Host an eco-friendly indoor summer party

Host an environmentally friendly summer party indoors and avoid both the terrible weather and the big environmental impact.

By holding a party indoors instead of in the backyard, you reduce both noise and light pollution and there’s almost no way your guests can litter, not to mention you don’t have to worry about canceling your party on account of rain (which face it, we’ve been getting a lot of lately in Pittsburgh).

There won’t be any light pollution from tiki torches and bonfires, and there won’t be any noise pollution from blasting stereos and screaming guests. But, if that’s not quite enough for you, here are a few more eco-friendly party planning tips.

-Don’t waste money on plastic utensils and paper napkins. Buy cloth napkins and break out the good china, your party will be classier and you can reuse the napkins and dishes which saves money in the long run.

-Serve only vegetarian dishes. Meat is worse on the environment because the animals eat more and produce more waste, not to mention all the energy needed to slaughter and prepare them. Plus, there’s less chance of giving your guests food poisoning or high cholesterol.

-Try to contain the party to a few rooms, i.e. the kitchen and living or dining room. This cuts down on energy use for lighting and you don’t have to clean rooms nobody will see so you save energy from vacuuming, and your guests will feel closer to each other.

-Finally, skip the party music altogether. With music blasting people have to talk louder to hear each other so if you eliminate background music you use less energy and your party will be a little quieter.