Take Care of Texas
Fall is on the way and with that comes football season and, in Texas, that means one thing—tailgating. If you aren’t familiar with tailgating, it’s very simple; you park at or near the stadium and prepare to cheer on your team. How does one tailgate? Another simple answer. Gather your group to share eating and drinking while watching the pregame shows and talking predictions. As you can imagine, such a gathering can leave quite a large footprint behind, but what if that didn’t have to be the case? What if there were ways to help eliminate that footprint? With that in mind, we curated a list of ways to leave no trace after tailgating for your favorite team.
Carpool to the Stadium
Let’s start at the beginning, going to the stadium. Meet your family and friends at someone’s house before heading out to the game and carpooling from there. Not only does carpooling lessen the number of cars traveling to the game, but meeting up prior to the tailgate gives you time to do a food/utensil inventory to ensure you are taking everything you need and not more. Carpooling can also help with the cost of parking. If there are several people in the car you can split the cost of parking and save some money. Most importantly, sharing a ride with others provides an opportunity to have a designated driver to ensure everyone comes back home safe and sound.
Take Bins for Waste
As you are packing up the car, include several bins to hold the recycling, compost, and trash. Avoid mix ups by clearly labeling each bin for their respective items. If you compost, make sure the bin has a cover or lid to lessen the chance of flies or other insects coming around. Also, remember to look around the parking lot as you enter for recycling and trash bins located inside. This way you can throw away any trash or place recycling in the correct bin and not keep it in your car.
Buy Eco-Friendly Utensils, Plates, and Cups When thinking about utensils, plates, and cups, try opting for disposable or compostable options that will easily break down in a landfill or compost pile. Bamboo and sugarcane are materials you should look for when buying these products. If you can’t find items made from bamboo or sugarcane, there are some things to keep in mind if you are using paper products. Ensure that the paper products are not covered in a waxy coating and are not colored or dyed with different colors. Plain white paper products are ideal if your goal is a no trace tailgate because they are easier to compost when you are done with them.
Bring Reusable Water Bottles This tip is becoming more and more common, but it's always good to remind your family and friends that the ideal item to bring is a reusable bottle. This is for many reasons, of course it lessens the single-use cups that are being recycled or thrown away, but bottles are useful as they can serve multiple types of drinks depending on your mood. For the kids, water bottles are great to hold water or juice to stay hydrated as they play around the group. For adults, water bottles can be ideal for keeping those cocktails or beers cold and tasty. Once the drinks are finished, bottles are easy to rinse and fill up with the next drink.
Swap Cans for Growlers from Local Breweries Speaking of drinks, let’s talk about a better way to bring your favorite refreshing drink without bringing in more packaging or trash. Many local breweries have large glass canisters called growlers that hold their beverage in larger quantities than those in cans. So, prior to your tailgate, visit your favorite local brewery, purchase a growler of your favorite craft drink, and bring that to the party instead of cans. Once you’ve purchased a growler, you can keep it to refill for future tailgates. Make a group event out of it and have your guests bring their own growler to the shindig and now you have a growler potluck!
Buy Local
Now that you have the utensils and growlers packed, it's time to look at the food options you are bringing to the tailgate. Tailgates are all about the meats and barbecuing over a grill, so what are some ways to ensure no trace after barbecuing? First off, buy local at farmers markets and use reusable bags to bring the food back. When looking for side dishes, opt for more family friendly sides, like mac and cheese or fruits and veggies instead of individual bags of chips. Store the sides in containers that can be placed in coolers if there are leftovers. If you’re bringing condiments, don’t bring the individual packets, instead bring a bottle that can be shared with everyone. For soft products like bread, consider purchasing some linen bread bags to transport bread instead of the plastic bags they come in.
Get the Grill Ready
When getting ready to put that meat on the grill think about using a propane grill instead of charcoal. Compared to charcoal, propane produces less mess. Once you’re done you simply put away the gas grill instead of dealing with ash, making cleanup quick and easy as you get ready to head to the game. If you do opt for charcoal grilling at your tailgate, have a plan to dispose of the ash. For more information about the different grilling options, consider checking out our Putting the Heat to the Meat blog: https://takecareoftexas. org/about-us/blog/putting-heatmeat- and-veggies
Reuse Team Colors as Napkins In need of some napkins or cleaning cloths? Look no further than your closet. Take any team shirts, sweatshirts, or bandanas that are too small or old and cut them into small, napkin-sized cloths. If you are crafty and know how to sew, you can stitch these cloths together and make a tablecloth for that folding table you plan on bringing. This helps reduce plastic and packaging and also brings a personalized feeling to any tailgate.
Bring Reusable Decorations like Banners or Flags Don’t forget to bring decorations that show your pride for your team. Instead of buying balloons or other plastic or paper decorations consider bringing a flag or banner that can easily be taken down, folded, and used again. Similar to the growler potluck, encourage your guests to bring their own flags and banners to add to the tailgate. If you don’t have many banners or flags, take a trip to the local thrift store to see what they may have available.
Keep Leftovers in Coolers Finally, before heading out to the tailgate pack an extra cooler to hold any leftovers or other items that need to stay cool. The last thing you want to come back to after enjoying the game is food that’s been sitting inside a hot car. Putting leftovers in a cooler will reduce your waste and be more economical as you can eat the food at a later time. Ensure you also pack a couple ice packs instead of buying more ice.
Tailgating with your family and friends to cheer on your favorite sports team is a great pastime but it can also produce a lot of waste. These curated tips are ways to minimize that waste and hopefully help your group leave no trace behind after enjoying some time together.