clean it while it’s trying to warm up.
Making your grilling setup more eco-friendly will make you feel better about your impact on the environment and benefit those around you. Share what you’ve learned about environmentally friendly grilling: a greener way to grill at your next cookout. Your guests will thank you!
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