Green Up Your Get-Togethers
Greentips: May 2004
Summer is around the corner, and with it comes outdoor parties, family reunions, weddings, and other large gatherings. Events such as these have the potential to consume significant amounts of energy and generate a lot of waste, so it's important to consider the environmental impact during your party planning.
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Here are some tips for hosting a "green" gathering:
• Invitations: Informal events don't warrant printed invitations; call or email friends and family with event details. If you really want printed invitations, save paper by sending the information on a postcard or folded sheet of paper instead of in an envelope. Asking guests to RSVP via phone or email will also save the paper needed to print and mail reply cards.
• Venue: Minimize transportation demands by hosting your event at a location central to as many of your guests as possible.
• Lodging: Encourage out-of-town guests to stay at hotels close to your event. Ideally, these hotels should follow environmental practices laid out by the Green Hotels Association.
• Transportation: Encourage guests to carpool or take public transportation. If any guests will be traveling by air, suggest arrival times so you can reduce the number of trips you need to make to the airport. Arrange for a bus or van to shuttle out-of-town guests to and from their hotel(s). (If you're planning to serve alcohol, this also guarantees a safe return.)
• Food: Commercial agriculture, particularly meat and poultry production, is a major contributor to air pollution, water pollution, and habitat degradation. Help reduce your impact by using organic, locally grown meat and produce whenever possible-less energy is used for production and transport, and it tastes better too! If you're hosting a barbecue, offer plenty of tasty side dishes so guests will fill up and eat less meat. Don't forget veggie burgers and hot dogs for guests who prefer not to eat meat.
• Energy use and pollution: In addition to the electricity your event will require, guest travel and food production will consume energy and also release carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas primarily responsible for global warming. Make your event "climate neutral" by investing in zero- or negative-emission projects, such as the construction of renewable energy facilities or the planting of trees, that offset the carbon dioxide produced by your event. The Environmental Protection Agency's website provides links to climate calculators you can use to estimate your event's total energy use.
Keep these tips in mind year round, for birthday parties, business meetings and conferences, and holiday get-togethers.
