Lifestyle

5 Eco-Friendly Beach Basics!

There are two types of people… those that care NOTHING for the beach and those that love absolutely EVERYTHING about it… the sand, hearing the waves, watching dogs and children play, finding treasures along shoreline. Just to be clear… we’re genuine beach people and always have been. When we pack up go down to the beach during vacay, we prepare to be out all day long. Why not make the day at the beach eco-friendly?

So if you truly enjoy the great outdoors along the coast here are my 5 top eco-friendly beach basics must haves for your next beach vacation. This ensures not only are you creating picture perfect memories today but you’re doing your part preserving nature for those in the future.

1) A bag for your storing your treasures and seashells you pickup at the beach.

Be sure if your headed down to the beach to bring a bag for all the treasures you might find along the shoreline. As you’re packing for your beach trip, instead of bringing a plastic ziplock bag down to the beach for your shoreline treasures, use your existing eco-friendly reusable fruits and vegetable bags that you would normally take on trips to the grocery store. Most reusable fruit and vegetable bags are eco friendly, lightweight, flat to pack and machine washable (which is a huge plus after you get home from your trip just toss them in the wash.) Most people already have them already riding around in the back of their car so not only are you keeping plastic bags off the beach your not making any extra purchases for you beach vacay just to collect shells on the beach.

***We found 31 sand dollars on our morning walk….. most were still alive so we put them back.***

My bags (shown below) are breathable organic knit cotton with an adjustable wood toggle closure. When I take them down to the beach we normally put packs of crackers or even fruit in them so they also help us keep like items together in my huge wicker basket! That way your not always digging around for items in the bottom of your beach basket! Link for my woven cotton bags.

2) A cooler for carrying HOMEMADE pimento cheese sandwiches and drinks!

Once we go down to the beach we stay for the better part of the day! It’s just too much of a hassle to haul everything back and forth. So, of course, we bring a cooler with ice, drinks and homemade pimento cheese sandwiches made on sourdough bread to get us thru lunch in the middle of the day!!

These sandwiches are super easy to make and these sandwiches make a perfect light lunch for a day at the beach. It’s a kid friendly lunch on the go, wrapped in wax paper and set on top of the ice in the cooler. I wrap my pimento cheese sandwiches in halves as opposed to whole sandwiches. It’s just a lighter snack as opposed to a heavy meal.

Here is my recipe for No-Mayo Pimento Cheese with a Kick:

Ingredients:

Two bags 8oz Extra sharp grated cheddar.
8 oz whipped cream cheese/softened to room temperature.
2 good dashes of worstershire sauce.
(I use Lea & Perrins.)
A good shake of White ground pepper
2-3 teaspoons diced jalapeños.

First, remove 4 tablespoons from the 8oz whipped cream cheese you will only be using the remaining cream cheese left in the container. Feel free to use the leftover 4 table spoons of cream cheese in another edible.
Next, blend the grated cheese, the whipped cream cheese, worstershire sauce together. Keep in mind this is a dense pimento cheese.

Next, depending on your comfort level for tang and spice let’s add the diced jalapeño. Add 2 teaspoons of diced jalapeños with the juice to begin with (I use 3 but I love a real good kick.) Taste test it after adding the 2 teaspoons of diced jalapeños to see if your comfortable adding more. Stir well the jalapeño juice may have settled in the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Finally, finish with a good dash of white ground pepper if you have some!

One note on coolers if you don’t have one. Pick up a used cooler second hand at a Goodwill or Salvation Army. Please don’t buy a styrofoam cooler. Again, think eco-friendly! Igloo even makes a biodegradable reusable cooler now. See link for more details… absolutely fascinating what a time to be alive!! The igloo playmate I use above is the exact cooler my Dad had when we were kids. So, yep, the cooler in the photos is somewhere between 30-35 years old and still does an incredible job!
Reusable Eco-Friendly COOLER Link

3) Pre-made cocktails: Aperol Spritz Cocktails for a Crowd

Ok this is the fun part… full on ADULTING at the beach!!
We mixed up 2 HUGE batches of Aperol Spritz Cocktails in 34 oz glass bottles with stoppers so our cocktails stay super fizzy and fresh. These bottles are only $2.99 each and also great for bringing sparkling water or even fresh lemonade in your cooler down to the beach, and best yet, reusable. I bought these bottles to put on the Thanksgiving table 4 years ago for chilled water and have used them for many many other holidays as well since. While on vacation at the beach we wash them out at the end of the day and reuse them everyday we repack the cooler to head to the beach! And the stoppers help keep in the fizzy bubbles and carbonation. That’s a big deal in my book.

Ingredients you will need for two 34 oz bottles of premixed cocktails:

Aperol Aperitivo 750 ml 1 bottle
1 can Club soda – 12 oz can
Champagne or sparkling wine 750 ml 1 bottle. (Please note: Aperol Spritz cocktails are normally made with Prosecco. Which has slightly less alcohol and to me tends to be more sweet. I prefer sparkling wine or champagne. If you prefer Procecco go for it!)

This recipe is for a single 34 oz bottle:

2 cups Aperol
2 cups champagne or sparkling wine
1/2 of a 12 oz can of Club soda

Feel free to adjust the recipe to suit your taste. After all you are on vacation!!

Here’s the **LINK** for the 34 oz glass bottles with stoppers like the ones I use

4) Vintage Bocce Set

I looked around for something lighter, smaller and easier to transport. The great news is you can find anything on eBay or Etsy. So I found an original Italian bocce set unopened with the original tag still on it and the instructions inside for $15.00.

Even though it was second hand…the tag was still on, it had never been used, and it came with wooden balls and a lightweight plastic carrying case… SCORE! Guys the carrying case is a big deal so not only can the game be transported easily but you also want to be able to store all the balls together for use next time.

Don’t forget to keep score. We always get a piece of driftwood and scratch a “scoreboard” in the sand and mark down the winner after each game!

Here are two of my favorite locations to buy second hand good like the vintage bocce set shown. Keep an eye out for shipping costs. Free shipping is a big deal if you’re looking for a true bargain. Let me know what you find.
Link to Ebay… Link to Etsy…

5) A HUGE rattan basket to drag everything down to the beach…

… well it’s NOT REALLY a beach bag at all. This basket is actually a baby bassinet that originally had a enormous floppy pink bow on it. I found it at a second hand store in Atlanta (Goodwill) for $4.00 and cut the floppy pink bow off when I got home. Average size beach totes just don’t cut it for our trips down to the beach. We carry snacks, sunscreen, multiple towels, cellphones, hats, books/magazines, a portable speaker and toys, etc.

Why buy a brand new bag when there are all kinds of second hand products available for only a couple of bucks?!? You can even shop ONLINE for second hand vintage goods… click the link below for current inventory from the Goodwill (one of my favorite sources). Some people don’t enjoy the “in store” hunt for secondhand treasures and I totally get it. This website let’s you shop specifically for what you want and be at home on your sofa!