Reclaim Your holidays: Plan a ‘green’ gathering

“Theme parties are popular,” says Kristi Cooper, a family life program specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “‘Green' your next holiday gathering with these ideas.”

Decorations

• Use natural decorations such as gourds, pumpkins, prairie plants, cranberries, pinecones, pine branches and strings of popcorn. A pie plate, three pillar candles and an assortment of stones, pinecones or rose hips can make an inexpensive holiday display.

• Group houseplants and string them with lights.

• Choose LED (light-emitting diode) lights-they use 90 percent less energy than traditional lights. Consider solar lights for outdoor decorating.

Invitations

• Go “electronic.” It can be as simple as making a phone call or sending a cleverly worded email or choosing a “greeting card” service on the Internet.

• Get RSVPs to know how many to expect.

Food

• Make it as local as possible - support the local economy and gain quality food items.

• Determine the menu and make a shopping list. Buy just what you need.

• Ask guests to bring a dish to share.

• Call a local caterer that specializes in the use of local foods, and let the caterer plan the party offerings.

• Make conversations, games, exercise and other interactive events the center of attention, instead of the meal.

Dinnerware

• Set a trend this year by asking guests to bring their own mug or even their own dishes.

• Go eclectic-proudly use cloth napkins or plan to compost the paper variety. Buy extra tableware from the resale shop and re-donate it after the holidays.

• Choose “compostable dinnerware” if choosing disposable. But remember, compostable dinnerware is only compostable if it's composted. If it's thrown in the trash, it likely will go straight to one of Iowa's landfills.

Clean up

• Make dishwashing part of the fun. Start a “bucket brigade” or even a conga line to clear the tables. Select who will be washers, dry-ers and put away-ers by height, closest birthday or shoe size. Include everyone, young and old, male and female.

• Label a compost bucket and recycling containers with pictures showing what goes in each.

For more information go to www.reclaimyourholidays.org from the University of Northern Iowa Center for Energy and Environmental Education or the Facebook page “Reclaim Your Holidays.”