Party Without the Plastic

As labor day approaches, let’s talk parties this Trash Talk Tuesday! It’s hard to imagine a party these days without imagining the clean-up scene that follows: the typical plastic garbage bag, being filled with plastic red solo cups, plastic cutlery, plastic tablecloths, and plastic plates, while someone in the background is sweeping up plastic glitter, plastic ribbon cuttings, and pulling off plastic tape. That is so. Much. Plastic!

Plastic is lightweight, cheap, and durable, making it seemingly ideal for single-use items and decorations, but it comes at a terrible cost for the planet. Before the single-use item boom, we humans still loved to party, but it involved a lot more reusable dishes and decor that could be heavy and cumbersome, as well as fragile, making transport difficult and clean-up time-consuming.

Luckily, as people have become more aware of the plastic problem, we have gotten creative. For cutlery, rather than use heavy stainless steel or plastic, bamboo flatware is a great option–it is durable but lightweight, made of a renewable and easily grown material, and inexpensive (so if one goes astray during your party, it’s not going to break the bank or sit in a landfill forever). Cloth tablecloths and napkins (like Sankoty Sustainables “non-paper” towels or baby wipes) are not new inventions, but now come in numerous designs that fit your style and are easy to collect and throw in the washer together. Party cups now come in aluminum, which are infinitely recyclable and keep drinks cold. More sustainable, handmade decorations are also easier to find at local markets or online, but there is a lot of fun to be had in setting aside some time to craft some decor yourself, and tutorials abound on social media.

While getting ready to party, rather than spending all your money on something that will only be thrown away, show off your cute cloth napkins, stylish dishes, and savvy sustainability! The planet and your wallet will thank you!