Any party can be eco-friendly with just a little bit of effort and thought. Watch this video from Chloé Jo Davis’s green series from About.com to see how to green up your next occasion!
Here are few tips to throw a chic eco party:
The first tip is a no-brainer. Do the party outside if at all possible. You’re saving on lighting, you’re saving on energy costs, air conditioner, heating. All those things add up, and suck fuel and energy from the earth and from your pocket. So let’s just start clean with a beautiful outdoor party.
One of my favorite tips is something that I’ve often done at parties which is having potted flowers or potted plants, even herbs or even like a little baby seedling fruit tree as your center pieces. These can be your giveaways so you say, “Thank you so much for coming. Please, take this flower home.” And then the person who comes to your party can plant it in their back yard, or keep it in the pot growing. And it’s really, you know, a sort of very low impact gift. And it’s a low impact centerpiece. It’s a lovely thing to do rather than cut flowers which are often flown from Asia; very far away. A lot of fuel is involved as well as a lot of chemicals and pesticides which you don’t need near your green party.
The other thing is if at all possible, please bring your own china from home. Sometimes, it’s not possible, but if it is possible that’s a great option. If not, that’s fine. There’s amazing super great bio-plastic plates and cups and saucers, and even cutlery made from bio-plastics, which are plant-based plastics. There’s bamboo plates which are great because they’re compostable so you can toss them into the composter when you’re done or just right back into the earth, and they’ll decompose beautifully, rather than plastic which will sit on top of a landfill for 100 years. No reason for that. Just say no to disposables that are not bamboo or a bio-plastic.
Instead of gifts, a donation to your favorite charity. This is just a simple, lovely way to give back. And sometimes, often, you’ll find that you get so many donations for your favorite charity that you never could’ve even afforded to donate that much yourself. So it makes you feel really good, and it makes you feel more involved with causes you’re passionate about. And really, do you need another tea cup or does your kid need another Lego toy that desperately? Not always. So it’s a heartfelt way to give back and be compassionate to the earth and to animals and to the environment.
Also watch: How To Green Your Wardrobe, What Are The 3R’s, and sign up for the mailing list to get a weekly update heads up when these episodes roll out!
HOST: Chloé Jo Davis
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE STYLISTS OF GLAMSQUAD
Chloé’s Dress by Claire Farwell London
Chloé’s jewels by Adina Mills