We have all been there. Waking up after a home party where you are a bit tired and potentially also slightly hung over. And then we need to face reality: all this trash has to be cleaned up. The worst thing about that is probably the job that has been done. But there is also another bad thing about throwing parties; all the waste that comes with it. Just think about it.
Some of these products are very often seen as a “must have” for parties:
– Plastic cups
– Plastic plates
– Plastic cutlery
– One-time-use party hats
– Confetti
– Fireworks (this one is really bad for the environment)
– And very often, for a birthday, Christmas and marriage, a big pile of unwanted “trashy” gifts.
– So much more.
You can already start to see that throwing a “normal” party is not very environmentally friendly. So how do we change that?
Buying eco-friendly party supplies is a good place to start. In this article, we will first present you with some excellent alternatives to your current party supplies. And after that, we will give you some other tips on how you can reduce the environmental impact when you are throwing a party.
Table of Contents
- Eco-friendly party supplies: a full introduction
- Other tips to how you can Make Your Party More Environmentally Friendly
- Conclusion
Eco-friendly party supplies: a full introduction
If you invest in these products, I will almost guarantee you that your upcoming party will be greener than the last one you held. As you can buy all of these products online, you will not need to travel to some random shop and buy them. Quite convenient. And the best thing of all? They are all quite cheap.
Paper Straws
The good thing about paper straws is that they are biodegradable. Plastic is not. Many bars
and restaurants have already banned plastic straws as it is proven to have a very bad impact on the environment. If you really think that your guests would enjoy something to “help” them drink, plastic straws are the best thing you can get.
They are cheap as well. I just checked on Amazon and you can get packs of ~ 150 straws for only 9,99 USD.
The ones I added a picture of in this article is priced at 10.99 USD (it might change) and you can find a link to them here. Should be pretty quick to get them shipped to your home regardless of where you live.
Eco-friendly disposable plates
Yeah, I get it. You also want to serve your guests some food. And if you are throwing a party of quite a size, it is not normal to have 50 plates. So the best possible option is of course to buy plates that you can throw away. And that is all fine – unless they are made from plastic.
So if you go to Amazon and type in “Eco-friendly disposable plates”, you will find a wide range of good options to choose from.
Biodegradable trash bags
Several months ago I decided that I will never buy any plastic bags again. At least the ones being used to throw out the trash. I mean, there is not really any good argument for why those bags should be in plastic.
And you will find a lot of biodegradable trash bags online if you know where to look.
Other products
These three are the ones that will definitely make a huge difference. It is also three of the most common party supplies out there. So if every “party host” would follow my advice and buy these, it would really make a big difference. But there are also some other products that could be bought if you really want to go “all in” from an environmental perspective.
Those include:
– Napkins made out of recycled paper.
– “Gift bags” made out of recycled paper.
– Bamboo tableware.
– And loads more.
Other tips to how you can Make Your Party More Environmentally Friendly
Buying the right party supplies is a good start. However, there are much more to be done in order to really make an environmentally friendly party. I have sometimes read those articles named “this is how you throw a zero waste party” and so on – and not been impressed. I really think that throwing a party should 1st be fun and 2nd be eco-friendly. If you constantly walk around hyper-stressed to see if someone creates trash, which is not really fun.
Anyway. These are other things you can do in order to minimize the environmental impact of your social gathering:
1. Make your own food.
Needless to say, baking your own cake is better for the environment than buying something wrapped in plastic. It is also better for your guests. And yourself. Not only will it taste better, but you will also be given creds and applause (hopefully) from the guests.
2. No need for “trashy gifts”
I remember that I went to some of my friends birthday parties when they turned 18. The amount of trash being produced by ridiculous gifts was quite remarkable. I mean, it was typical “funny” gifts that the receiver never would use.
If you don’t understand what I am talking about, here are two good examples:
– An apron with the picture of a naked woman.
– A fishing pole/rod camping rooster. You were meant to put a sausage at the end of it (as “bait”) and use it to grill over a campfire. Worst idea ever.
So that was the level. All these gifts were of course put in the trash.
In order to avoid these gifts, you should do two things. First of all, don’t invite my friends (or people with a similar mindset as them). Secondly, you can say in the party invitation that you do not want any gifts. Or at least that the gifts should be something that you can use for a longer period.
3. Do not buy balloons.
The photo gallery on this website called Balloonsblow.org will make you feel sick. It is literally wild animals being strangled by balloons. Quite disturbing.
I am not saying that the balloons from your party is going to end up in nature. But I am saying that you should always work hard to minimize plastic waste regardless of where the plastic ends up. It simply hurts the environment more than it helps your party.
Conclusion
Throwing a party does not necessarily mean that you should hurt the environment. With so many great options to choose from of eco-friendly party supplements, you are now able to host ”a big day” without leaving a huge carbon footprint.
But please also remember that a party is mainly there for you to have fun. No one is saying that you need to take any of the fun out of the party in order to be more environmentally friendly. But when there are certain ”quick fixes” (like no plastic straws or balloons), it is quite obvious that you should do that to save the earth.
Now that you are reading this article, chances are that you will follow these ”rules”. But also please feel free to share this article with any of your friends in order to make them aware of the environmental costs by throwing a party. It might come as a surprise to someone.
