Ecoccasions

Tips to make your Halloween more eco-friendly:

Make your own Halloween costumes – check out what you have around the house or check out charity shops for items to use.  Use face-paint or make your own masks.  Use card board, alluminium, bin bags, unwanted material – black velvet is great.

Apple bobbing is a firm favourite.  It’s fun and healthy!  Just float apples in a large bowl of water and take turns trying to take an apple out with your teeth – mind the face paint! 

Bake cakes and anything else but add weird and wonderful food colouring.

Pumpkins are a great eco-friendly decoration.  Cut faces out of pumpkins and insert a candle and after use they can be thrown on the compost!  And in the future why no consider growing your own!  

Use up all the sweets you accumulate during the year for dishing out to trick or treaters.  We have about three jars by the time Halloween comes along and otherwise they’ll be thrown away.  Alternatively buy fair-trade, organic and natural ingredient sweets or dish out a variety of fruits, small toys and crayons.

Have a spooky time!

I know that I am not the only one who believes Halloween has turned into the huge farce in our celebratory calender.  Not only can you not walk into a shop without being affronted with every kind of costume, consumables, decorations and now spooky music CDs (quite absurd I thought) but the time shops are stocking up is almost as ridiculous as for Christmas.

Hey, now I don’t wish to be a party pooper, but as you may have gathered – there is a better way!

I was brought up on Halloween parties!  My mum used to black out our front room and create a ghost tunnel using mainly blankets and string…   I know I was spoilt!

The history of Halloween is ancient and interesting and makes you appreciate it all the more.

Check out our eco-friendly Halloween tips coming soon.

As featured on the Dragon’s Den the Tiny Box Company is going from strength to strength.   Ecoccasions support any company with the vision to use their business sense to help reduce waste and protect endangered species and forests. 

Shame on you Deborah Meaden – excuse for not getting involved being that the consumer did not yet provide a big enough market – surely with an environmentalist sympathy and portfolio you are in an ideal position to start changing perceptions and help market growth!

Whether you require a box for postage, wrap or tissue of the recycled persuasion check out what the Tiny Box Company has to offer!

Entertainment can be make or break for an event.  Choosing the right type for the occasion and finding a quality entertainer for your event can be hard work.  There are a great many entertainers out there but what makes them more environmentally friendly? 

Many companies and organisations now have environmental policies so a quick look on their website will tell you how they try and run their business using a more sustainable methods.  The type of entertainment, transport methods and locality to your venue can all contribute to a greater or lesser carbon footprint.

Some entertainment is not only brilliant but supports local groups.  I came across one of the best music and dance groups I have seen in ages at the park fair at my old stomping ground.  Kinetika Bloco summer school provides a two week period during the summer for 14-25 year olds – and out of that the professionalism of these youngsters provided a varied performance of carnival dance and song backed by fantastic music and costumes.  The crowd was entralled.   Booking groups like this, who have to raise fund to exist help the groups to continue and the hundreds of young people involved.

That’s just one example.  Check out what’s available local to you and don’t just think inside the box!

I love making a receiving handmade cards and gifts – it is so personal.  My son is our card-factory at home and gets on the case whenever there is a birthday, Christening or any occasion that deserves one of his handmade masterpieces.  The beauty, apart from unleashing your creative juices flowing - and perhaps dragging the kids from the TV for a few moments is that you know exactly what materials are being used.  You can get prepared by stocking up with a batch of recycled cards and envelopes.  After that you draw, paint or reuse and recycle all you want by creating a collage. 

Eco Emporia have some great gifts full stop, but if you are feeling a wee bit creative then check out packs to make your own gifts and cards.

Why are we talking about nappies? Not very exciting in terms of a present for a new mum, a newborn or a toddlers birthday come to that!    Well, I have two young children and I have to say that I prefer going to parties where people give me an idea of what they would like for their children.  We have so many toys that are left uplayed with.  And how many unwanted presents are taken straight back to the shop – or charity shop – or eventually the dump.  Not very green me thinks!

So, it may sound boring but I reckon that if you’re going to buy something for yourselves or others we should be practical – be green – waste less – and we all know that any young child would much prefer to play with the packing rather than the latest amazing new miracle brain expanding invention inside don’t we!

So, that is why we are talking nappies.  And I haven’t tried all of the disposable brands so help me out if you can, but I know these ones are good as they have been tried and tested by my little ones. 

Disposable eco-nappies have improved so much over the last few years.  I love the Nature Babycare nappies which I buy from Boots.   They come in all sizes and now do pull-ons which are great.  My local Boots doesn’t stock all sizes or the pull-ups so shopping online is a good idea.

If you want to make your gift a little more personal why not make a card or gift yourself to add to the package (check out some ideas). 

Look out for more practical gifts (and therefore more environmentally friednly gifts) – I’m sure they will be very much appreciated!

Nick

If you want to take into consideration the journeys of delegates and speakers as well as the environmental and social policies of venues themselves this is a good place to start.  

The Conference People will find the right venue for your event.  Having researched worldwide and shortlisted the greenest venues, The Conference People will help you find a venue suitable to your needs and in line with your environmentally friendly and socially responsible principles.

My wedding favours were simple. Just a bar of Fair-Trade Divine chocolate, a selection of plain, white and milk at every setting.  I bought these from Tariro by the box.  The heart logo makes these a cheap and cheerful favour and helps to spread the word I felt to those who hadn’t come across a Fair-Trade choc before!

Recycled favour boxes can hide away little treasures of your choice.

Write a comment and share what and who you used to make yours a more eco-friendly wedding.

I used a lovely straw flecked paper for my place names.  This hand made card had straw pieces running through which gave a fabulous gold shimmer in places mixed a rustic hand-made look.

For our table plan I printed the lists on the 100% recycled paper which was used inside the invitations and stuck them on a hand-made sheet of wrapping paper from Tariro.  This large piece was perfect and made a simple but beautiful table plan laced with dried bougainvillaea – the same type of flower petals we used for our confetti – and our wedding photo album.

First impressions are always so important.  I wanted our invitations to say something personal about us in the way they looked and made.  I found the most fabulous 100% recycled card and paper to use and found the choice is getting better all the time.

We had quite a package for the invitation which included cards with an inner page and matching envelopes, as well as an information sheet (or two).  We put all the information on a website but just knew we’d get loads of calls if the information wasn’t there in black and white!  I didn’t feel so bad as all the card and paper was 100% recycled!

I went for ivory paper from a small efficient stationary company called Recycled Paper Supplies.  The website is straighforward to use and the stock is displayed online.  Ordering a sample is a must unless you know the range – this helped me make a decision on which colour, texture and thickness to use.  Ready scored greeting cards are a great bonus when you’ve got a few (hundred!) invitations to make and don’t forget to order the recylced address lables!

Search through the selections, you’re bound to find what you’re looking for.

The card I used for the place names was gorgeous and what about favour boxes?