Sustainable Christmas Parties

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! With the Christmas music beginning to play, the nights drawing in and tangible festive buzz in the air, has your mind begun wandering to your Christmas celebrations? When planning your parties and gatherings in December how much thought have you given to the festivities being as environmentally friendly as possible?

The good news and you can count this insight as your personal gift from Marble Private. It’s perfectly possible to throw a seasonal, fun-packed, Christmas party in a sustainable manner, and we’re here to show you how.

Happy tree-mas

Every Christmas occasion needs an impressive tree, but the sustainability question is a tricky one. If you opt for a real tree, then by definition you’re killing a tree, even if one will be planted to replace it. If you choose an artificial tree instead, then you’re ultimately going to be contributing to the tons of plastic and waste which end up in landfill sites. In general for styling and decor, you should always opt for seasonal flowers and foliage – for December this includes rosemary, anemones, pussy willow, holly, berries and twigs. Try foraging for your own and style a centrepiece using only local, seasonal sources.

The tree conundrum can also be solved by the existence of rental trees. Innovative companies like LoveAChristmasTree offer a service of which they’ll deliver a real tree to your door, you decorate and care for it over the Christmas period, and then they take it away and replant it. There are similar schemes across the country so simply look for the nearest to you and enjoy a guilt-free real tree (because even the best artificial tree can’t replicate that Christmas tree smell).     

What in the nutcracker?!

You can’t have a party without crackers, but let’s be honest, they tend to be covered in the eco-kryptonite that is glitter, and filled with bits of plastic and scraps of paper that are going to end the night in a bin liner. The sustainable alternative is to invest in some fabric reusable crackers. The tube is made from recycled cardboard, you choose what to put inside and you can get them out for party after party.  

No matter what the material you opt for, it’s highly likely you would be able to reuse it and make something else – whether that be handmade Christmas cards created from old crackers and wrapping paper, or festive bunting made from old napkins and tablecloths.

Keep it fresh 

It’s easy to get bogged down in arguments over whether a vegan diet is always more sustainable than – for example – an organic, locally sourced, meat-based diet. Another quandary lies in putting on a spread which, as well as being sustainably sourced, will tickle the taste buds of all your guests. The answer is to source your party food and drink as locally as possible from smaller suppliers who will, as a matter of course, have a smaller carbon footprint.   

Light it up

If you (inevitably) want a bit of sparkle at your party, a quick and simple sustainable solution for any event is swapping out all traditional incandescent Christmas lights for LED equivalents, which use up to 80% less energy. You can also keep things cosy by lighting candles – but be mindful of candle tealight waste and opt for a reusable candle holder instead.

Category is: Glitter realness 

Glitter is a form of micro-plastic which is extremely bad for the environment, but everyone’s inner-Mariah Carey (always a little nearer to the surface at Christmas) cries out for a bit of glitter-based glamour at their Christmas party. Miraculously, there’s such a thing as eco-friendly glitter, which is biodegradable, plant-based and comes in reusable, non-plastic packaging. So you can sparkle with the best of them and still look that polar bear in the eye. 

It’s perceived as expensive to buy in eco-friendly alternatives or eat a plant-based diet, but we hope we’ve given you a glimmer of insight into how a Christmas party might have less of a carbon footprint. And let’s not forget that sustainability is not just for Christmas… This is by no means an exhaustive list and we know there are many other ways to make your celebrations sustainable, are we missing one of your favourites? Let us know!

Photo by Marble Private, Words by Hattie Creese