With Earth Day approaching next week I wanted to talk about some sustainable party trends andhow we can strive to make our parties (when we can host them again) more environmentally friendly. 

It’s pretty amazing to see how the Earth is changing now that there is less human involvement due to stay at home orders and quarantines. I’m sure after this is all over some of us will be adopting some of the routines or skills we’ve created during this quarantine.  I know I’ve had to really flex my ability to do more with less in between shopping trips. So I think this is a great exercise in really trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

I know the same conscious effort can be applied to how we can host parties in the future.  Hopefully some of these sustainable party trend ideas will spark your creativity to be more aware of how you’re celebrating in order to affect the Earth less. 

Sustainable Party Decor Trends

One of the biggest ways we can be more conscious of how hosting a party impacts the Earth is through the decorations we’re using. 

I’ve always been more of a handmade decorations over one time use themed plastic decorations kind of person.  But I think I could even take it a few steps further in the realm of sustainability. 

Recycled Decorations

So the first way to get more sustainable with your decorations is to reuse old decorations.  It’s kind of a no brainer, but instead of buying new things for each party or holiday you host, work with some of the things you already have. 

I have many of my party decorations stored in a small plastic tote and every time I go through it I’m reminded of something I already have that can be applied to whatever party I’m currently decorating.  

This works best if you stick to buying decorations by color instead of theme.  So instead of buying Paw Patrol party hats you buy red, blue, green, and yellow party hats that can be used again and again. Or you can buy paper in those colors and make your own.

I’ve also written an entire blog post on how to recycle your party decorations.  You can read that here.

Balloons

The next way to trend toward sustainable party decorations is with balloons.  Now, I’m a huge fan of an over the top balloon garland but balloons themselves aren’t very sustainable.  

Once the garland is not needed, throwing away the balloons means that they will just sit in a landfill or dump for years and years.  According to Google, it takes six months to four years for a latex balloon to decompose. 

Another much more sustainable option to the balloon garland is a honeycomb garland.  It gives you the same full over the top look but with paper instead. The best part about many honeycombs is that they can be folded up and stored to use over and over again.  This is where buying them based on your party color scheme is great, because you can use solid colors for multiple different kinds of parties. 

Birthday Banners

Because of social distancing there have been such creative birthday celebrations.  If you need birthday ideas during social distancing read these.  One creative way to celebrate is the drive by honking birthday parade.  I mean, can we just keep doing that long after quarantine is over?  

Part of this tradition is using big banners to let passers by know there is a birthday.  Purchasing a generic “Happy Birthday” sign or banner that can be used year after year is much more sustainable than buying one with a specific birthday age listed on it.  For example, get a birthday banner that says “Happy Birthday Hannah” versus “Happy 6th Birthday Hannah.” You get so many more uses out of a generic banner than a specific one. 

Confetti

I think there are two camps you fall into for this next party decoration, you either love it or hate it.  Confetti. But plastic confetti is basically a micro-plastic and can take 1000 years to decompose. That’s insane.  

There are so many alternatives to plastic confetti.  I normally always buy paper confetti, but another alternative I like even more is using dried up leaves or flowers as confetti.  They are completely biodegradable.

You can make your own by cutting up dried leaves and flowers or using a hole punch to punch out little circle leaf confetti.   If you’re going the cutting route, it’s much faster, than I highly recommend putting all of your leaves and flowers in a big bowl and using kitchen shears to cut them up into small confetti sized pieces. *link to kitchen shears*

If you’d rather just buy your confetti, check out my recommended confetti listed at the end of this post. 

Sustainable Party Food Trends

 When it comes to food, there are a lot of ways to increase how sustainable we are being at a party. 

Sourcing 

First and foremost is sourcing your food from sustainable farms or markets.  If that’s not an option, try planning your party menu around what’s in season at the time.  Buying in season cuts down on so many non sustainable parts of the supply chain.  

Wrap it Up

Something that I’ve learned after going to several kids’ birthday parties here in England is that it’s customary to wrap up and send a piece of the birthday cake home with each child.  It typically doesn’t get eaten at the party. It was a totally new concept to me.  

But in order to encourage a sustainable party trend, try using these beeswax papers that can be used again and again to cover leftovers.  They would also work great when you’re preparing and storing food before or after a party. Make sure you tell your party guests not to throw them away when they get home, but how to use them so they’ll last for a long time. 

Reusable Servingware

One of my biggest party tips is to buy only white serving dishes.  This may be the biggest way to make your parties sustainable. Having all white serving dishes allows me to use them for every party I host.  I never have to worry about them clashing with a party theme.  

Because I buy actual dishes for serving party food I can use them again and again.  I usually only buy a few small fun themed cake plates so I’m not creating a lot of party trash. If you can afford to have all of your plates, flatware, and glasses be neutral white or clear then you’ll never have to buy those things over and over for each party. 

Neutral Tablecloths

Another party staple I have that has gotten miles and miles of use is neutral tablecloths.  I typically cover my table for parties to protect it, but also to infuse a little more of the party theme into the space.  

But I only ever buy solid colors or very neutral tablecloths that can go with any type of party.  I have solid white, red, pink, green, and tan. Then I have one black and white striped tablecloth that I’ve used for several parties and know I’ll be using it again and again.  

I never buy plastic themed tablecloths not only because they are bad for the environment, but because I want to be able to use things as many times as possible.  Most of the tablecloths I own were fairly inexpensive and their cost per use is probably about the same as those throw away plastic tablecloths. 

Technology and Sustainable Party Trends

I think one thing this quarantine has taught the whole world is that technology can be amazing at connecting us. 

It’s also a great thing to use for a sustainable party. 

Invitations

Use technology to send invitations via Facebook events, Evite, or Paperless Post to cut down on using paper.  

Hosting the Party

Host the party over Zoom or a live video in a Facebook group to reduce the amount of people that would need to travel for a party.  This is great if you’re wanting to host a baby or bridal shower with a lot of family and friends that live far away. 

Catering

If you don’t plan on cooking at your party but want to get it catered instead, technology is great for this as well.  Ordering your party food online and having it delivered reduces trips back and forth to the restaurant or caterer. And so many places are now allowing you to book catering orders through convenient apps or online.  

Will you incorporate any of these ideas into your next party?

I hope some of these ideas will encourage you to stop and think how to make your next party or event a little more sustainable.  Will you incorporate any of these sustainable party trends?  

I think some are even great ideas to use everyday around your house.  Hello, beeswax wraps!  And I’ll definitely be making my own confetti from now on.

I’ve been more conscious of how I’m treating the Earth with the things I buy and do since we’ve moved to England.  It’s just more of a focus here. I’ll definitely be taking some of the things I’ve learned from living here back to the US when we move back. 

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