Picture this: it’s Sunday morning, and you’re taking a stroll through Dinkytown. The air is crisp, and there’s no trash on the ground. What a beautiful scene, am I right? Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. The ground is littered with remnants from parties the night before, and they blow around for days and sometimes weeks. Trash is ~gross~ and we should be doing everything we can to limit our waste, regardless. SO how can we limit our party waste? Let’s find out!
Online or in-person invitations for the win!
For starters, unless this is a super formal event, you can and shouldn’t be sending invites in the mail; it’ll will cost way more time and money than creating a Facebook event, texting someone, or inviting someone in person. Plus, the latter options are ~green~.
Reusable decorations are a must.
Who says that you have to buy or make new decorations every time you throw a shindig? Paper decorations and such are cute, but can be so wasteful if you don’t reuse them. Invest in LED string lights to liven up your space, or sit down and make a cute garland you will reuse, instead. Also, investing in one set of mix-and-match letters to decorate the walls for any occasion, rather than making signs or buying balloons, will be easier and just as cute, and even funny, too. This will make set-up and clean-up easier so you can focus on having a good time!
Get creative.
I’m sure you’ve seen a pinterest post of a watermelon bowl. This is the kind of creative re-using that will probably save you money and it’ll be such a conversation topic! I can see it now. You at your next party and everyone is coming up to you saying: “Wow, you’re so cool! You actually made the *insert large fruit* bowl!”
B.Y.O.C.
Bring Your Own Cup. If you know the party is going to have a keg, or punch, or signature drink…bring your own cup! There’s no need to use plastic solo cups if you bring your own! That way you’ll always know which drink is yours, and you can get creative and bring a cup with a lid, too! This will limit spilling or people messing with your drink. You’ll need a closed beverage cup if you wanna get down on the dance floor anyway, we can’t all maintain the level of grace Winston from New Girl has in this gif:
Have a designated recycling bin!
Get a big cardboard box, or empty out your trash can, or perhaps use a plastic storage bin, because there will be bottles and cans that need to be recycled and people will throw them in the trash instead of seeking out a recycling bin, simply out of convenience. Make it easier (and maybe even fun) for your guests to recycle.
Incentivize recycling.
You recycled your can? You get a party favor! My personal favorite party favors are baked goods! Cookies are easy, can be made in bulk, and are cost-effective. Not to mention they produce little to no waste since they’re not individually wrapped.
Re-use Solo Cups.
If group drinking is a staple at your parties, use water in the cups instead (that way people won’t be drinking out of the cups constantly, which is icky anyway) and wash and reuse the cups for each party.
Clean with purpose.
It’s the day after you throw a party, and all you want to do is toss everything into a big black trash bag and throw it away. That. Is. Lame. Even though that might be easiest and quickest, it doesn’t take that much longer to simply sort what’s recyclable from what’s not.
Don’t stop the party, Gophers. Stop the party waste!