Valentine's Day can be a very wasteful holiday, with all the commercial paper cards, stuffed toys, unhealthy sweets, cut flowers, and all varieties of novelties. Counteract all mass-produced junk you can handle by going green on your Valentine's Day's party. Here are some ideas.
1. Instead of buying cut flowers, you can make paper or fabric roses and flowers. A lot of scrap paper such as old magazines or textile from clothes you no longer use can be made into flowers. You can even give these homemade flowers away as favors after the party after you have used them as centerpieces and decor.
2. If you prefer to have fresh flowers for your party, consider using live flowers in pots. The small potted flowers or herbs would also do well as favors aside from being decorative items.
3. Choose to send electronic on online Valentine cards and party invitations, or create your own using recycled paper.
4. Chocolate is a traditional part of Valentine's Day, but instead of buying the regular "chocolate flavored" candies from the store, choose organic chocolates. You may also make your own chocolate desserts using locally produced cocoa and unbleached sugar, for example. Another alternative is to find a local chocolate maker and purchase your goods from them.
5. Make your party radiate with natural, red or pink soy candles.
6. For party confetti or sparkles for the tables, use a hole-punch, (heart-shaped if you can get one) to cut out colored scrap paper sheets. Used gift wrapping paper, old greeting cards, and magazine pages are good choices.
7. Serve organic, locally-produced food items and, if time permits, hand-make as most of the food as you possibly can. Some dishes can be made ahead of time and frozen to make it less stressful for you. The idea is to avoid prepacked, mass-produced foods.
8. Instead of plastic disposables, use washable tableware and utensils, washable tablecloth and tablenapkins.
9. Serve fresh fruit juices served from a punch bowl or a large container. Instead of serving beverages from cans and plastic bottles, use washable cups.
10. Cloth napkins add a decorative green touch for your Valentine's Day party. You can choose to make your own according to your motif or purchase them at an additional cost.
11. Encourage your party guests to carpool to your party to save on fuel.
12. Prepare recycling bins to contain recyclable items used during the party. Your guests should be able to recognize easily what the bins are for and these should be accessible to them without difficulty.
2. If you prefer to have fresh flowers for your party, consider using live flowers in pots. The small potted flowers or herbs would also do well as favors aside from being decorative items.
3. Choose to send electronic on online Valentine cards and party invitations, or create your own using recycled paper.
4. Chocolate is a traditional part of Valentine's Day, but instead of buying the regular "chocolate flavored" candies from the store, choose organic chocolates. You may also make your own chocolate desserts using locally produced cocoa and unbleached sugar, for example. Another alternative is to find a local chocolate maker and purchase your goods from them.
5. Make your party radiate with natural, red or pink soy candles.
6. For party confetti or sparkles for the tables, use a hole-punch, (heart-shaped if you can get one) to cut out colored scrap paper sheets. Used gift wrapping paper, old greeting cards, and magazine pages are good choices.
7. Serve organic, locally-produced food items and, if time permits, hand-make as most of the food as you possibly can. Some dishes can be made ahead of time and frozen to make it less stressful for you. The idea is to avoid prepacked, mass-produced foods.
8. Instead of plastic disposables, use washable tableware and utensils, washable tablecloth and tablenapkins.
9. Serve fresh fruit juices served from a punch bowl or a large container. Instead of serving beverages from cans and plastic bottles, use washable cups.
10. Cloth napkins add a decorative green touch for your Valentine's Day party. You can choose to make your own according to your motif or purchase them at an additional cost.
11. Encourage your party guests to carpool to your party to save on fuel.
12. Prepare recycling bins to contain recyclable items used during the party. Your guests should be able to recognize easily what the bins are for and these should be accessible to them without difficulty.