Party rentals are a great way to reduce common types of waste generated at parties. Reusable tableware (such as dishes, glasses, and cutlery) can all be rented out so we don’t have to rely on single-use items.
In Italy, this idea goes even further with places known as stoviglioteca, where the value of community collaboration is truly celebrated.Instead of buying individual sets of tableware for parties, people in the community contribute one or two sets to the stoviglioteca, and make them available for everybody to rent for very cheap prices, just like a library.
Party rentals companies are a very common solution, so we suggest looking for one closest to you. If you don’t find one, you can think of creating your own stoviglioteca. If you want to do it with us, write us!
The Japanese have a unique name for this Zero Waste solution to wrap presents: Furoshiki. It consists of using cloths and pieces of fabrics to wrap presents, donating them with the present itself or reusing them each time. Reusable strings and bows instead of single-use ribbons are the best way to seal packages, tying them without the need for tape. If we want to embellish our package even more, we can use natural objects such as flowers, leaves, branches or little bouquets.
Parties and festivities can turn into times when we waste lots of food. However, food waste is one of the most polluting states after China and the US and generally speaking food is one of the areas of our lives that has the greater impact on the environment and society.
Hence, to make our parties and festivities more sustainable, let’s try to cook/buy only the food we actually need, making sure that it’s local and seasonal, possibly plant-based and fair trade.
In the chapter of this Zero Waste guide on Zero Waste and sustainable food we analyzed all there is to know on this topic.
In this case, we find ourselves facing two types of extremely polluting waste, besides being extremely dangerous for animals that could eat them or be trapped by them. Balloons and lanterns don’t have a good Zero Waste solution: the only solution is to stop using them and use sustainable decorations instead, ones made at home with natural materials.
This Zero Waste solution is true every time we find ourselves setting the table, and it’s even truer when we have many guests – things that, with single-use, would result in a huge amount of garbage! Cotton tablecloths and napkins are the Zero Waste solution. If we need a very large amount of napkins, then we can ask parents or friends to borrow theirs. If we can’t, then compostable napkins are the best solution. Beware of colored or whitened napkins because they can’t be recycled in any way!
This is an item that we’ll find many times in this guide. Our question when dealing with straws will always be the same: do we really need them? Whatever we drink with a straw, we can drink it without one.
If we’re talking about monodose juice cartons, we invite everyone to reconsider the actual purchase of this product, considering the giant quantity of waste that is produced with just one of these cartons. There are glass alternatives, or we can choose to fill up a flask with package-free juice, or some contained in much bigger, hence less polluting, packaging. However, not buying it still remains the best choice.
If we really can’t do without a straw, then surely stainless steel straws, washable and reusable, are a great solution.
Confetti is a type of waste that can turn out to be highly polluting, especially if it’s made with plastic or glitter. First, we should ask ourselves: how much do we really need them? If they are tossed or thrown on beaches, parks and nature in general, they become lethal wastenot only because of the pollution they cause by degrading but also because they may end up eaten by small animals mistaking them for food.
Is there a Zero Waste solution, besides not using them at all? Yes, dry leaves. Using a hole puncher to draw confetti on dry leaves is a really great solution, especially if we want to use them outside. On the other hand, if we are 100% sure that we’re going to use them inside and that we’ll throw them away into the proper bin (if not reuse them for future occasions) then we can use old pieces of paper.
In this case, the Zero Waste solution is to create decorations and garlands that can be reused over time, possibly those made with natural materials. Natural objects can turn out to be particularly useful, like sticks and leaves, but also cardboard boxes and cloths. Let’s remember that live plants can be incredibly decorative too, besides being a perfect example of sustainability.
Can’t come up with ideas for DIY decorations and garlands using reused materials? A quick sail around the internet will provide us with all the inspiration we need!
In the meantime, in our Zero Waste recipe book you can find a quick tutorial to make candles with leftover wax, or how to create decorative dry orange slices.
What if some of the snacks we served at our parties, like cookies, sandwiches and popcorn, could be homemade, instead of bought in their packages? If it’s too much of a time burden to prepare everything by ourselves, we can ask for help from friends and family, or choose to make only those types of food that would come with the least packaging.
Halloween “treats” are no more than small snacks wrapped in a mountain of waste. The packaging for each of those chocolates and sweets is a layer of single-use plastic that in truth, more than a sweet, is an actual trick on future generations. Zero Waste Solution? Homemade sweets! Cookies, chocolates, meringues, maybe even candies, all homemade in order to avoid single-use packaging and make healthier treats.
And don’t forget that you can even use leftovers to make them.
When it’s about costume parties, or some elegant evening for which we have to wear something that we’ll never wear anymore, then why buying a new tree or costume?
Zero Waste solutions for dresses and costumes are many: we can borrow them from our friends and family, rent them, creating them with what we already have in the wardrobe, or with upcycling techniques, giving new life and old clothes.
This way, not only we’ll save a lot of money, but we’ll also save the planet from a huge waste of resources. Indeed, let’s remember that, as we said in the chapter about sustainable fashion, to make the clothes and accessories we wear take huge quantities of water, energy and raw materials, on top of the underpaid and exploited workforce that make those dresses and costumes.
In this consumer-based society, we’ve been taught that presents not only have to be brand new, but that they also have to buy them even when we have no ideas or when we just need to give something. Even if we’re perfectly aware we’re giving something useless and not very personal!
So, what’s the Zero Waste alternative in this case? Well, the Zero Waste present par excellence is an experience. Whether it’s a dinner out, a massage, parachuting, or biking, giving someone an experience is really the most wonderful present one can make because it’ll create emotions that’ll last forever.
There’s also the gift of donation: choosing to make a donation to a charity in the name of who should receive the present. It’s a beautiful gift that it’s good for the person receiving it and others!
Then there’s the DIY present, an original and personalized idea that will take our loved one by surprise. Afterall, we say to make a present for a reason! Or, we can choose to give something useful, even openly asking what the best and most useful present would be.
Then there are plants, always a great solution, with their distinct ability to be always useful, spot-on, beautiful and 100% Zero Waste.
Sometimes, as surprising as it may be, we don’t even need to make a present: a letter, or a bottle of wine, or simply a day spent together will be enough to give something to someone.
If we want to accompany our present with a greeting card, then we can opt for those that can be planted. We can even make them ourselves with paper mâché and seeds.
When we find ourselves using birthday candles, let’s choose to use simple, short and reusable ones. The amount of time that they spend lit is incredibly short compared to the waste they’d create if thrown out right away. Number-shaped candles are not the best choice because they’re hard to reuse for other birthdays. And from a Zero Waste point of view, sparkling fountains are always a poor choice (probably the worst), because they are single-use only.
Nowadays, there are birthday candles made with vegetable wax. Avoid soy, considering the extremely high use of this product in other industries already (indeed, it’s not necessarily the most sustainable alternative!) Of course, we must always take note of the country where a product is made and avoid, for example, soy coming from Brazil.
The first Zero Waste solution is to use plants that we already have instead of purchasing the usual Christmas Tree. Decorations, instead of being plastic, can be handmade with wood, using strings to tie and shape small sticks into stars and trees. We can even use slices of dried fruit.
If the idea of an alternative tree is not doable, then a true tree, possibly small so that it doesn’t suffer inside a vase, is the Zero Waste solution for a sustainable Christmas.
Halloween pumpkins can turn out to be a huge waste if their content, instead of being eaten, gets simply thrown away. Surely, the best Zero Waste solution is not purchasing the Halloween pumpkin at all, but if we really must, then let’s make sure to eat the inside!
Do you have some more Zero Waste suggestions and solutions? Write us! We’ll be happy to add it to our list and inspire always more people.
Keep on exploring our guide to how to live Zero Waste, visit all the sections:
All the suggestions and solutions for Zero Waste presents, parties and festivities in this new chapter of our open guide to how to live Zero Waste, eliminating single-use garbage and waste from our lives, so that Earth can celebrate too!
Party rentals are a great way to reduce common types of waste generated at parties. Reusable tableware (such as dishes, glasses, and cutlery) can all be rented out so we don’t have to rely on single-use items.
In Italy, this idea goes even further with places known as stoviglioteca, where the value of community collaboration is truly celebrated.Instead of buying individual sets of tableware for parties, people in the community contribute one or two sets to the stoviglioteca, and make them available for everybody to rent for very cheap prices, just like a library.
Party rentals companies are a very common solution, so we suggest looking for one closest to you. If you don’t find one, you can think of creating your own stoviglioteca. If you want to do it with us, write us!
The Japanese have a unique name for this Zero Waste solution to wrap presents: Furoshiki. It consists of using cloths and pieces of fabrics to wrap presents, donating them with the present itself or reusing them each time. Reusable strings and bows instead of single-use ribbons are the best way to seal packages, tying them without the need for tape. If we want to embellish our package even more, we can use natural objects such as flowers, leaves, branches or little bouquets.
Parties and festivities can turn into times when we waste lots of food. However, food waste is one of the most polluting states after China and the US and generally speaking food is one of the areas of our lives that has the greater impact on the environment and society.
Hence, to make our parties and festivities more sustainable, let’s try to cook/buy only the food we actually need, making sure that it’s local and seasonal, possibly plant-based and fair trade.
In the chapter of this Zero Waste guide on Zero Waste and sustainable food we analyzed all there is to know on this topic.
In this case, we find ourselves facing two types of extremely polluting waste, besides being extremely dangerous for animals that could eat them or be trapped by them. Balloons and lanterns don’t have a good Zero Waste solution: the only solution is to stop using them and use sustainable decorations instead, ones made at home with natural materials.
This Zero Waste solution is true every time we find ourselves setting the table, and it’s even truer when we have many guests – things that, with single-use, would result in a huge amount of garbage! Cotton tablecloths and napkins are the Zero Waste solution. If we need a very large amount of napkins, then we can ask parents or friends to borrow theirs. If we can’t, then compostable napkins are the best solution. Beware of colored or whitened napkins because they can’t be recycled in any way!
This is an item that we’ll find many times in this guide. Our question when dealing with straws will always be the same: do we really need them? Whatever we drink with a straw, we can drink it without one.
If we’re talking about monodose juice cartons, we invite everyone to reconsider the actual purchase of this product, considering the giant quantity of waste that is produced with just one of these cartons. There are glass alternatives, or we can choose to fill up a flask with package-free juice, or some contained in much bigger, hence less polluting, packaging. However, not buying it still remains the best choice.
If we really can’t do without a straw, then surely stainless steel straws, washable and reusable, are a great solution.
Confetti is a type of waste that can turn out to be highly polluting, especially if it’s made with plastic or glitter. First, we should ask ourselves: how much do we really need them? If they are tossed or thrown on beaches, parks and nature in general, they become lethal wastenot only because of the pollution they cause by degrading but also because they may end up eaten by small animals mistaking them for food.
Is there a Zero Waste solution, besides not using them at all? Yes, dry leaves. Using a hole puncher to draw confetti on dry leaves is a really great solution, especially if we want to use them outside. On the other hand, if we are 100% sure that we’re going to use them inside and that we’ll throw them away into the proper bin (if not reuse them for future occasions) then we can use old pieces of paper.
In this case, the Zero Waste solution is to create decorations and garlands that can be reused over time, possibly those made with natural materials. Natural objects can turn out to be particularly useful, like sticks and leaves, but also cardboard boxes and cloths. Let’s remember that live plants can be incredibly decorative too, besides being a perfect example of sustainability.
Can’t come up with ideas for DIY decorations and garlands using reused materials? A quick sail around the internet will provide us with all the inspiration we need!
In the meantime, in our Zero Waste recipe book you can find a quick tutorial to make candles with leftover wax, or how to create decorative dry orange slices.
What if some of the snacks we served at our parties, like cookies, sandwiches and popcorn, could be homemade, instead of bought in their packages? If it’s too much of a time burden to prepare everything by ourselves, we can ask for help from friends and family, or choose to make only those types of food that would come with the least packaging.
Halloween “treats” are no more than small snacks wrapped in a mountain of waste. The packaging for each of those chocolates and sweets is a layer of single-use plastic that in truth, more than a sweet, is an actual trick on future generations. Zero Waste Solution? Homemade sweets! Cookies, chocolates, meringues, maybe even candies, all homemade in order to avoid single-use packaging and make healthier treats.
And don’t forget that you can even use leftovers to make them.
When it’s about costume parties, or some elegant evening for which we have to wear something that we’ll never wear anymore, then why buying a new tree or costume?
Zero Waste solutions for dresses and costumes are many: we can borrow them from our friends and family, rent them, creating them with what we already have in the wardrobe, or with upcycling techniques, giving new life and old clothes.
This way, not only we’ll save a lot of money, but we’ll also save the planet from a huge waste of resources. Indeed, let’s remember that, as we said in the chapter about sustainable fashion, to make the clothes and accessories we wear take huge quantities of water, energy and raw materials, on top of the underpaid and exploited workforce that make those dresses and costumes.
In this consumer-based society, we’ve been taught that presents not only have to be brand new, but that they also have to buy them even when we have no ideas or when we just need to give something. Even if we’re perfectly aware we’re giving something useless and not very personal!
So, what’s the Zero Waste alternative in this case? Well, the Zero Waste present par excellence is an experience. Whether it’s a dinner out, a massage, parachuting, or biking, giving someone an experience is really the most wonderful present one can make because it’ll create emotions that’ll last forever.
There’s also the gift of donation: choosing to make a donation to a charity in the name of who should receive the present. It’s a beautiful gift that it’s good for the person receiving it and others!
Then there’s the DIY present, an original and personalized idea that will take our loved one by surprise. Afterall, we say to make a present for a reason! Or, we can choose to give something useful, even openly asking what the best and most useful present would be.
Then there are plants, always a great solution, with their distinct ability to be always useful, spot-on, beautiful and 100% Zero Waste.
Sometimes, as surprising as it may be, we don’t even need to make a present: a letter, or a bottle of wine, or simply a day spent together will be enough to give something to someone.
If we want to accompany our present with a greeting card, then we can opt for those that can be planted. We can even make them ourselves with paper mâché and seeds.
When we find ourselves using birthday candles, let’s choose to use simple, short and reusable ones. The amount of time that they spend lit is incredibly short compared to the waste they’d create if thrown out right away. Number-shaped candles are not the best choice because they’re hard to reuse for other birthdays. And from a Zero Waste point of view, sparkling fountains are always a poor choice (probably the worst), because they are single-use only.
Nowadays, there are birthday candles made with vegetable wax. Avoid soy, considering the extremely high use of this product in other industries already (indeed, it’s not necessarily the most sustainable alternative!) Of course, we must always take note of the country where a product is made and avoid, for example, soy coming from Brazil.
The first Zero Waste solution is to use plants that we already have instead of purchasing the usual Christmas Tree. Decorations, instead of being plastic, can be handmade with wood, using strings to tie and shape small sticks into stars and trees. We can even use slices of dried fruit.
If the idea of an alternative tree is not doable, then a true tree, possibly small so that it doesn’t suffer inside a vase, is the Zero Waste solution for a sustainable Christmas.
Halloween pumpkins can turn out to be a huge waste if their content, instead of being eaten, gets simply thrown away. Surely, the best Zero Waste solution is not purchasing the Halloween pumpkin at all, but if we really must, then let’s make sure to eat the inside!
Do you have some more Zero Waste suggestions and solutions? Write us! We’ll be happy to add it to our list and inspire always more people.
Keep on exploring our guide to how to live Zero Waste, visit all the sections:
This zero waste handmade deodorant is very easy to make and we’re to show you how to do it. To make 200ml of deodorant you need 3 ingredients: 300 ml of tap water 1 spoon of baking soda 20 drops of Tea Tree Oil If we want, other essential oils we like for scenting Of...
How to make a homemade Zero Waste toothpaste in 3 steps? Here’s a recipe that is easier and faster than you would think. The only thing we’d like to highlight is that our homemade Zero Waste toothpaste is a powder, which has a texture and a flavor that are completely...
How to make candles with leftover wax? It’s really easy and satisfying. Moreover, making candles with leftover wax is a perfect Zero Waste solution for home decorations, or to make a sustainable present. What we need is: Leftover wax from old candles Old candles jars,...
