December is just coming around corner. Are you pondering what to do this holiday season? Are planning to host a holiday party yourself or visiting a friend’s home as a guest? There are many things to think about… As with any gathering, holiday parties are notorious for producing a large amount of plastic waste. Let us begin to think about how we can reduce this amount of waste as much as possible.
Holiday Party Hosting
As soon as the host decides to invite guests over for a party, most tend to think about what to serve as food and drinks. Then, the shopping list begins to grow.
1. Serving utensils: Instead of running to the dollar shop to pick up those disposable plastic forks, and knifes, bring out your own washable utensils. If you do not own enough glass or stainless plates yourself, you can consider asking your guests to bring their own plate to use. Depending on the event, only purchase compostable paper plates if you really need to pick some disposable ones. Leftovers are common after a party, so have some reusable containers on hand for guests to pack and take home.
2. Decorations Around the House: Looks for décor lights that are rechargeable instead of ones that use batteries or remember to use rechargeable batteries if you must. Also, avoid using the plastic glitter, as you can make your own with a hole puncher on scrap paper wrappings and holiday catalogues. Try to reuse the decorations each year instead putting up disposable ones.
As A Guest
Here you are reading about the details in your invite, time to think about some concerns.
1. What: Is there a gift exchange? Look for presents that can be reused often. Furthermore, when you look wrapping the present, look for creative ways to wrap it like using a reusable cotton bag instead of plastic cellophane for baskets.
2. When: December tends to be quite busy on the road. Plan ahead to avoid traffic jams, where cars tend to spew out more exhaust when they are stuck in a jam.
3. Where: Look at the address of the holiday party…. Do you know if anyone of your family or friends that live near you are also invited to the party? Perhaps you can suggest to carpool with them so the guests will have less cars on the road that day.
4. How: As with many dinner parties, leftovers are the norm.You can bring your stainless steel or glass containers like Mason jars for soups.
It is important to remember that every little action helps. Remember that we need to be kind and respectful of others and not shame anyone into being zero waste. Instead, you need to use love and kindness to move the world.
1 thought on “Holiday Party Zero Waste Inspirations”
Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips. My family and I are trying to be more green this year. We’ve started to ditch the plastic cutlery which seemed to be used every day in our home for work lunches, yoghurts etc. Making simple changes are so important, especially at this time of year when waste is rife. xxx
Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips. My family and I are trying to be more green this year. We’ve started to ditch the plastic cutlery which seemed to be used every day in our home for work lunches, yoghurts etc. Making simple changes are so important, especially at this time of year when waste is rife. xxx