Green twist of celebration

Summer is the time for celebrations. And celebrate we do! We enjoy barbecue with friends; family get together parties; graduation celebration; weddings and many more. Great people, food and drink, music and dancing makes the party.

In our everyday life we try to minimise the size of our eco-backpacks, take the bus, save electricity and go for the seasonal food. How about the special days, do we forget environmental conscious choices then? Or is it even necessary to think about the environment on those special occasions? They say it is much more important what you do in your everyday life since you don’t have a party each day. But if you are the host you have a great opportunity to affect the eco-backpack of the occasion.

Few simple rules make it easy to lighten the eco-backpack of the party. First of all, transport. If you have 20 guests and they all travel 100 kilometres back and forth it makes total 2000 passenger kilometres. If you can, choose the venue so that travelling of the quests is minimised. In addition to travelled kilometres, it is important that people can use the public transport. If not possible would it be worth to arrange bus transportation for instance?

Another important thing is food. Remember that the eco-backpack of one kilogram of beef is about 46 kg and one kilo of apples carries a backpack of only 2 kilograms. Go easy on the meat and cheese and enjoy the delicious and fresh veggies, fruits and berries of the season. There is no need to turn your feast totally vegetarian or vegan but pay attention to the meat and cheese vs. veggie ratio.

What about the gifts? If you feel you have everything you need, let people know about it. Guests can be asked to bring some food or drink instead. If it is more formal event maybe you can ask people to donate some money for a charity you appreciate. The real eco-geeks could say that best present for them is that people take the bike, bus, train or shared ride to come to the party.

If you are not the host but the guest, what can you do then? Always respect the choices and wishes of the host. If a gift list is awailable it is good idea to stick with that to avoid giving stuff not needed. When it comes to dining, maybe you can ask in advance if a vegetarian choice will be available on the menu? Probably the best thing you can do to lighten your eco-backpack is to go for public transport or ask someone to share a ride with you.

True eco-warriors can find numerous ways to make their celebrations even more green. However, taking into account the few points mentioned here you are already doing significant actions to lighten the eco-backpack of your party. Have fun!