Make Camping Trips Effortless (and Eco-Friendly) with Cool Products

Let’s face it: camping trips can be wasteful. Lack of facilities to wash dishes means you are likely carting disposable plates, cups and plasticware along with other items to make the trip easier. It’s ironic in a way: We go camping to get back to nature, yet our actions can be anything less than environmentally conscious. A few new products are designed to make camping more fun and even more eco-friendly.

CasusGrill is a lightweight, user-friendly Instant Biodegradable Grill from The Grommet. Its cardboard frame, bamboo grill grates and lava stone lining quickly assemble, heat up in around five minutes and stay at around 400 degrees for an hour — long enough to grill those burgers (or Impossible Burgers). When you are finished cooking,

CasusGrill. Photo: The Grommet

simply toss the CasusGrill into a campfire or trash bin as it will naturally decompose. It emits 50 percent less carbon dioxide than commercial single-use grills, and its Quick Oxylite bamboo charcoal does not require chemical-laden lighter fluid. The CasusGrill is $14.95 and available on the website.

The Grommet also offers a Collapsible Outdoor Cooking Pot that’s much easier to tote to the campsite than large heavy pots and pans as it easily fits in your pocket. The durable Teflon surface folds and snaps together for campsite cooking, eating and easy cleaning; you can use it as a pot to boil water or leave one side flat to use it as a pan. Cook with it on most controlled-flame stoves — it’s not intended for open flame use. The pot costs $19.95 and is available on Amazon.

Here are a few tips for being kind of Planet Earth during your camping trips:

1. Instead of plastic silverware and cups, consider compostable ones made from corn or flatware and plates made from bamboo.
2. Skip straws altogether, or bring compostable ones made with hay or reusable ones crafted from bamboo or metal.
3. Pack condiments, snacks and other ingredients in reusable containers rather than plastic baggies.
4. Instead of single-use plastic water bottles, have everyone bring a refillable bottle.
5. If you don’t camp often, consider borrowing some of your equipment rather than purchasing it.
6. Bring along extra bags so you can sort your trash, compost and recycling.
7. Use biodegradable soap and toothpaste, which have less of an impact on plants and animals.
8. Leave no trace. And go beyond that, picking up trash during a hike that others carelessly left behind.