Celebrations

Outdoor Events

For BBQs, picnics, and other outdoor events, zero waste practices help to prevent litter at your favorite park, beach, or in your own backyard. Zero waste events save time, money, and the environment.

Invest in your zero waste party gear once, and enjoy the savings forever: Lightweight durable plates, cups, utensils, cloth napkins, and a reusable tablecloth. Put everything in a storage bin for transport. At the party, use your storage bin to collect dirty dishes and transfer them right into the dishwasher when you get home.

Make your own beverages for cents per serving, and serve from chilled dispensers with reusable cups. Fruit drinks, lemonade, iced tea, and water are refreshing on hot days.

Plan your zero waste party menus with prepared-to-order options like tacos or hot dogs, where unused ingredients can be taken home for another meal. Shop for locally grown, seasonal foods at the farmers’ market to cut packaging waste and emissions. At the store, bring your own shopping bags and buy in bulk rather than individually wrapped single servings.

Bring reusable food containers or aluminum foil (recyclable!) and send delicious leftovers like cake and barbequed meats home with guests. The perfect zero waste party will leave your friends satisfied and your landfill hungry.

Bring extra bags to separately collect recycling, food scraps, and trash. A paper bag or cardboard box can go straight into the bin with your other recycling. Be sure to collect food scraps for composting at home or through your municipal waste hauler. If the trashcans at the venue are full, bring party trash home rather than adding to an overflowing trashcan and creating more litter.

Indoor Celebrations

For casual indoor events, your outdoor zero waste kit works indoors too! For more luxurious dinners and formal celebrations, you can elevate the zero waste experience. Treat your guests to real plates, glasses, silverware, cloth napkins, tablecloths, and centerpieces made from natural and reusable materials. Good dishes make guests feel special and eliminate waste at the same time. Use your own dinnerware or rent from a party supply company.

Choose sustainable decorations. Pinecones, sea glass, candles, fruit, nuts, flowers, shells, ribbons, succulents, and greenery all add to the festivities without adding waste to the landfill.

Plan your menu to minimize waste. If you need to prepare for the unexpected, instead of cooking a lot of extra food that could go to waste, keep some non-perishable appetizers in the pantry or extra sides in the freezer. If you do have extra food, store leftovers in the fridge or freezer and send guests home with a reusable container filled with their favorite dish.

Separate your food waste from the trash. Instead of scraping plates into the garbage or sink, scrape them into a food waste container. Food waste is collected by your waste hauler and converted into biofuel or made into compost and mulch. Food diversion reduces methane production in landfills, helps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and sequesters carbon in the soil. Now that’s zero waste!

Zero Waste Holidays

Each year during the holidays, the waste stream increases by 25%. Don’t wait for New Years Resolutions to reduce your impact on the Earth; here are a few ways to keep holiday waste to a minimum. 

Shopping

• Make a list and plan your shopping to consolidate trips, and minimize driving.
• Buy only what you need.
• Bring your own shopping bags.
• Treat guests to locally sourced foods and drinks.

Recycle!

• ​​Recycle​ wrapping paper,​ empty bottles​,​ and cans​ accepted by your local recycling program​. ​
• ​​Show your guests where to recycle​ and what is accepted locally​.​ ​​
• ​​​Use ​​​w​rapping​ that can be used again or​ recycled.​ Avoid foil wrapping paper and cellophane that can’t be recycled locally.​
• ​​S​ave​ ribbons,​ bows​,​ ​bags, and other decorations ​for reuse.
• Don’t forget to recycle holiday cards, magazines, catalogs, paper and cardboard.
• When you get or give new electronics, re​member to re​cycle your old electronics properly.

Holiday Cards

• Send e-greetings to family, friends​,​ and business associates.
• For mailed cards, pare down your mailing list to reduce the number of cards you ​send​.
• Choose cards and envelopes made from recycled paper.

Save for Next Time

• Set aside ​reusable ​gift boxes, wrapping paper, gift​ bags,​ tissue paper​,​ and bows.  Save these items for future holidays, birthdays and parties.
• Reuse packing cartons and shipping materials such as ​packing ​peanuts, shredded newspaper and bubble wrap.

Limit the Lights

• LED light strings use 1/10 as much energy as incandescent lights. ​ ​
• Turn off your lights when you go to bed to save even more energy.

Thoughtfully Choose​, Decorate,​ and Recycle Your Holiday Tree

• A live tree gives you all the pleasure of a cut tree, and can be planted or donated after the holidays.
• Plastic trees can be reused for years, but will ultimately end up in a landfill
• If you choose ​to​ cut​ a​ real tree, do​n’t​ ​decorat​e ​with ​tinsel or fake snow, s​ince​ tinsel and ​flocked​ trees can​’t​ be composted.
• Check with your local waste hauler or recycling organization for tree recycling information. There are free drop-off locations, and most curbside collection programs will pick up ​cut for ​free after the holidays.
• ​​Before you dispose of ​ cut trees​, make sure they are​ in pieces​ your waste hauler can collect.​ ​Alternatively, you can cut your tree up small and​ compost it your backyard along with other yard trimmings and food scraps.

Donate

• Before and after the holidays in the spirit of giving, donate used items in good condition to local organizations​ that will give them a second life with someone new​.