10 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Garden Party This Summer
Planning an eco-friendly garden party this summer?
Hosting outdoors gives you a natural advantage when it comes to sustainability — and there are straightforward choices across food, decorations, and logistics that can reduce the environmental impact of your event considerably.
At Blooming Haus, our sustainable ethos shapes everything we do. Here are ten ideas worth considering.
At Blooming Haus, our sustainable ethos shapes everything we do. Here are ten ideas worth considering.
Sustainable Garden Party Tips
1. Bring Out the Plant-Based Food
2. Swap Out Plastic Plates and Cutlery
3. Ditch Balloons and Other Decorations
4. Stay Local with Your Purchases
5. Go Organic
6. Send a Bring Your Own Cup Invitation
7. Encourage Guests not to Leave Empty Handed
8. Go Digital With Invitations
9. Choose Charities or Experiences as Gifts
10. Embrace Your Garden Environment
2. Swap Out Plastic Plates and Cutlery
3. Ditch Balloons and Other Decorations
4. Stay Local with Your Purchases
5. Go Organic
6. Send a Bring Your Own Cup Invitation
7. Encourage Guests not to Leave Empty Handed
8. Go Digital With Invitations
9. Choose Charities or Experiences as Gifts
10. Embrace Your Garden Environment
1. Bring Out the Plant-Based Food
Meat has traditionally been central to garden party catering, but plant-based alternatives are now well-established — and the environmental case for choosing them is clear.
Livestock farming is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas production and places considerable demands on water resources. A plant-based focus is a meaningful way to reduce the footprint of your eco-friendly garden party.
Livestock farming is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas production and places considerable demands on water resources. A plant-based focus is a meaningful way to reduce the footprint of your eco-friendly garden party.
There is a wide range of plant-based recipes well-suited to outdoor entertaining. A few ideas to start with:
– Grilled BBQ tofu kebabs
– BBQ cauliflower wings
– Vegan coleslaw
– Herbed potato salad
– Grilled BBQ tofu kebabs
– BBQ cauliflower wings
– Vegan coleslaw
– Herbed potato salad
2. Swap Out Plastic Plates and Cutlery
Disposable plastic cutlery has long been a default for outdoor entertaining, but the environmental consequences are well-documented. Glassware and ceramic dishes are a straightforward alternative — and where breakages are a concern, biodegradable party crockery offers a practical solution.
Plates and cutlery made from palm leaves are both fully biodegradable and increasingly widely available.
Bamboo napkins are a natural complement to this approach.
Bamboo napkins are a natural complement to this approach.
3. Ditch Balloons and Other Decorations
Latex balloons are among the more harmful conventional party decorations. They take six months to four years to decompose, occupy landfill in the meantime, and present a genuine hazard to wildlife that can mistake latex fragments for food.
Eco-friendly versions of traditional decorations exist, but cutting them out entirely is the simpler choice.
Cutting flowers from your own garden — cow parsley works particularly well — is an effective and entirely natural alternative.
Eco-friendly versions of traditional decorations exist, but cutting them out entirely is the simpler choice.
Cutting flowers from your own garden — cow parsley works particularly well — is an effective and entirely natural alternative.
Flowers bring colour and visual interest to a space without any waste. Asking guests to bring a few blooms from their own garden adds variety and gives the event a more personal quality.
For an additional option: paper chains made from saved magazines and scrap paper require almost nothing to produce and can be tailored to the space.
For an additional option: paper chains made from saved magazines and scrap paper require almost nothing to produce and can be tailored to the space.
4. Stay Local with Your Purchases
If there is a farmers market within reach, it is worth using it for your garden party shopping. The produce is typically fresh, often organic, and sourced nearby — reducing the transportation involved and the carbon footprint attached to what you buy.
Many towns and cities now run these markets regularly, as do rural areas.
Many towns and cities now run these markets regularly, as do rural areas.
Bringing reusable bags is a natural extension of the same approach — many are well-designed and carry the same practical use across multiple trips.
5. Go Organic
Wherever you source your garden party food, choosing organic produce is worth the consideration. Organic farming reduces groundwater pollution, limits the use of toxins near wildlife, and supports biodiversity — making it a consistent choice for more sustainable catering.
It also means you and your guests are eating produce that hasn’t been treated with pesticides.
It also means you and your guests are eating produce that hasn’t been treated with pesticides.
6. Send a Bring Your Own Cup Invitation
A simple addition to any garden party invitation: ask guests to bring their own reusable drinking vessel. Cups, flasks, and mason jars are all equally valid — the point is eliminating disposable options entirely.
If you’d like to build a small element of participation around it, offering a prize for the most inventive or personalised vessel works well as an informal activity.
7. Encourage Guests not to Leave Empty Handed
Limiting waste is central to any eco-friendly garden party. Encouraging guests to take leftover food and decorations home with them is one of the most direct ways to achieve it — and most people are glad of the option.
Two additional practices worth adopting:
Two additional practices worth adopting:
– Compost any leftovers you can. This is good for the soil in your garden as well as the planet.
– Pace the food. Rather than setting everything out at once, keep some items back and bring them out only as needed.
– Pace the food. Rather than setting everything out at once, keep some items back and bring them out only as needed.
8. Go Digital With Invitations
Paper invitations remain common for garden parties, particularly when a birthday or other occasion is involved. Recycled paper is a reasonable compromise, but avoiding paper altogether is the better option.
Digital invitations can be designed to a high standard and sent electronically — with no material waste at any point.
Digital invitations can be designed to a high standard and sent electronically — with no material waste at any point.
Canva and Evite are two widely used platforms for creating digital invitations.
9. Choose Charities or Experiences as Gifts
If your garden party marks a special occasion, gifts are likely to feature. Physical presents accumulate quickly and often go unused. Experiences — particularly those with a low carbon footprint — are a more considered alternative.
Asking for charity donations in lieu of gifts is another option worth considering.
Asking for charity donations in lieu of gifts is another option worth considering.
Whichever direction you choose, communicate it clearly. Make it evident that attendance is the priority, and clarify the reasoning for those who do wish to give a gift.
10. Embrace Your Garden Environment
An eco-friendly party in your garden is an opportunity to treat the space itself as part of the event. Existing flowers and plants can serve as natural decor — working with what’s already there rather than supplementing it with purchased materials.
For a more participatory approach, the occasion can also be shaped around improving or refreshing the garden itself. Guests with varying levels of horticultural interest can contribute in different ways — from planting and arranging to managing the food and refreshments.
For a more participatory approach, the occasion can also be shaped around improving or refreshing the garden itself. Guests with varying levels of horticultural interest can contribute in different ways — from planting and arranging to managing the food and refreshments.
Your garden plants and flowers can also help to control pests — a useful consideration if you plan to use the space for entertaining regularly.
See our journal entry for more detail:
Did You Know You Can Use Plants as Natural Pest Control in Your Garden? Here’s how
See our journal entry for more detail:
Did You Know You Can Use Plants as Natural Pest Control in Your Garden? Here’s how
Floral Displays for Your Garden or Outdoor Space
Not every garden has an abundance of flowers and plants to draw from. Even a smaller patio or terrace can be given real presence with well-considered fresh floral displays.
The team at BloomingHaus designs considered modern florals suited to outdoor settings.
The team at BloomingHaus designs considered modern florals suited to outdoor settings.
flowers by Blooming Haus
Our sustainable approach extends across everything we do: we partner with The Ecofleet for smaller deliveries, reuse flower buckets and packaging, and compost our organic waste.
flowers by Blooming Haus
If you’re hosting an eco-friendly garden party and would like to add a considered floral element, take a look at our online shop. We also create displays for larger events.
Call us on 020 3389 9609, or send an email to contact@bloominghaus.com.
Call us on 020 3389 9609, or send an email to contact@bloominghaus.com.
Comments or questions about flowers for a garden party?
Leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you.
Other Journal Entries You May Find Useful
You may also like:
