Green Your Holiday Party: Glassware
Dreaming of a green Christmas? This week, we'll show you ways to make your Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa party eco-friendly, from using the Sunday comics to wrap your gifts to buying LED holiday lights.
Tip #2: Reusable Glassware
One way to avoid the waste of disposable cups and plates is to use small, removable labels for glassware. Many hosts go through three or four times the number of disposable cups as they have guests, and this is a good way to not only conserve resources, but to inspire your guests to do the same.
What are your favorite ways to green your holiday parties? Please tell us in the space for comments below. (Thanks to Carmen Ramos-Kennedy for sharing the above tip.)
The Green Life will take a holiday break starting tomorrow, but we'll be back with new posts on Jan. 5. In the meantime, peruse our archives for a wealth of green-living tips.
For years I have reused the same plastic Solo & other brand plasticware for parties. It survives the dishwasher, though things may fly around a little bit. But they get clean for the next party, and I haven't bought new plasticware in many years. Once in a while one cracks.
Posted by: Margie Campaigne | December 23, 2008 at 07:01 PM
Why use disposable plastic stuff at all? Most of us have dishwashers so there is not that much work involved in cleaning the real stuff, and no landfill problems, though I know there is still the issue of water/heat etc. Washing it is better than tossing it, but why not get something a step better that will really last?
I HATE using plastic tableware, even if they don't break they still do the job poorly, cups are not much better. I have to be pretty hungry before I will eat with the stuff.
Posted by: Tandemman | December 23, 2008 at 07:54 PM
We use disposable cups at the big family events, but we put out a couple of Sharpie markers and everyone puts their name on their cup. Maybe not ideal, but at least we're down to a single cup per person and we're limiting the amount of trash.
Posted by: Mike | December 23, 2008 at 08:17 PM
For ages, we used our regular drinking glasses. To distinguish between guests, we have colorful hairbands that we wrap around the glasses. Each guest remembers the color of his or her hairband, and we have no disposables using up landfill space.
Posted by: Daniel | December 23, 2008 at 11:27 PM
The following is very easy, very inexpensive and very "green": I have a very large collection of coffee mugs from yard sales for just a few pennies each that are used over and over throughout every year at all of my parties. I cut the front panel off greeting cards I've received, into business card sized pieces and use my hole punch to make a hole on one corner of each tag, then thread a 4 inch length of yarn through it, then my guests write their names on the tag and tie it to their mug handle.
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