Product review: Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters

With Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters you can enjoy the magical South African tradition of the braai in more sustainable way.

Overview

Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters were developed by Capetonians Mark and Sandy Steinberg, to give South Africans a more sustainable way to light a braai or campfire at an affordable price. Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters are made in South Africa, and are SABS safety tested.

Packaging

To suit the eco-friendly status of these fire lighters, they are packaged in than a recyclable carton box. Unfortunately the fire lighters are sealed in a plastic sleeve. The fire lighters come with clear and easy to understand instructions on how to use them for a charcoal or wood fire. Also take care to read the safety instructions.

Content

In this box there was 12 Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters, the normal amount for supermarket fire lighters, but these contain no harsh chemicals. They're free from the toxic fumes and nasty odours that so many regular fire lighters give off. Instead they use clean-burning vegetable oils and still give you a long-lasting fire to enjoy. You can also safely handle them with your hands with no lingering smell. It seems to be made of chipboard (MDF) which is soaked in vegetable oil, but that is just our perception.

Functionality

We tested our Green Lite Fire Lighters with a wood-fire braai. You need to break a single piece off and light it at the broken edge. Although it took a while to light, the fire lighter burned strong and quickly lit the fire wood. We added a second fire lighter just to be sure, but it probably wasn't necessary. Throughout the entire braai there was never a pungent chemical smell.

Overall impression

Braaier and husband approved. My husband was initially very sceptic about this product, as any braaier would be. The braai is the braaier''s dominion and demands respect and the right tools. Luckily, with Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters you have a sustainable alternative to chemical fire lighters which comes in the same quantity and price.

My husband was very impressed that it had no strong chemical smell and that it didn't linger on his hands. The Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters also managed to burn store-bought fire wood which, in Cape Town, is notoriously wet and difficult to braai with. We had lovely warm coals to braai our steak on and enjoyed a delicious meal knowing we used a more sustainable braai product.

How/where to buy it

We ordered our Green Lite Eco Fire Lighters from Greenlight (don't confuse the two), but you can get them at quite a few places including Faithful to Nature and Wellness Warehouse.