Have a "Green" Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving weekend here, most of us are either being entertained or hosting. With the latter duty falling on me this year (to my excitement), it got me thinking once again of hosting a "green" party. For this reason, I thought it would be fitting to re-post my previous hosting article from when the entire Barr clan came for Easter. So excuse the spring time colours, but there are some great ideas hiding below. And I will post more pictures next week from what will be a fantastic Orphan Turkey Feast. Have a great Thanksgiving!

I don't know about you, but I love to entertain. In a city that is as expensive as Vancouver, it is definitely the cheaper option. To make playing hostess even better, how about some tips and tricks to make it "green" - and when I say green, I mean it in a couple ways. What I want to know are ways to save money and be easy on the environment. Some of these ways may have a higher start up cost, but will save you more in the long run than running to the dollar store every time you host a theme party or want a pretty table. 

The event that inspired this article is this: my family came to stay with me for Easter long weekend. I was excited to show them around the city, go to Stanley Park, walk along the sea wall and the amazing weather was everything I could have asked for. But when I started planning for them to come it dawned on me, my apartment is barely stocked for 1, let alone 6. So I started thinking spare towels, sheets, blankets, plates. All those things you don't think of until a car full of Barrs show up in your parking spot.

While snooping and trying to figure out the best way to accomplish all this yet maintain a budget, I've stumbled on some tips and tricks that I thought I could share. First off, make a list. If you know what you need and only what you need, you'll save yourself from aimlessly wandering around the store and walking home with a crockpot (which I did). I needed pillows, towels and sheets so I hit up Home Sense. I got organic cotton sheets for $40 that I love, 2 super awesome pillows for $16 a pop and a set of organic towels that I gifted to myself and downgraded my neon pink set to the guest closet. It might have been an upfront cost, but now I'm stocked for the next time I have a large group coming to stay.

The dinner is more what I was focusing on for this article however. All the food and drinks and decor can add up financially, and the waste and sources can leave a mark on the environment. But as always, I want everything to look great. I found a nice colourful pastel piece of fabric at the thrift store to use as a tablecloth and bright coloured reusable placemats from Dollarama. West Elm had some amazing cloth napkins that we used (in the picture there are paper napkins - my Mom brought them, and they happened to fit right in). I needed two extra sets of cutlery, which I also found at the thrift store. For the rest, I decorated with potted flowers. They won't keel over like cut flowers, and still add life to the room.

As for the food, we bought a free run farm turkey from our friend in the Okanagan (there are lots of turkey farms throughout BC that take requests for the turkey-serving holidays) and veggies from Granville Island Market. Served up with homemade pumpkin pie, Summerhill Organic red wine, U-Brew white wine and Canada's first sustainable brewery's Stanley Park Amber Ale, our table looked awesome, was stocked with local, sustainable fare and came in under budget. A happy hostess and happy guests made this long weekend the relaxing, fun and easy holiday we were all hoping for.

Our next event we will be hosting is a spring cleaning Clothing Swap. We will make sure we keep everyone posted on the details, but sock it away in the back of your mind and check back every week for updates. And if you want any recipes that I've mentioned or have tips and tricks of your own to add, please let us know!

- Kim