Buy eco-friendly charcoal
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For many barbecue-lovers, grilling just wouldn't be grilling without the charcoal. Unfortunately, those glowing embers are the least green of your grilling options. Unless, of course, you opt for eco-friendly charcoal, including lump charcoal (made from charred wood) that's harvested from sustainably managed forests or pillow-shaped briquettes made from scrap wood without coal dust or unhealthy additives. Buying green charcoal means less deforestation, fewer greenhouse gas and soot emissions, and healthier barbecue eatin'.
Find it! Eco-friendly charcoal
Eco-friendly charcoal is not widely available in stores and often must be ordered online. Exceptions include some upscale markets, like Whole Foods, which carries private-label natural charcoal made by eco-friendly Cowboy Charcoal (see below). Lazzari charcoal brands (below) are available at Safeway and Balducci’s, and Wicked Good charcoal is also carried in some retail locations (listed on the company’s website).
- Cowboy Charcoal natural lump charcoal
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Created from wood-mill scraps and fired in a non-polluting wood-retort plant. - Greenlink coconut shell charcoal briquettes
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Produced from waste coconut shells, a natural food grade binder, no fillers like anthracite, and no chemicals. - Greenlink natural charcoal briquettes
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Made from natural wood charcoal, a natural food grade binder, no fillers like anthracite coal, and no chemicals.
- Kamado coconut shell lump charcoal and coconut briquettes
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Contains no additives. - Kamado lump charcoal and hardwood briquettes
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Free of additives and made from wood harvested in renewable forests.
- Lazzari Fuel Company mesquite lump charcoal
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Sustainably harvested from pruned and selectively-thinned mesquite trees. - Nature's Own chunk charwood
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Made from selectively cut timber under a strict Canadian government reforestation program. - Wicked Good hardwood lump charcoal
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Produced from timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. - Wicked Good natural hardwood briquettes
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Made with cornstarch binder and no chemicals.
Before you buy
One way to know charcoal is eco-friendly is to look for brands with the Forest Stewardship Council or Rainforest Alliance SmartWood certification logo. Visit the Forest Certification Resource Center to search for manufacturers of wood products, including charcoal, that are certified by FSC, SmartWood and other organizations. However, be aware that many green brands are either not certified or are in the process of receiving certification.
For reviews of natural lump charcoal brands visit: Naked Whiz’s Lump Charcoal Database Reviews
Eco-friendly charcoal helps you go green because…
- No trees in endangered woodlands are cut to produce it.
- Fewer greenhouse gases and soot are emitted when it burns.
- No unhealthy additives are released into the air or deposited on food during grilling.
More than 80 percent of US households own a barbecue grill, and about half cook out all year. Peak use occurs during the summer months when 47 ercent fire up an average of one to two times a week.[1] With millions of grills smoking at once, the eco-impacts are significant. On the Fourth of July alone, an estimated 60 million cookouts gobble up enough energy via charcoal, gas, electricity and lighter fluid to keep a small city (20,000 homes) powered for a year. They also consume the equivalent of 2,300 acres of forest and release 225,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.[2][3]
Charcoal and wood grills burn dirtier than either gas or electric grills, emitting carbon monoxide, soot and greenhouse gases.[4] In addition, lump charcoal—made from pieces of charred wood—causes deforestation in many parts of the world and contributes greenhouse gases during production. Charcoal briquettes—molded from charred sawdust and wood scraps—are also greenhouse-gas contributors and often contain coal dust and other unhealthy additives.[5] What's more, the 46,000 tons of lighter fluid used to fire up coals each year release about 14,500 tons of ground-level ozone-causing volatile organic compounds (VOCs).[6]
Despite the fact that charcoal is less eco-friendly than gas or electric, many people prefer the charbroiled flavor it imparts.[5] Forgoing the fluid and using lump charcoal and briquettes with the Forest Stewardship Council or Rainforest Alliance SmartWood certification logo can make charcoal grilling greener.
Related health issues
When meat is grilled or broiled, two types of cancer-causing compounds form: heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). HCAs form on the surface of meat that's cooked at super-high temperatures. PAHs result when fat from meat drips onto hot charcoals then deposits back on when smoke rises or flames flare up.[2][5]
The American Institute for Cancer Research suggests grilling vegetables and fruits instead of meat to cut down on HCAs and PAHs. Other health hints include buying lean meat and trimming fat, marinating meat (which cuts down on HCAs), or pre-cooking it in a microwave and grilling only briefly.[7]
Glossary
- lump charcoal: Lump charcoal is made by slow-burning wood (branches, limbs, trunks, etc.) in a low-oxygen environment to eliminate moisture and volatile gases (such as methane and tars, which are released into the atmosphere). The resulting charred wood is much lighter than whole wood and burns longer and more steadily. It also produces less ash than processed charcoal briquettes.[8] Many purists prefer lump charcoal because it adds a smoky flavor to food and doesn't contain any artificial binders and additives like briquettes.[9] However, the charring process produces significant amounts of particulate-laden smoke. A large portion of these emissions can be contained by fitting the exhaust vents with afterburners, but this often isn't done because of the cost.[10]
- charcoal briquettes: Pillow-shaped briquettes are typically made from charred sawdust and wood scraps from lumber mills (a good use of wood waste), combined with binding agents to help them hold their shape.[4] However, many commercially available brands also contain potentially harmful ingredients, including coal dust (a heat source), sodium nitrate (to aid ignition) and VOC-forming lighter fluid (for quick-light brands).[8]
- volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Organic solvents that easily evaporate into the air.[11] VOCs are emitted by thousands of products, including paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, and may cause immediate and long-term health problems.[12] VOCs are also considered a possible carcinogen,[13] and can create ground-level ozone, the main component of smog.[14]
External links
Footnotes
- Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association - Grilling Facts and Figures
- Sierra Magazine - Hearth & Home: P's and Q's of BBQ - A guide to guilt-free grilling
- US Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Fourth of July no picnic for the nation's environment (press release)
- Grist - Grill Bit: Tips for earth-sensitive - and tasty - barbecuing
- emagazine.com - EARTHTALK: Week of 03/25/2007
- Pima County, AZ, Department of Environmental Quality - Healthier Ways to Barbecue (press release)
- American Institute for Cancer Research - The Grilling Question
- The Naked Whiz - Lump Charcoal FAQ
- Sustainable Table - Summer Sizzle
- How Products Are Made - Charcoal Briquette
- Montana State University Extension Service - Healthy Indoor Air for America’s Homes
- US Environmental Protection Agency - Introduction to Indoor Air Quality
- US Environmental Protection Agency - Volatile Organic Compounds - VOCs
- US Environmental Protection Agency - Air Quality Guide for Ozone
