Fall goes Green

Fall has arrived here in Texas. The cooler weather makes me think about the holidays and decorating. There are so may ways you can dress up your house for fall, Harvest parties and the holidays in a eco-friendly way. Here are just a few ideas ideas, if you have others, let me know.

• Table fashions: Dress your table to the nines with eco-friendly, reusable table fashions including tablecloths, skirts, and napkins. Options made from sustainable fibers like bamboo, hemp, and organic cotton will amp up the greenness even more.
• Eco-dinnerware: Don’t clog your trash bin with disposable dishes, cutlery, and cups. Instead, choose table tools that are reuseable, recycled or biodegradable
• Living decorations: Opt for live herb or flowering plants in pretty pots for centerpieces. Or, display an artful arrangement of branches, leaves, dried flowers and stones from your yard or garden or a colorful bowl of fruit.
• Organic bouquets: Can’t live without vibrant blossoms? Seek out organic or local flowers to add a blooming green quality to your event.
• Ban on balloons: Find alternatives to balloons, especially those released outdoors. Even when released far inland, balloons can travel hundreds and even thousands of miles, ending up in the ocean where they kill marine life. If you can’t live without them, choose to play with balloons indoors, being careful to dispose of them properly once the party is over (in the garbage, that is).
• Finishing touches: Add the final touches to your special event with eco-friendly party decorations. Instead of disposable streamers, opt for reusable ribbon, scarves, or beads. Light the room with natural candles, and opt for banners and signs that can be re-purposed at future celebrations. If reusable items aren’t readily available, just be sure to opt for recyclable options—that means foil and vinyl balloons, signs, and confetti are out.

After the Partys over, you can continue the green with these clean up hints:

• Recycle: Put disposable soda bottles, beer cans, and wine containers into your recycle bin along with any paper, plastic, and tin waste.
• Compost: Whether it’s leftover food or decorations, much of what remains can be composted. This simple act will cut your greenhouse gas emissions while producing rich, organic matter for your garden.
• Green clean-up: Wash your reusable table linens in natural laundry detergent. Your dishes can be soaped up using eco-friendly soaps, too.
• Away for another day: Keep and reuse decorations for future functions, like tablecloths, streamers, banners, and candles.

The information for this article came from the wonderful Green Your weblog and is reproduced here under the creative commons license.