It’s finally time to celebrate in the sunshine and warm weather! With winter finally behind us, and spring slipping away; the fourth of July is only a few weeks from now. Of course, you don’t need a specific holiday to have a party. Get ready for picnics at the park, family reunions at the cottage, or evenings around a bonfire. (Can you tell this writer has missed summer?)

Host the Perfect Summer Gathering

EnviroTakeout wants to help you plan for hosting the perfect summer party. We’ve provided some tips for a more environmentally friendly gathering below:

Send out digital invitations or create a Facebook event. This eliminates the need for paper invitations. Evites can be responded to quickly and there is no need to wait for mail to arrive on either end. As a bonus, it is a much easier way to keep a headcount.

Serve sustainable and, if possible and plant-based foods. Consuming meat is extremely environmentally taxing. This is especially true for the kind that is often found at the grocery store. Plant-based options have expanded greatly in the last few years and there are now more choices than ever before. The biggest challenge might be narrowing your choices down to just a few items because of the variety of tasty possibilities.

Place clearly labelled refuse bins for items that can be recycled, items to be composted, and items that can be thrown in the regular garbage. If your region recycles and composts, local guests will already know what items belong were. Signs marked on the bins help guests from out of town properly sort their items so you can maximize your recycling according to your region.

Make drinks in bulk, rather than serving individual cans or small plastic bottles of beverages. Drinks like lemonades and punches can easily be made in large enough batches to fit inside a container meant to serve a crowd. Be sure to keep the drinks table well stocked with our PrimeWare BPI Certified Compostable Plastic Cold Cups and Lids, along with plenty of paper straws . Our Plastic Cold Cups come in  9, 12, 16, 20, and 24 oz options. Coordinating flat or dome lids are available. They are sold separately.

Minimize food waste by planning out a rough but realistic menu with quantities for your group’s size. Of course, no one wants to run out of food at a party, and hosts tend to try to order a bit too much rather than not enough to ensure that their guests don’t go away hungry. Therefore, it is a good idea to plan for the possibility of leftovers and order some takeout containers for guests to pack up some leftover food at the end of the party. Encourage guests to take what they would like to prevent the food (not to mention your money) from going to waste.

Conclusion

The above are just a few easy to implement tips on how to make your celebrations a little “greener” this summer season. Anyone can use these tips- they work for events from small family gatherings to block parties involving the whole neighborhood.