Eco parties: plastic-free ideas for all occasions

Try out these tips for taking your plastic-free partying up a notch.

Parties and celebrations

If you’re wanting to add a bit of class to your party without the plastic pitfalls, give these ideas a go.

Glassware

Avoid plastic cups at all costs. Even the fancy champagne flute that we all say we’ll wash and reuse (but we know we never do). Proper glassware always adds a touch of class to an occasion, and most good supermarkets now run glassware hire schemes.

Waitrose offer a completely free glass hire service for parties. Just pop into your local store and book.

Majestic do free hire and delivery, so long as you order your drinks with them. They also do ‘Sale and Return’ on anything unopened at the end of your party.

Plates and cutlery

This is a no-brainer. Don’t buy disposable plastic plates, cups or cutlery. If you’re at home, your everyday homeware should suffice. If you’re out and about, take reusable tubs and jars, and forgo the cutlery for finger food and nibbles.

Children's parties

Take some of the hard work out of kid's parties by hiring a reusable party kit, which includes plates, cups, decorations and more. Search for your nearest zero-waste kit provider from the Party Kit Network.

Food and drink

Canapes - yes, finger food is the perfect way to add a touch of class to your party whilst avoiding plastic completely. A really simple way to make canapes is to buy pre-made puff pastry, cut them into small squares and top with pesto or tapenade from a glass jar, plus some grilled veg or sundried tomato.

Cocktail sticks are another opportunity to avoid plastic - go for wooden or bamboo ones instead. Then why not let loose your inner celebrity chef and assemble a cheese and fruit classic? Just make sure, when buying cheese, to head to the cheese counter and request it wrapped in paper or in your own container. Buying fruit loose also cuts down on the plastic.

Check out some more classic canapes with a modern twist.

Wine and beer

If you can find one near you, a refill station is a brilliant way to buy wine completely plastic-free. In London and Hastings, Borough Wines offers a refill scheme. Check your local whole foods store or deli to see if they will offer the same.

If you're buying single-use bottles, opt for corked bottles as corks are compostable. Screw-top varieties often come with plastic seals, and the aluminium tops are frequently not recycled.

When it comes to drinking beer, draught beer from a keg bought from your local pub or brewery appears to be the greenest option. A 6-pack of beer usually comes with a plastic holder. Metal bottle tops can also contain plastic seals.

Soft drinks

The most obvious choice here is to steer clear of plastic bottles of soft drinks. Cartons of juice are also a deceptive plastic-free no-no as they’re coated with plastic polyethylene.

Glass bottles of soft drinks are the best option, but can be costlier than their plastic counterparts. One way of making your soft drinks go further is to buy concentrated cordials in glass bottles and then dilute with water from the tap. Or just serve good old-fashioned tap water.

Picnics

The sister of summer entertaining, an outdoor picnic, is a perfect way to throw a relaxed, informal celebration with friends or family. There’s something quintessentially British about rolling out the checked blanket and sharing a sarnie or two on the grass that gets us in a celebratory mood.

And while we all love an impromptu celebration, the key to going plastic-free here is preparation. As tempting as they look, avoid those plastic tubs of pre-made salads and olives in the chilled aisle of every supermarket. Bring your own instead.

But BYO doesn’t have to mean bland. Here are some plastic-free picnic foods guaranteed to get the party started.

Olives, nuts, and nibbles

Most delis or local food markets will have things like nuts and olives either at the deli counter or self-serve in large tubs. If you don’t have a deli or food market nearby, some supermarkets such as Lidl have a self-serve nuts section – it’s worth popping in to see. Remember to take your own container with you.

Another "reduced plastic" hack to try is swapping your standard crisps (and all that non-recyclable plastic foil) for home popped popcorn. You can buy popping corn in bulk from most whole food stores. Even if you have to buy in a plastic packet, a little goes a long way with popping corn so you’ll vastly reduce your plastic consumption. Then all you need is a large pan and some butter and oil. You can have lots of fun trying different flavours like chilli flakes or brown sugar. Truffle oil and parmesan make for a particularly decadent treat for a grown-up party.

Salads

No picnic would be complete without a potato salad. And what’s better, most recipes make it super easy to avoid plastic and still throw together a tasty treat. Just make sure you buy your spuds loose, and stick to glass bottles and jars for the dressing.

Sandwiches

And speaking of picnic staples – here’s to the trusty sandwich. Keep yours plastic-free by buying bread fresh from your local bakery, as most will provide a paper bag to take your bread away in. Ask the baker to slice it for you in store if you don’t like a rustic-looking sarnie.

Pickles

Fermented or pickled foods are a great accompaniment to a sunny picnic. They’re also a fantastic way of using up any leftovers in the kitchen and cutting down on food waste. Why not have a go at making your own kimchi to bring along?

There’s no need to spend lots of money on plastic-free boxes to transport all this in either – simple jam jars (washed of their previous contents) make handy tubs for keeping picnic food in. And they can double as handy glasses for drinking from.

If cling film is usually your go-to for wrapping up sandwiches, try switching to beeswax wraps. They’re becoming much more widely sold online. Alternatively, have a go at making your own.

Barbecues

Barbecuing is a favourite British summer pastime. It’s not often that we get to cook al-fresco. When we get a sunny day we really go for it.

There a few things to remember to keep proceedings as plastic-free as possible.

Try not to buy disposable barbecues. They might be stacked high, on purse-friendly offers all summer long, but they’re also wrapped in lots of non-recyclable single-use plastic.

What’s more, it’s likely that the charcoal that comes in these disposable BBQs is far from sustainable.

The debate on which is more eco-friendly - gas or charcoal - is hotly contested. However, it’s clear that many Brits are traditionalists. The UK uses around 60,000 tonnes of charcoal each year - more than 80% of which is imported.

Namibia is the largest exporter of charcoal to Europe, and a 2015 investigation found a range of environmental and humanitarian issues with the country's industry.

To reduce the harmful impact of your BBQ, try to buy charcoal produced in the UK. If that's not possible, make sure you buy charcoal certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

So that's the barbecue bit sorted. Now - what to put on it?

Bangers, burgers and buns

As we’re aware by now, plastic packaging is almost unavoidable when shopping in the supermarket. The meat aisle is awash with plastic trays and plastic wrapping – much of which isn’t recyclable at all.

If you eat meat, take reusable containers or paper to wrap your purchases, and head to your local whole foods store, butcher's or deli.

If the supermarket is your only option, try doing the same at the in-store deli counter. Some supermarkets such as Morrisons have pledged to allow customers to bring their own containers. Although beware, not all supermarkets are as plastic savvy.

If you don’t eat meat, have no fear. As the number of veggies/vegans in the UK continues to rise, more grill-friendly meat alternatives are on the market. Finally, vegetarians and vegans have (almost) as much choice when it comes to charred food.

As we’ve mentioned above, heading to your local deli, whole food store or street market with paper wrapping or reusable containers is worth a shot. However, veggie burgers and veggie sausages are unlikely to be found unpackaged. Luckily there are a few plastic-free brands you should be able to find in your local supermarket.

Linda McCartney has a wide range of veggie and vegan burgers and sausages, which come in a cardboard box – and nothing else.

Other brands such as Granose do mixes for burgers and sausages in cardboard boxes that you can make up on the day and grill. You can usually find these in health food shops or whole food stores.

Or you could have a go at making your own. Check out our ultimate summer bean burger recipe.

When buying bread (baps, buns and barms), most local bakeries still use paper bags. If you’re in your local supermarket, avoid the aisles and head to the bakery counter to buy them loose. You may need to bring a tote bag or other plastic-free bag/container with you as supermarkets tend to only offer single-use plastic bags for their loose items.

Eco-friendly Halloween

Retailers have turned Halloween into a horror show when it comes to plastic waste. There are more than a few skeletons in the closet to watch out for.

Scary costumes

Avoid buying Halloween costumes. We know they're convenient but they contain lots of plastic that ends up haunting our soils and oceans. You can read more about the scary truth behind synthetic clothing on our microfibres page.

Halloween costumes and clothing on sale at 6 major retailers are likely to create 2,600 tonnes of extra plastic waste – equivalent to over 100 million plastic Coca Cola bottles.

Fairyland Trust Survey of Plastic in Halloween Costumes and Clothing 2018

Create your own monster from natural materials like paper and card. Or conjure up ghosts and witches using old textiles such as bed sheets and clothes – at least that way you won't be creating new plastic waste.

Pumpkins and treats

Resist the temptation to buy artificial pumpkins. Carving out and exhibiting your own designs is much better for the environment and actually quite enjoyable. Just remember to eat the insides – check out our pumpkin page for recipes - scroll down to point 4.

Instead of stocking up on lots of plastic-wrapped sweets, reward trick-or-treaters with home-baked cookies. Halloween-themed baking will go down a treat with adults too.

If your kids are heading out in search of sweets, give them a reusable bag instead of a plastic bucket.

Fireworks and bonfire night

The smoke from fireworks and bonfires can make air pollution worse. Plastic is also a problem – lurking in fireworks and their packaging.

So what's the greenest way to do bonfire night?

Attend a public firework display. You'll be helping to limit the number of bonfires and fireworks lit around the country.

If you do build your own bonfire, use dry, untreated wood and be careful to check for hibernating animals like hedgehogs.

Originally published in June 2018.