How eco friendly is your barbecue? 

Sometimes it seems like everything fun is bad for the planet - but your family barbecue is most certainly that. 

According to the New York Times, two hours of grilling on a charcoal barbecue is equivalent to driving a car for 26 miles. 

With more and more Irish people buying barbecues, it is having a tangible impact on the nation’s carbon footprint. 

Burgers on a barbecue grill.

“If you choose, say, a charcoal barbecue versus a gas barbecue, the thing about that is you’re putting a lot of pollution particles into the air,” environmentalist John Gibbons told Sarah Madden for The Pat Kenny Show. 

“So, people around you are basically going to be inhaling very fine particles - they’re really stuff you don’t want to be inhaling.” 

In particular, Mr Gibbons encouraged people not to buy disposable barbecues. 

“Unfortunately, they’re readily available, they’re in most shops, most supermarkets sell them,” he said. 

“But from a waste point of view, [they are bad for the environment]. 

“We also find them littered around the countryside; people take them out - they’re very handy - they light them up and then they leave them.” 

Solution

At Outdoor Living in Wicklow, Assistant Manager Owen Kennelly said the business is “thriving” with huge demand for barbecues from people returning home from Australia. 

“I’d say the least harmful would be electricity and electric barbecues,” he advised. 

“We have the Smartie Electric Grill here. 

“A lot of people especially have balconies where they can’t use gas but they’re also conscious of the environment [and] that it’s better than the using of charcoal and gas. 

“So, it’s only starting for electric barbecues, it hasn’t even kicked off yet.” 

Talking to people in Dublin, Sarah found most people have given little thought to the environmental impact of a barbecue. 

“I’ve never thought about that,” one man told her. 

“When I’m cooking a barbecue, I just like my food.” 

Another woman said it had simply “never crossed my mind”. 

While one man wanted to make it clear that whatever the environmental impact, “I’m still not going to give up barbecues though.”

Main image: A barbecue. Image via pixabay