Sustainable Event Planning Made Easy
Planning a sustainable event
Parties and special events are THE BEST way to let your friends and family know that it’s easy to make responsible caring decisions for Planet Earth. They have become such a common source of waste – such as single-use plastic plates and cups, and guess what? The Earth can’t digest plastic.
Parties offer us (and our guests) a chance to re-think the way we entertain a group of people. Do you want your party and event to be as green as possible? Here’s a few tips and ideas and links to blogs with even MORE tips and ideas.
What do I use for serving ware?
No matter what size of party or event you are planning, there’s a good chance you will want to serve food and beverages. This is where many people think they need to run to the grocery store and buy up a bunch of plastic to make things easy.
Well, we understand that sometimes it’s just too hard to wash up a lot of plates, glasses and cups, but even so – it doesn’t have to be the kind of plastic that harms our waterways and our bodies, and ends up forever in landfill. In fact, it should NEVER be that kind of plastic.
We live in a time when there are so many options for ethical serving ware. You can choose plates made from palm leaf or sugarcane, cups and cutlery from bio-plastic (made from renewable resources such as corn and bamboo), and EVERYTHING you use can be carbon offset, sustainably sourced and biodegradable.
Take a look at all your choices in Your Guide to Biodegradable Eco-catering Supplies.
Can my food and drinks be rubbish free?
Absolutely. If you are having food catered, make sure you are working with people who understand the importance of sustainable packaging for food – not only is this good for your party, it helps let everyone else know about hospitality businesses that are making responsible ethical choices.
Then there’s always the fantastic option of making your own party food and drinks. With the right tools and easy-to-use DIY kits, it’s easy! It’s also better for your health, heaps of fun – and often saves you money as well.
For a few ideas, such as home-made party drinks (alcoholic or carbonated), scrumptious home-dehydrated treats for your cheese platter, and many more – take a look at our Blog on Delicious DIY party treats – without the packaging.
criteria above such as our TriNature Alpha Plus Laundry Liquid, the way you use it still determines whether or not it creates grey water safe waste water.
Lanfax tests are all done using the Recommended Usage instructions – if you use twice the recommended usage, you can probably well imagine that this will effect the pH level, the sodium and phosphorus content, and the electrical conductivity of the waste water after your wash has been completed.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that a small amount of a concentrated product is sufficient for the job, and it’s tempting to use double – but try ALWAYS use your products as directed; the environment will thank you for it!
Finally, even if you are not using grey water on your garden, remember that whatever ends up in your waste water still ends up in our environment (even if it is not your immediate back yard) – so please choose the most environmentally sensitive products you can!
How do I deal with the waste?
Who wants to end a great party by packing up a lot of plastic bags for (shiver and shake) Landfill?? Just don’t go there. Or if some things need to go to landfill, make sure they are carbon offset and biodegradable in the long run.
There are a lot of easy ways to minimise landfill waste, reclaim and recycle waste. For starters you can make it very obvious for your guests to separate out the rubbish. Some of your waste will be able to go straight into your compost bin – which is very simple if you use compostable bin liners. Some waste can recycle (including soft plastic in many Shires, if it is clean and bagged separately).
Check out how it can be done in our Blog 3 Ways to Host a Green Event.
Take care of the world – one party at a time!