In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to offer eco-friendly party advice: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Go paperless, use online invitations
Evite, Punchbowl and Paperless Post offer a large selection of free and premium designs. You should be able to find an invitation that fits your theme or party style. Although Facebook invitations are not customizable, they are easy to create and distribute to your Facebook friends.
Skip disposable dishes, glasses and silverware
If you aren’t on budget, you can certainly rent tableware, glassware and silverware. For those on a budget, we recommend using your regular dinnerware and purchasing budget friendly wine glasses. Wine glasses add an element of sophistication to a party. From our experience, renting and buying glasses can cost about the same. We purchased a few dozen wine glasses and champagne flutes, and have used them for many parties. If you prefer disposable tableware, we suggest compostable plates and utensils.
Use inexpensive cloth napkins instead of paper napkins
Paper napkins are certainly not eco-friendly. We suggest swapping them with cloth napkins. Stick with a neutral color so that they can be easily reused for your next party. Guests tend to use the same cloth napkin throughout the night. On the other hand, people tend to be wasteful with paper napkins, and reach for several throughout the party.
Swap out balloons and paper streamers for natural decor
We LOVE flowers, fruit, candles and candy. Flowers are a gorgeous addition to any party, and you can create vases from just about anything: bottles, glasses, containers, water pitchers, tin cans. Be creative with your selection of vases and consider color when pairing them with flowers. Flowers can be expensive. For the budget conscious, we suggest incorporating fruit, candles or candy. You can create beautiful yellow arrangements with lemons or use floating candles with colored water to add pops of color.
Source locally grown organic food and beverages
Skip unhealthy processed food and preservatives and purchase locally-grown fresh produce and locally-raised meat products. These are more environmentally friendly and will help local farmers. Check out your local farmers market prior to your event and support your local economy!
Use edible party favors
If you are sending your guests off with a treat at the end of the night, we suggest something edible. Personalized candy, cookies, cupcakes – anything that fits with your theme.
And of course, recycle at the end of the night!
Keep separate bins for trash and recyclables to make it easy for you and your guests to recycle.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” — Albert Einstein
Shop This Party
Wine Glasses: IKEA
Champagne Flutes: IKEA
Seashells: Michaels
Shells: Michaels
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