Is your barbecue damaging the planet?

What’s the issue? Barbie fans take note: most of the charcoal sold in the UK is imported, and some comes from depleted tropical rainforests, which means our summer barbecues in the garden could be contributing to deforestation...

What are the alternatives? Sustainable British charcoal is made from well-managed native forests. The trees are usually coppiced (cut back to encourage new shoots to grow), and if they are cut down, new ones are planted to replace them. Some of the wood also comes from forests that are being thinned as part of regular forest maintenance. Rather than being destructive, this method helps to maintain the habitat for a variety of wildlife. Well-made British lumpwood charcoal burns easily, cleanly and at a high temperature, so there’s no need to use petrol-based firelighters to get your barbie going – as you do with most charcoal briquettes.

Where can I find it? Sustainably produced British charcoal is getting easier to find – most UK supermarkets now sell it during the summer. Look out for the Forest Stewardship Council’s tree logo or read the package carefully to ensure 100 per cent of the wood has come from well-managed UK forests.

Any drawbacks? It isn’t the cheapest, but you’ll end up with barbecued food that tastes smoky and full of flavour, safe in the knowledge that you’re not damaging the world’s rainforests.

Have a delicious. barbecue

What you choose to throw on the BBQ is a personal thing: for some a prawn will do; others want the whole shebang. But we have barbecue recipes to suit everyone's tastes, including vegetarian BBQ recipes and puds for people with a sweet tooth.

Comments

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LINGDADA

August 13

I always find it rather humorous that us British give token gestures to the world environment with regular polluting car trips to the refuse tip and school pickups,aeroplane holidays,washing recycled cans with expensive tap water,buying new instead of repair,and throwing cigarette ends in the street,etc! Lets not worry too much about the minor global effects of barbecue fun shall we?