It’s your party and you can cry if you want to—but you shouldn’t cry about the impact your get-together is having on the planet. We all want to let loose from time to time, but this doesn’t necessarily have to negatively impact our planet.
Sorry to be party crashers, but let’s face it, most parties involve a few environmental no-no’s: excess food (that normally gets wasted) and lots of plastic.
Having fun sustainably isn’t difficult, nor will it require you to spend tons of money. You just have to get a little creative! Here are some of our favorite eco-conscious ways to celebrate.
8 Tips for Hosting an Eco-Friendly Party
1. Digitize your invitations
We’re sure your friends and family love you but it’s almost guaranteed that the invitation you send will end up in one place: the trash can. So, instead of wasting time and resources by sending a physical invitation, send an electronic invitation instead.
There are several ways you can do this, you can either create your own using a basic graphic design website like Canva or you can stick with an original online invitation platform, like Evite.
If a paper invitation is absolutely necessary, be sure to choose recycled paper, if available. Even better, check out some plantable invitations which are printed on seed paper that can grow either herbs or wildflowers when planted in soil!
2. Ditch the excessive decor
While it’s great to walk into a room that’s filled with streamers, garlands, and balloons, the initial excitement wears off pretty quickly—yet the plastic and the waste remain.
When it comes to decorating, make do with less, or choose a theme that’s nature-related so that you can incorporate natural elements like pine cones, dried flowers, plants, and other biodegradable materials.
To brighten up an evening party, use organic soy or beeswax candles, or incorporate some solar powered fairy lights or solar-powered LED flameless candles. You can also opt for lanterns made out of rice paper.
Fortunately, there’s currently a lot of interest in having parties that don’t leave our planet with a massive hangover, so there are many options to buy sustainable decoration items.
Here are a few more examples:
- Biodegradable confetti
- Biodegradable glitter
- Reusable chalkboard place holders
- DIY pinatas
- Paper fans (instead of tissue paper poms)
- Jute coffee bags instead of a tablecloth
- Mason jars filled with flowers
- DIY tissue paper flowers
If you do end up buying conventional party decorations, make sure that you properly store them so that they can be reused for your next bash! Additionally, be sure to choose more generic decorations instead of something for a specific event (i.e. “Happy 30th Birthday!!”), as this will make it much easier to reuse these decorations in the future.
3. Support your local economy
If you plan on serving food at your party, try to give a local business a reason to celebrate while you celebrate. Instead of shopping online or at a chain grocery store, try to support a local farmer’s market instead.
Another good idea is to get in touch with local businesses to see if they can fulfill your catering needs. Even if a cafe or restaurant doesn’t offer catering outright, given the past year and the pandemic they could probably use the extra business, so don’t hesitate to ask!
4. Don’t invite plastic
There is one word that typically makes its way around a party: disposable. Trust us, we know that a huge stack of dishes can really put a damper on an otherwise fun evening, but “reusable” should be your most prized guest when planning an eco-friendly party.
This means that instead of red Solo cups, you use reusable cups. You can either encourage guests to bring their own cup, or decorate a mason jar with their name that can also serve as a take home gift for guests.
Instead of paper and plastic plates and cutlery, we also recommend using reusable options. If the guest list is huge and you don’t have enough reusable serving ware, there’s always the option to rent or borrow from friends or family.
If you have no way around it and you need something that you can get rid of at the end of the day, there are many compostable options out there. Everything from plates to cups to napkins can be purchased in a way that’s better for the planet.
However, another thing to consider here is that not all compostable products are created equal, and some can only be composted properly in an industrial composter. These aren’t located in all cities, so be sure to check that there’s one close by.
5. Rein in your food plan
When planning for a party, food is typically at the forefront of our considerations. We want everyone to eat well and we also want to cater to everyone’s taste preferences and dietary needs. Unfortunately, this can lead to having way too much food available, which means that food waste may be an uninvited guest.
Yes, you might want everyone to be raving about what you served at your party, but remember that they’re there to see you, not eat 12 different kinds of appetizers! So, plan to serve less food. You can always supplement with healthy snacks, like dried fruit or nuts.
If you do want to go big, consider using mostly seasonal and organic produce, along with a veggie or vegan recipe. Also, have a plan in place for leftovers—either by way of a bottomless-pit friend or a donation to a charity organization (although be sure to first confirm that they accept food from events).
Additionally, sugary sodas have a large carbon footprint, so water or homemade iced tea is a better option. For something a little more adult-friendly, wine is generally more eco-friendly than beer—although there are a lot of eco-friendly beer options available.
Finally, individually wrapped chips and candies and cookies may be better from a convenience standpoint, but for our health and the well-being of our planet they should be avoided.
6. Incorporate recycling into the afterparty
At the end of a big party, it’s common to want to just wrap everything up and throw it away quickly. However, do take the time to sort out any recyclables so that they can be properly disposed of. These typically include cans and bottles from beverages and most cardboard and paper products.
You can either have a designated area for recyclable items at the party, or recruit a group of friends to sort through trash at the end to make sure that these items get recycled.
If you have a compost, use it for food scraps!
7. Rethink gifts
If you’re planning a party that would traditionally involve gifts (i.e. birthday, retirement, anniversary, or housewarming), you can be the hostess with the mostess sustainable plan by asking for no presents at all.
If that’s too big of a jump (we get it!), you can also ask for a donation in lieu of a present, or you can send guests a list of eco-friendly items that you could use around the house.
Also, encourage attendees to skip the wrapping paper and gift bags!
9. Blow off balloons
Even if you ignore the rest of the tips on this list, avoiding balloons is one of you should plan to stick to. Balloons earn their own section because they’re an absolute terror when it comes to our planet!
Balloons look nice and they’re fun to watch as they float up into the sky, but they’re also responsible for many environmental concerns. As the saying goes, “What goes up must come down,” and balloons are particularly problematic when they land.
Not only do they litter our planet when they lie deflated on the ground with their strings still attached, but they can also lead to much more serious consequences.
Inflated balloons have been known to travel thousands of miles before deflating, meaning that they can end up tarnishing otherwise pristine environments.
Additionally, they can also get tangled in power lines and lead to dangerous power outages. Perhaps worst of all, they’re commonly confused for food by marine life and birds, and can end up getting lodged in stomachs or wrapped around necks—both sometimes fatal accidents.
Beware of balloons marketed as biodegradable latex, because these have also been known for the same problems.
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We hope these tips gave you some inspiration for hosting your own eco-friendly party! If you enjoyed this article, please share with your other hostess-with-the-mostess friends and family members, and if you have any additional tips, please leave them in the comments!
