How to Have an Earth Friendly Tea Party

The first thing you'll want to do for your eco-friendly tea party is to have cloth napkins. These are easy to find and will reduce waste as well as the amount of chemicals and energy that are needed to make and package paper napkins. If you want to find some vintage napkins that's even better as that way new items won't need to be made and you'll be reusing as well as reducing. The same is also true for place mats if wanted.

The main focus of any tea party is the food and the tea. Cucumber sandwiches are a popular and common dish for tea parties. Why not head to your local farmers' market and find some local and organic cucumbers? While you're there you can purchase some organic strawberries to eat with your scones or dip in your clotted cream (if doing this be sure not to do it too early - the day before or the day of the party would be best), and maybe some peppers for making a savory and spicy cheese spread.

Jams and honey are excellent additions to a tea party, as well. Honey can be used in the tea instead of sugar as well as being enjoyed on scones, sandwiches, and more. Many farmer's markets include locally produced honeys and jams. Some will even have local butters or cheeses, and sometimes cream or milk as well. Perhaps you can even score some local tea. Pick up what you can and if your market doesn't have the kind of goods you're looking for check out a site such as localharvest.org to see if any farms in your area produce the kind of items you're wanting. Again, try to pick up your ingredients either the actual day of the party or no more than a couple of days before as organic and fresh foods won't contain strong preservatives the way grocery store foods do. Also make as few trips for ingredients as you can unless of course you're cycling to and fro. For an even tastier and more eco-friendly choice, find a local bakery to supply your sandwich bread and any other baked goods that you don't wish to make yourself.

For an earth friendly centerpiece, use cut flowers from your garden, find a local florist that doesn't use harsh insecticides, or pick wildflowers if you don't have flowers of your own. (Be sure to only pick common varieties and not too many as to not upset the balance of the native ecosystem. Clover would be a good choice, bluebonnets not so much.) Better choose a small potted plant, or go for a more modern look and stand interesting looking twigs and branches in a square, squat glass vase. If you go with cut flowers be sure to add the flowers and their water to your compost once they've begun to wilt.

Use glass or ceramic dishes of course, and try not to use any plastics. Any leftover food that isn't able to be reused in leftovers, and that doesn't have items like dairy or meat, put in your compost. Wash only the napkins and aprons that were actually used and gotten dirty, and obviously do so with a full load of washing. Since they're thin and small they can easily be hung to dry to reduce energy. You can go green with most anything if you put your mind to it.