Written by Isabel, founder of the Party Kit Network - a non-profit organisation connecting party planners with local kits of reusable tableware to help reduce waste.

As lockdown restrictions ease in the UK many of us have started to plan parties again. Whether it’s celebrating a milestone we missed or an upcoming birthday, it's never been a more exciting time to get party planning!

But despite all the fun, parties can be pretty wasteful; it’s not unusual to end up with bags of waste at the end of a party. So here are my top tips for planning a more eco-friendly celebration.

1. Switch to Reusable Tableware

One of the biggest areas of party waste is tableware. It’s become the norm to buy disposable cups and plates, especially for kids parties. And if your child is the one who insists on inviting the whole class, a party for 30 can mean well over 100 single-use items going straight to landfill. Once in landfill it can take 5 - 20 years for a paper plate to breakdown; the plastic items will be there for hundreds more years.

Party kits offer access to reusable tableware without the cost or storage space requirements of buying enough of your own tableware for a party.

Each time a party kit is used we avoid unnecessary waste as everything in a party kit can be used again (and again!). 

People all over the UK run party kits for their local community - find your local kit via the Party Kit Network website.

But what about the washing up? One of the reasons disposable plates have become so popular is because there’s no washing up, but the good news is that many party kits offer a washing up service. And even if your local kit doesn’t, most tableware found in a party kit is dishwasher safe.

2. Plan to Avoid Food Waste

Leftover food is another potential big area of waste, especially at kids' parties. In 2018 we threw away a staggering 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste. And to make matters worse, it is estimated that 68% (4.5 millions tonnes) of that food could still have been eaten [Source: WRAP.org.uk].

To avoid over-catering, try to be realistic about how much your party guests might eat especially if your event isn’t being held at a normal mealtime. And for kids parties in particular, try to choose foods most of the guests will actually eat!

However even the most experienced party planner can be struck down by the fear of running out meaning you’re more likely to end up with leftovers.

With a bit of planning you can still avoid food going in the bin:

1. Ask guests to bring a food container with them to the party to take home any leftovers (or even just their slice of cake!).

2. Freeze any food you’re likely to eat later - did you know you can freeze cake and crisps?

3. Share any unwanted food locally via the food sharing app Olio.

4. Check to see if your area has a Community Fridge you can donate leftovers to.

3. Look for Eco-Friendly Decorations

For many of us the go-to decoration of choice has been balloons. But with balloons posing a potential risk to wildlife and being difficult to reuse, we’ve been looking again at how we can decorate a party in a more eco-friendly way.

One of my favourite reusable decorations is bunting. You can get bunting made from fabric, felt, ribbons or even make your own from old birthday cards or the kids’ artwork.

If you’re careful, paper fans (pictured), honeycomb balls and paper lanterns can all be used again and are normally plastic free. There’s more ideas over on our blog.

Many party kits offer reusable decorations as well as tableware, so it is worth checking the range of equipment offered by your local kit.  It is also possible to hire bunting via post, for example from Bunting by Jen.

If you do buy new decorations, look for ones which can be used again and again. And after the party store them in a box, much like many of us already do for Christmas and other festivals.

4. Choose Plastic Free Party Bags

The plastic-filled plastic party bag is the dread of many parents, especially for those trying to make more eco-friendly choices. The cheap plastic toys often don’t last long and are another source of unnecessary plastic waste.

Choosing plastic-free party bags doesn’t have to be expensive. There are now quite a few online suppliers who provide both plastic-free bag fillers and pre-made party bags, such as PlasticFreePartyBags.com. 

You can also make your own bags (like the ones pictured), reuse bags received at other parties, use fabric bags or even ditch the bag entirely! Cookie Recipe Jars are a fairly inexpensive party favour which make a great activity for the guests once they get home from the party.

5. Ditch Single-use Wrapping Paper

Who hasn’t enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper off a present?

However the majority of wrapping paper isn’t recyclable - the paper fibres are often too short and the paper can have a plastic laminate or glitter coating. And unless you are a very careful unwrapper, it can be difficult to reuse wrapping paper multiple times.

In the UK we throw away an estimated 108 million rolls of wrapping paper each Christmas [Source: GWP Group].

But it is still possible to experience the joy of gift unwrapping without the waste:

1. Use fabric to wrap gifts. There’s a great guide to the Japanese art of furoshiki fabric wrapping on the 1 Million Women website.

2. Invest or make reusable fabric bags or even use a pillow case. Not only are you avoiding waste but it makes wrapping the more complex-shaped gifts much easier.

3. Reuse paper packaging that sometimes comes with online orders. This can be flattened out and decorated with ink stamps, drawings or ribbon.

4. Save old greetings cards to make gift tags.

Parties Without Waste

These are just a few ideas for making parties a little more eco-friendly. While planning a party can be stressful enough without having to research ways in which to make more sustainable choices, making just a couple of these changes can dramatically reduce the amount of waste generated by a party.

We all want parties to be memorable for the right reasons, and I really believe that a legacy of waste shouldn’t be one of them.

Useful Links

Find your local party kit: https://www.partykitnetwork.org/find

Our guide to setting up a new party kit: https://www.partykitnetwork.org/start

Find the Party Kit Network on Facebook and Instagram.