Nowadays, people are ever more aware of the importance of environmental sustainability and preservation. It’s somewhat clear that if people don’t take care of mother nature, they’ll suffer the consequences. Therefore, it’s in everyone’s best interest to play their part in making the world a greener place. Luckily, the green movement has gained considerable traction over the years and big strides have been taken. The growth of recycling industries and electric vehicle markets have proven this. People are using innovation to make the world a greener place.
The good news is that you can do it too! A slight change in your diet or shopping choices can contribute to environmental change.
Now, if you’re planning an eco-friendly party, you need to try as best as you can to incorporate sustainability into your plans. Therefore, you may need to do away with a lot of plastics and unhealthy foods, and find greener alternatives. You don’t need to worry about the availability of green foods, drinks, or materials because there are plenty of options out there. Also, you will probably have to use your creative instincts to pull this off. A good starting point would be to get customized sustainable gifts for friends as tokens of appreciation.
That said, here’s a brief guide on how to plan an eco-friendly party like a pro this year.
Since going green is central to your eco-friendly party agenda, you need to do away with single-use plastics. Plastic is not eco-friendly and is usually non-biodegradable. However, nowadays, there are biodegradable plastics available on the market. But the rate at which these products decompose is unclear. So, it’s best to stay away from plastics completely. That said, if you’re serious about making your event eco-friendly, you need to look for other reusable alternatives.
You will probably have to turn to paper-based products, such as paper plates. Paper is much more recyclable compared to plastic. Also, it’s more suitable for composting, so it’s an excellent alternative. On the other hand, if you’re going to need straws, it’s best to go for paper straws. The point is, your party won’t be truly eco-friendly if there are traces of plastic everywhere.
If you’re hosting a party, you want to make sure that the lighting is intact. Lighting is important because it determines the ambiance in a room or at a gathering, which determines the mood of the event. Especially if it’s a night event. In such a case, you want to make sure that you use energy-efficient lighting, such as solar-powered lamps or bulbs.
If you’re going to send out invites, it’s ideal to go paperless and use online or digital invites instead. There’s nothing wrong with sending invitation cards physically, but nowadays, almost everyone has access to the internet and e-mail. So, it’s more efficient to send invitations digitally since it saves you time and money. It’s a quicker way of conveying information from you to the invitees. Also, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp work just as well for sending out digital invites.
With decorations, you need to stop using balloons. This is because most balloons contain latex and helium, two substances that are not very eco-friendly. However, if you really need to use balloons, make sure they are biodegradable, although decomposition rates are also not clear because they are still essentially plastic. That’s why it would be best to avoid plastic decorations as much as possible.
In addition, try to buy reusable decorations that last for a long time and that you can use for future events. You certainly don’t want to splurge on decorations every time you come around to plan an event.
Moreover, if you’re thinking of using flowers for decoration, try to buy locally grown varieties instead of imported ones. You may not know whether imported flowers are sustainably grown.
Food is an important part of any social gathering. You want to make sure that you have food in the right quantities. But more importantly, you want to make sure that you have the right menu on offer. Since this will be an eco-friendly party, buy organic food items. Furthermore, make your food from scratch because that’s the best way to sustain your eco-friendly theme and no one beats the taste that homemade food brings.
Another option is to consider vegan or vegetarian menu options. However, if you’re going this route, inform everyone who’s invited that this is on the menu to avoid people getting shocked when they arrive at the event.
If there’s going to be people eating and drinking, there’s going to be waste. So, you have to establish a waste area with bins for trash, recycling, and composting. You need to make sure that these bins are clearly labeled. If you can include some illustrations on these labels, it will help people to place their waste in the right bin.
Also, make sure that the visuals are accurate because you don’t want things that are not compostable to go into that pile. You want to make sure that people understand what goes into the trash bin, recycle bin, and composting bin respectively.
Conclusion
If you’re going to plan and pull off an eco-friendly party, you have to be creative and serious in the choices that you need to make. Nowadays it wouldn’t be hard because there are many environmentally friendly alternatives to all your party needs. Use the above tips as a guide to planning a successful eco-friendly party in 2022.