It's My Party And I'll Go Green If I Want To!

Before I go into today’s Easy Eco Idea I just have to say.... Happy Birthday Mom! She’s been making “environmentalists” look good since the time they were called “hippies”.

Birthday parties and parties in general are what today’s Easy Eco Idea is about, or more specifically how to make them greener.

There is a lot of waste happening at parties; paper plates, plastic cups, disposable utensils, napkins, soda cans and bottles. It’s a lot of stuff being thrown away.

So here are some ideas to make your party a little less trashy.

I think there are 3 reasons people go with disposable plates, cups and utensils for parties 1) there’s no clean up, you just throw it away and your done 2) you don’t want to get your good dishes out and risk them being broken 3) you don’t have enough for everyone.

For the first part all I can say is I understand. Doing dishes is one of my least favorite things to do, but being that the alternative is 1-2 trash bags full of stuff that is only being thrown away because I don’t want to clean really isn’t an alternative to me.

The second and third parts are easy enough to fix as well. Go to your local thrift store and buy enough dishes, and even utensils, that you’ll need for the party. If you have parties regularly box them up and save them for the next one. You could also share them with friends and family for their parties. If the party was a onetime thing and you don’t want to store them then just redonate them to the thrift store.

You can use cloth napkins and have a special bin or basket to put dirty ones into. If you feel like using cloth napkins may be too much of a hassle then at least go with napkins made from recycled material.

For bottles and cans have a garbage can that’s just for recyclables and make sure to put a sign on it so people know.

Sometimes being green takes a little more work than not but the end results, less garbage and pollution, are well worth it.

And if you’re looking for a great low impact meaningful gift might I suggest donating a tree or adopting an animal in their name. I think these are perfect for kids and grown-ups alike. And if you’re wondering I like Chimpanzees and frogs. ;)