‘Tis the season to make merry with friends and family. And food is such an important part of many holidays this time of year. Perhaps your holiday plans include hosting or co-hosting a festive meal at your home. It can be difficult to have a perfect waste-free event, but we can try with these five tips to make your holiday dinner waste free.
- Say NO to plastic cutlery and disposable plates and YES to a “Party Pack”. What is a ”Party Pack” you ask? It’s a separate set of proper dishes – including cutlery, cups, and fabric napkins – you can use when you’re serving more than the usual number of folks. This avoids the need to use disposable tableware, and it looks better as well!
- Don’t be afraid to send leftovers home with your guests! Ask them to bring reusable food containers to the party, or dig through your recyclables bin and reuse those peanut butter jars you’ve been saving for collection day.
- If your guests insist on bringing a “host gift”, ask for an ingredient in the evening’s meal. Dessert or buns is always an easy one. But if the guest is a whiz in the kitchen, you could also ask them to arrive early and help you with the cooking or setting the table. Spending a little extra time together is a bonus, and it’s always appreciated to get extra help in the kitchen.
- When grocery shopping for ingredients, try to minimize single use plastics and food waste. If you make a plan – including choosing recipes – and write a list before you head out shopping, there is a smaller chance that you will waste ingredients either because you purchased too much or you purchased something you don’t need. This also gives you a chance to choose ingredients with less packaging, like fresh produce or refillable items.
- Serve a vegetarian or vegan meal. Eating less meat is one of the top ways a change in your diet can help combat the climate crisis (source). There are a lot of really popular and delicious – and easy – vegan recipes online these days that will please all of your guests.
If holiday values for you means gathering with friends and family, you can impart some of your climate and waste free values to them at the same time. With a little creativity and time you can ensure the meal is low waste, or waste free. It’s the time spent together that is the most important part anyway.
