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My family has a tradition for celebrating birthdays. Rather than getting the entire family together for every birthday, we celebrate month by month. In May, we have 5 family members with birthdays…my husband, my sister, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and my niece. So, for May’s celebration, I accepted the Glad One Bag challenge. What is the Glad One Bag Challenge? It is all about trying to fit all of your party remnants into 1 bag! To help with the challenge, Glad sent me this fantastic kit. I couldn’t believe how much stuff was in the box!
Before the day of the party, I did some brainstorming on ways to reduce the party waste. One of the ways, is to reuse items you already own. I made a silverware caddy by taking plastic canisters from the bulk size cashews we buy. I washed the canisters, removed the labels and added washi tape. I also used a blue plastic tray that I owned. I added washi tape to the tray to make it look more festive.
Well, the party was going to be held at my house but the weekend that we were planning on having it, we got sick and another family went out of town. So, we ended up celebrating at my brother’s house….and instead of having a little more than 30 people, there were 57 people! I brought my Glad One Bag kit with. The kids had a blast playing on the swing set, on the trampoline, holding kittens and playing with balloons.
Another way to help reduce waste at a party is to serve food that is from larger containers as opposed to individual containers. Although there were some cans of pop at the party, there were way more 2 liters as well as juice and water in pitchers.
We put out a Sharpie so that everyone could write their name on their cups. That way, they could continue to reuse the same cup for refills instead of taking a new one each time they need something to drink.
The salads were served from bowls and containers that we already owned. The chips were served directly out of the bags. It was a casual party, as you can see.
I was sent 2 different sizes of plates and we put both sizes out for lunch. The large size was for the adults and big kid, the small size was for the little kids. Another way to reduce waste is to use a slow cooker instead of disposable aluminum pans and containers that are often seen at parties. A slow cooker keeps the food warm and can be reused for years!
Later in the day we had dessert! I am getting hungry as I type this just looking at all of the delicious choices! Starting in the far left corner and going clockwise, is a homemade mocha ice cream cake, ice cream, homemade chocolate chip cookies, watermelon, homemade cereal bars, store bought sheet cake and homemade whoopie pies! Again, desserts were served in containers we already owned except for the ice cream and the cake, neither of which was completely gone at the end of the party.
Okay, so how did I do with the challenge? I failed 
BUT there are a few reasons for that. First of all, not everyone knew about the challenge so while I was sitting down eating, someone who was trying to be helpful, brought out a bag of trash out. I was not about to go dig through the garbage can, open the bag and try to fit more in. The second reason is that there were 25 more people at the party than I was planning for. Don’t get me wrong…that was awesome and since everyone brought food to share it worked out great. But 25 additional people create a large amount of additional trash. So, once the first bag was brought out, I went on garbage patrol. My mom taught me to stack disposable cups and nest paper plate in the trash so that WAY more garbage will fit. I think that we did a fantastic job with reducing waste!
BUT there are a few reasons for that. First of all, not everyone knew about the challenge so while I was sitting down eating, someone who was trying to be helpful, brought out a bag of trash out. I was not about to go dig through the garbage can, open the bag and try to fit more in. The second reason is that there were 25 more people at the party than I was planning for. Don’t get me wrong…that was awesome and since everyone brought food to share it worked out great. But 25 additional people create a large amount of additional trash. So, once the first bag was brought out, I went on garbage patrol. My mom taught me to stack disposable cups and nest paper plate in the trash so that WAY more garbage will fit. I think that we did a fantastic job with reducing waste!
Here is a picture of the trash before I left the party. In the picture above, the garbage can was placed in a convenient spot with easy access but later in the day it was put back into the kitchen cabinet where it belongs. In the back you can see the place where pop cans are kept. My nephew collects the can and turns them in for cash. Recycling is another great way to reduce party waste! Be sure to recycle everything you can because each item recycled is one less item in the trash. The Glad Bags I received worked great! The stayed put in the garbage can and didn’t rip or tear even though they were stuffed full! It is important to incorporate these tips into everyday life as well as additional eco friendly ideas such as using buying secondhand and donating what you can no longer use! That is something we’ve always done. If we teach our children to reduce their waste from the time they are young, it will become second nature to them before they even grow up! To learn more tips visit Glad’s website.
I received paper plates, platters and bowls, biodegradable plasticware and cups, 2 packs of Glad trash bags, a bottle of Green Works cleaner, napkins, a canvas bag, a yummy smelling soy candle and a portable, collapsible cooler! We always use Glad trash bags because they are the best…they stay in place and never tear. The 2 boxes of bags will last us a long time. I am not familiar with Green Works cleaner but look forward to trying it out. I love candles so the soy candle probably won’t last
long. And I love the green collapsible cooler! We are going to use that all summer long!!
long. And I love the green collapsible cooler! We are going to use that all summer long!!
Do you do a lot of summer entertaining? Glad has offered to send one lucky follower of The Gunny Sack, their own Glad One Bag Party Kit!
{How To Enter Giveaway}
**Must be a follower of The Gunny Sack via email, RSS or GFC to be eligible to win.**
**Must be a follower of The Gunny Sack via email, RSS or GFC to be eligible to win.**
1) Leave a comment below telling me a tip for reducing waste at parties.
Be sure to leave your email address so I have a way of contacting you!
Additional Entries:
2) Like The Gunny Sack on Facebook and leave a comment below telling me you do.
3) Follow The Gunny Sack on Twitter and leave a comment below telling me you are.
4) Share this giveaway via Facebook, Twitter or Blog Post & leave a link below to your share.
Giveaway is not associated with Facebook in any way. Giveaway open to US residents only. Contest ends on Saturday, June 16th at 11:59PM CST. Winners will be chosen via Random.org and contacted within 24 hours of the contest’s end via email.
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consultingon behalf of Glad and received a One Bag kit to facilitate my review, a kit to give away, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
Due to stolen content, I have found it necessary to only show a snippet of my blog posts in my feed. Thank you for understanding that I want to keep the content I work hard to create on my website where it is originally published: thegunnysack.com
Hello, I'm Tonia. Welcome to The Gunny Sack, my online place to inspire others through recipes, crafts and tutorials.
Wow, what a party Tonia. That food looks fantastic. I started to worry a little when I saw the pic of the kitten and you were talking about trash. I’m not a fan of cats but I thought it might’ve been thrown in the trash too! LOL The latest craze over here is to use the chip bag as the container. Just lay it on it’s side and open it along the seam at the back and pry open so it’s like a bowl and easy to get the chips.
Anne xx
i use the most basic one… we leave a lot of sharpie markers around, and ask folks to write their names on their plastic cups and then reuse them instead of getting a new cup with each drink.
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Serve punch bowl drinks or jugs of drinks instead of canned drinks.
Serve lots of finger foods that don’t require plates – that should reduce some waste
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What a neat party! I love your washi tape upgrade. A great tip for reducing waste is so obvious but we reuse our summer dishes. We have a hardy set of melamine dishes and we use them for a TON of summer entertaining.
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That looks like such a fun party! My tip is I have glass jars I save and we put a sharpie out so everyone knows whose is whose. The reason for the jars is in the event one gets broken…no loss just a quick clean up.(Iamsucceeding@gmail.com)
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We always have a sharpie out near the cups so everyone is not using multiple cups. We use the small paper plates when we serve cake or dessert. I also will use washable serveware and dishes if the party is small enough.
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I always try to reuse and use less!!! Great ideas and thanks for sharing!!!
I always try to reuse and use less!!! Great ideas and thanks for sharing!!!
We’ve been writing our names on cups for years!
I love how you store your plastic utensils! Those boxes get dumped out with a big mess all the time. I need to copy your cool plastic jar idea!
What awesome tips!
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What a great party!
To save on waste, we make a lot of finger foods for our parties…that way we don’t have to wash/throw away a lot of utensils…
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Gosh, I entertain nearly every Sunday. It just seems my teenager and his “peeps” end up at my place. Practicing recycling really helps reduce that trash.
I love the recycled nut containers for utensils– I have a few to use right now and that is exactly what will do! Thanks for the chance to win.
Great tips, sounds like a fun get together!
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We use washable plates and we buy big cases of pop in glass bottles from Sams club, souvenirs or for crafts! And the bottle caps are great for crafts with dimensional magic!
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A great way to reduce party waste is to burn the paper products in a bonfire! We love summer bonfires and paper plates and cups get tossed on rather than being thrown in the garbage!
For parties with less than 30 people we actually bought a set of dishes from the dollar store – now we use those dishes (and not paper/plastic) dishes…it’s a little more work but everyone chips in and we feel better that we aren’t throwing more stuff away.
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For our parties, to reduce waste we usually serve our food on melamine plates that can easily be washed and we always put our names on our cups so they do not get mixed up! You had a great and yummy looking party!
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You posted some great ideas! I do my best to recycle as much as possible. One good tip might be to have both a garbage can and recycling can out. this way each person can dispose of their items in the appropriate can and it would be less work for the hostess! I follow you via e-mail and I love your blog!
We always do the basic labeling our cups with a Sharpie. We also put a piece of masking tape on the cans of pop, then use the sharpie on the tape to label the cans as well. Those mini cans of pop work well for the small children too!
we do drinks in cans and bottles and recycle them (the money goes to my mom’s food bank)
I do small plates for dessert to limit wasting a giant plate for a cookie.
I try to only use what is paper/plastic for other people eating. I use washable containers for the food and everything else. Thanks for the chance to enter.
Andrea D.
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I am a facebook fan of yours. Thanks for the chance to enter.
Andrea D.
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I follow via GFC. We try to reuse things
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I did a kids party once that all the food was “on a stick” so the need for plates, bowls, forks and spoons was eliminated. Worked nicely and we were outdoors so spills were no problem.
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bring 2 trash cans- 1 for recycleing and the other for trash- use snack foods- so you dont have to use plastic ware
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Use compostable spoons, plates, and forks.
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