Acacia picnic - 5th of June 2021

On the 5th of July, 2021, we celebrated WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY with the “Acacia Picnic” event. The location chosen was a special one, our first acacia forest. It was a great joy to see how the seedlings grew in 5 years, to feel the aromatherapy scents of acacia flowers, to pick the flowers in order to dry them and use them in the preparation of teas or infusions. We have chosen to initiate this event to raise awareness of the impact of our actions on the environment and to encourage the creation of new habits when we go out for a picnic in nature. Food is an essential component of a picnic, so it is important to be able to reduce the carbon footprint of such an event.

When we think about a picnic, the first image that may come to our mind is a barbecue with lots of meat, disposable packaging, water and plastic soft bottles. After this feast of several hours, large amounts of waste are generated and most of the time more is bought than consumed, which leads to food waste. We wanted to break this habit and promote another type of event, based on low resource consumption, without food waste, without the use of disposable or cardboard packaging. The CO2 footprint for this event should be as low as possible.

We wanted to have an eco-friendly, environmentally friendly picnic, a concept that can be replicated at any event in your personal life or within the organization / company in which you operate. Initiatives of this kind appear in countries all around the world, even in Romania they are starting to appear. So the next time you want to organize an event, a birthday, a wedding, a small party with friends, please take into consideration this model, there are possibilities, but you have to want to put them into practice.

What does an eco-friendly picnic mean?

FOOD AND DRINK– we are trying to bring only as much as we consume in a few hours, to be as minimalist as possible. It is important to have healthy snacks locally produced, homemade drinks in reusable containers, to avoid plastic and disposable glasses. On this occasion we prepared for the participants an ice cream with flowers and acacia honey, to emphasize the importance of using local resources.
DRESS CODE – we suggested to the participants to come with clothes as vintage as possible, and if necessary to buy only pre-owned clothes or those that respect the slow-fashion principles. The fashion industry is responsible for about 5% of greenhouse gas emissions, and the percentage is increasing.
CAR SHARING/BICYCLE – it is important to use cars as less as possible. For longer distance events, use the train or share the car with other participants. On shorter routes let’s use the bicycle or public transport, so we make sure we take with us only what is strictly necessary.
Reusable containers – not only minimizes the risk of leaving garbage behind, but also encourages an impromptu picnic at all times. Items such as cloth napkins, cloth bags, reusable food containers and a blanket are some items that can help us reduce waste.

“Acacia Picnic” is an event organized by the Clean Wood Association, in partnership with Mai Bine Association, the Romanian Vegans Association, GEYC and Creators for Change, which came together through the Our Food project. Our Future, which is funded by the European Union.

Local partner: Suplac Commune City Hall, Mures County