Eco-friendly and the holiday season
The holiday season is probably the greatest time of the year for most of us. We hardly work. We spend time with friends and family and we basically celebrate, party and eat. And as always, when some party and enjoy, others can suffer. In this case the environment is the one that suffers. About 25% more of trash is thrown away during the holiday season compared to other periods. This means millions of tons of garbage of what we usually produce. And as we know, even this is already too much for our fragile environment. So what do we do? First of all we need to re-think a bit and see what we can do differently to reduce our carbon footprint and to be eco-friendly in the holiday season. It is easier than it sounds and can be done by changing our purchasing habits with purchasing quality environmental eco-friendly products.
We have created our top 5 eco-friendly tips for celebrating in a great and even better and sparkier way, the holiday season gatherings and parties.
Your menu
Reviewing your food and drink choices is the first and best way to reduce your carbon footprint and emissions. It doesn’t matter if you organize a dinner party, Christmas lunch, Hanukkah party or a new year’s gathering. All can be organized in an eco-friendly and environmental way.
We know every host doesn’t want to leave his guests hungry. But we also know how so much food is thrown away at the end of the party or gathering. Your guests would be much happier to know that they are coming to mingling and not to just eat as much as they can. Food waste is a huge environmental problem. By reducing the amount of food waste you easily reduce the event’s footprint. If you are still panicking about your guests being hungry, you can introduce a policy to give remaining food to a nearby shelter.
After reviewing the food and reducing it we need to think about what to put, or not put on our guests plates. The impact of meat on climate change is very clear and at least 12% of the US emissions is due to the cattle farming industry. This is indeed a significant number.
If you give a plant based or a vegetarian menu, you are great and give an important example for all your guests. With today’s plant based meat quality some of your guests will not even taste the difference. If you can not avoid meat at all at your party, then at least prefer poultry, which is way less problematic than beef.
For organizing an even eco-friendlier party, simply shop locally and seasonably. This will absolutely cut down your carbon footprint and in addition help local suppliers and business.
Now that we have the food moving in the right direction, let’s get the right eco-friendly tableware.
Sustainable Areca leaf plates
Why not use a 100% natural material, non toxic and sustainable product? And that is the best alternative to plastic and paper products?! Seems that all caterer party planners and any host will prefer to use such a product. Also Your guests will love the fact that you took the time to think . Thinking of using plates that are not only great for the environment but also aesthetically pleasing.
Plates and bowls made from Areca leaves are vegan friendly, 100% biodegradable and compostable. They are zero chemical dyes and glues, sustainable and hand made. They have a rustic charm as they are hand pressed using heated molds only. Furthermore, the Areca nut trees, many times called palm trees, are left to continue growing naturally, resulting in no damage to the trees or local ecosystems. The trees continue to grow and give their natural Areca nuts. We actually get 2 products from 1 tree, which just this is an amazing eco-friendly action.
But apart from their sustainability, they are aesthetic and have a natural wood grain finish. This makes them look incredible and stylish. Unlike plastic or paper plates they hold up way better heavy, greasy and hot food.
These are for sure the best stylish plates in the whole market, and of course in the eco-friendly one.
Now, just have a few compost bins set up at your event, and have your guests just toss their Areca leaf plates right in those bins, making cleaning up a breeze.
Recycling stations
So what are recycling stations anyways? Well it might seem something hard to manage but in reality it’s so easy and will be more than appreciated by your guests.
First of all you just need a few bins in order to reduce your waste. That’s all.
A bin for the glass bottles. Then a compost bin for food waste and for your Areca leaf plates and bowls and a bin for paper for all the wrapping paper that will be tossed from the gift opening.
If you have these three recycling and composting stations for sure you reduce the amount of waste in your event and you clearly are the right side of party planners.
Near the paper bin you can put a small sign telling the guests that next year wrapping the gifts is not necessary anymore and that no paper bin will be introduced. Your guests will need to look for compostable packing or other eco-friendly gifting.
Eco-friendly gifting
Giving the gift of an experience is one big way of cutting back on packaging and mileage and something that the receiver will remember for a long time. A voucher to a sustainable restaurant is definitely a great eco-friendly gift. A donation to a good cause can be another option. Tickets to a concert or a sports event as well. But if you insist on a gift, why not try an eco-friendly one? Eco-friendly bottles, sustainable amazing jute bags or any other sustainable gift. You can even buy a set of Areca leaf plates and bowls, It fits any event and can be even kept in the cardboard for next years holiday season with no expiry problems.
Bottom line, the gift and what it means, is much more important than the packing and décor.
The packing and décor
Maybe even worse from packing is the holiday decorations. These are usually made from plastic or from glitter the opposite from sustainable eco-friendly products. Here are some eco-friendly options instead.
Candles made of soy or beeswax, recycled glass baubles, real foliage door wreath and food items such as cinnamon, cranberries and oranges.
You can decorate the Christmas tree with fruit and nuts, like in the past. Wrapping paper for the gifts under the tree is nearly always not recyclable because they are glossy, glittery and metallic and therefore fill landfills. Instead, for example, you can use old newspapers.
For concluding
Plant based menu, eco-friendly and plates, compost and recycle bins, eco-friendly gifts and eco-friendly decoration are your 5 tips for a great eco-friendly party. Not only your guests will be proud of you and the party, but also mother nature. To be eco-friendly in the holiday season is easy.
