Parties With Principles: Environmentally Friendly Entertaining

In the last few years, everything has changed. You might say it’s the influence of Al Gore’s global warming lectures, the world’s dedication to acting on carbon emissions or even the natural disasters that are starting to occur all the more frequently.

Whatever it is, people are starting to look at every aspect of their lives to determine if they can make it more environmentally friendly and reduce their impact on the earth.

If you’re committed to becoming more a of a greeny, you can help look after the environment in a number of ways, from half flushing the toilet, and recycling, through to only associating with companies, like airlines, that have a focused policy on decreasing their carbon footprint.

Everything you do can be reworked so it is more environmentally friendly. If you are a big party thrower or planner over the warmer months of the year, the pending warm season gives you a great opportunity to start making your impact. And here’s how:

1. Party crockery

Many of us are guilty of using plastic plates, knives and forks for party after party, and while that isn’t necessarily bad, as long as you recycle them, you could do one better. Buying yourself a set of good quality melamine party ware, means each time you have a party, you don’t need to fork out for new items, and also means you aren’t contributing pile on pile of waste to landfill. If you don’t want to buy, think about using crockery provided by event hire.

2. Recycle

With that in mind, if you do use paper or plastic, it is vital you recycle. This goes for everything from your knives, plates, forks, cups and serviettes, through to all your decorations. Make sure everything you use is recyclable and doesn’t just get thrown in the bin.

3. Venue

Big parties are all about your venue, so choose wisely. You could go with your own backyard – you control the party ware, have permanent colorbond fencing instead of temporary fencing venues use for security, and can select the suppliers you work with.

If going to an external venue, select one that is renowned for its environmentally friendly practices, or is associated with suppliers who are.

4. Lighting

Lighting is a big energy user and not always a very efficient one. If you plan parties for a living or are planning a number of large private parties, you may be thinking along the lines of fairy lights or gobos or other feature lights. Think environmentally friendly, and instead use tiny candles or energy efficient bulbs.

5. Party favours

For big events, we often look at giving out party favours as a momento of the occasion. This is a lovely idea and means your special celebration remains strong in the guest’s memories, for a long time. Make sure you aren’t just adding to party waste by getting something people will actually use and keep, as opposed to something they will just throw out. Instead of paper-based items or plastics, which don’t have as much longevity and are likely to get binned, think about small things people keep, like metalic digital photoframes. Try to keep in mind that you don’t want to contribute to waste in any way, from any part of your party.