Who said organising an eco-friendly event had to be difficult? No worries, we got you sorted for the festive period. This guide will level up your Christmas and New Years eve events and get everyone impressed!
We have prepared a small but effective guide on how to organise an eco-friendly event. We oh-oh-oh’pe to cover the basics for you to have the most popular festivity of the year, to make it unforgettable and welcome 2022 how it’s deserved. Because sharing love also involves our beautiful planet, for many years to come! Cheers!
1. Glitter-it-up-a-bit!
We all love stunning and shinning at this time of the year… but all that glitters are not gold. Most often that glitter is microplastic. Unless you get a brand such as Glitterevolution, which is made from plants and fully biodegradable!
Glitterevolution brings a guilt-free glitter for humans to shine brighter while being conscious caretakers of our planet. It also comes in plastic-free packaging and you donate 10% of their profits to 5 Gyres for ocean plastic pollution research and education!!
Ready to shine, sure… but like an eco-warrior?
2. Handmade greeting cards
Because recycled is not against design, especially if you decide to DIY! There are so many beautiful ideas out there psssst sign up to Pinterest to find tutorials that are made to the detail so that you cannot get wrong! Choose to upcycle materials you already have at home, you will surprised of how creative you can get 😉
If you prefer to buy them, then check out Etsy and support small businesses that choose to create unique handmade items!
3. For the gifts, wrap, rip, recycle (and if you can, upcycle)!
If you are not using Who Gives a Crap yet – the toilet paper, you wouldn’t have had the chance to collect their funky-cute paper that wraps the rolls. So make sure you start using this brand to wipe your sweet-as like a queen or king, contribute to building toilets around the world, while you also make a favour to our beautiful forests.
And if you want to make something reaaaaally different, then take this idea of wrapping your presents on up-cycled newspaper or other leftover materials… not to mention you will also save some money!
If you prefer the traditional way, there are more eco-friendly brands out there such as Wrappily printed on 100% recyclable newsprint and beautiful patterns available.
4. Eco-friendly Christmas Trees
Did you once buy a Christmas tree that you still give some use?! Then do it! If it’s time for the tree to retire after all those years, then please make sure you opt for a more sustainable option; and to be honest, buying a natural tree is also not the best alternative this year after all the fires hitting Amazon rainforest or Australia.
There are plenty of great ideas (again, check Pinterest) and find beautifully natural this tree made out of upcycled timber, wood pieces or just whatever you can find. It’s minimalist, genuinely different and warm.
6. Thrifting for Christmas decoration
If you feel you need to renew your Chrissy decoration this year, let’s go back to vintage and consider a trip to the second-hand shop. It is soooo much fun to dig into all the different boxes and eventually find a hidden gem. The best thing is these carry a story: To whom did this belong? Those kinds of questions make us value much more the actual stuff.
7. Flowers for a cosy space
We tend to use plenty of plastic decorations, yet we sometimes can forget about flowers or natural elements. Flowers smell delicious and have much more personality. You can find the ones that are more suitable for your place or even get dry options that you can use throughout the entire year.
Furthermore, by choosing flowers you will also be supporting your local flower shop! Just please avoid plastic flowers (buuuuuh!)
If you are thinking of a small gift to your guests that is also personalised, look up Mystery Blooms. This brand creates sets of heirloom flower seeds, no GMO and fair-trade handmade in Western Australia. Even more special, it comes in bio pots and soil pellets, and the packaging is made out of using recycled material.
8. Eco-friendly candles to brighten every room
And what about candles?! We all use them at this special time of the year, it makes you feel cosy, relaxed and warm, surrounded by your loved ones. Our favourite brand is M&J London, ethical scented candles with a spark of holistic aromas. It’s important for you to know that whereas candles may seem aligned with a natural, green or eco-friendly way of living, their impact on the planet goes far beyond what we can imagine. Instead, M&J London is an ethical luxury with a minimal environmental impact, bringing an alternative to sustainable and ethical scented candles, with flavours that will conjure your favourite memories of wonderful places and shared moments.
9. Plan ahead for big meals (ehem!)
The purpose is to avoid food waste. We all get frustrated with the food excess… but the good news is that there is a super easy solution! As our lovely friend Olivia advised on one of her daily newsletters Today We Will: “Plan ahead for big meals.” Here’s why: “Wasted food emits methane in landfills — a gas worse than CO2 for climate change. We will reduce methane emissions by planning ahead for big meals.” HOW? It’s easy… “Hosts, ask people to bring a container”. And leftovers ALWAYS taste better!
10. Avoid plastic as much as you can
As much as you can, avoid plastic. Buy bulk food, at fresh markets and take your own containers and reusable shopping bags. This free eBook can help you make better decisions for an eco-friendly event with 80 tips on how to go plastic-free. Slowly and steadily, but starting as from today!
11. Chocolate with a purpose
Also as much as you can, buy brands that are organic or fair trade, such as chocolate! There are many food social enterprises, like the deliciously conscious Hey Tiger a chocolate bar brand that supports communities in West Africa; 17 delicious flavours and a stunning gift box and packaging.
12. Beverage. Activism in every sip!
Nowadays there is a massive amount of beverage brands born with a mission. Here are a few brands that are much more than a beverage, but support causes and have a social entrepreneurial structure. We take you to some of them:
Sparkke. The beverage for activists & changemakers. This brand represents many causes and a wide diversity of people. It’s an activist beverage that wants to see a change in the hottest topics: gender equality, sexual consent, a shelter for the refugees, supporting Aboriginals in Australia, respecting mother Earth and standing by gay marriage.
Elephant Gin. This gin captures the spirit of Africa in a premium award-winning handcrafted dry gin, supporting elephant conservation, wildlife education and local craftsmanship. The powerful aromas embody the beauty and strength of the elephants.
Ginerosity. This Gin brand donate their profits to a charity called ‘Challenges Worldwide’ who help disadvantaged young adults to apply to International Citizenship schemes.
FAIR drinks. The first range of completely fair trade spirits.
Fatty’s Organic Gin. A completely organic Gin from Dulwich.
Brewgooder. Donate all of their profits to help provide access to clean water for those in need.
Toast Brewery. Use up surplus bread in their brewing process that would have otherwise gone to waste.
Karma Cola. A fair-trade brand that works with cola nut farmers in Sierra Leone to ensure that the whole production process is fair and sustainable.
13. Coffee or tea for the table talk
WYLDE Coffee. Fairtrade and UK based lifestyle coffee brand that wants to get more people to buy locally as well as encourage care for the environment by using biodegradable packaging. WYLDE’s team runs beach cleans combined with tasting events based in the UK. Most importantly, they pay farmers above fair-trade standards and their interest in sustainability led them to explore options for biodegradable packaging created from wood pulp.
Oliver and Edie. If you rather use coffee pods for your coffee machine, then make sure you opt for biodegradable coffee pods. This brand provides eco-friendly, premium organic coffee products that inspire people to connect, share experiences while contributing to a more sustainable future. A delicious coffee with organic integrity and high quality, bringing awareness to the environmental issues around pods consumption and offering a solution with these biodegradable coffee pods.
Wild Tea Qi. Ancient artisanal tea organically and fair-trade produced; this brand of teas is been hand-harvested and handpicked from ancient tree teas at over 1,700 meters high growing in a naturally organic and oftentimes wild environment. By purchasing these teas you support the local people as we deal directly with the farmers to create fair trade tea line. Ancient tree tea is like wine in that each cup changes taste and also has a deeper and more complex taste.
Please avoid tea bags or any plastic packaging on all your food and drinking products!
14. Straws, cutlery… fanciness is not made out of plastic!
At this stage, using straws for ANY event should be a no-brainer… you have literally, zillions of brands, colours and materials to pick from! Just make sure you get a large pack of straws for everyone and keep them forever. Plastic straws are not just meant for a single-use but also are non-recyclable.
One of our favourite brands for which you can also get a discount with us is Yourstraw, grown and made in Bali. We find bamboo being the most sustainable option when it comes to material options because you can always send it back to nature, where it belongs.
No need to say, to please COMPLETELY avoid any plastic cutlery, plates, bottles… It is a special time of the year and probably the best one to try new options, similar to the brands we suggested!
15. Give a gift that gives back
Get a gift for your special human being that is truly useful for them! We have put together a few gift guides with a large range of choices for everyone:
12 original & unusual gift ideas for eco-friendly Christmas 2019
How to create the perfect natural and organic beauty gift sets
Top 10 ethical tech gifts for Christmas [Ultimate list 2019]
30 eco toys gift ideas your eco kids will love this Christmas
16. Final Holiday To-Do-List
Enjoy your holidays, thanks to everyone for this amazing year and all your support YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!
Do you have any more ideas to run an eco-friendly event this Christmas or festive period? Comment below and share it with everyone!
Other articles you’ll love:
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- Zero waste wedding guide: Say ‘I do’ to sustainability
- Mulebox, a sustainable drink truck traveling to events with a purpose
- 45 Eco-friendly & Ethical Father’s Day gift guide
- Christmas ethical shopping guide: make an impact this holiday season!
- 30 eco toys gift ideas your eco kids will love this Christmas
