As corporations and businesses are becoming more and more aware of their impact on the environment and many are set to make some serious cuts, here are a few tips for planning a greener Christmas office party:
Send out invitation emails to your employees. There are tons of websites that let you send out free invites or you can personalise the text and template within your installed email programme.
To deliver the greatest cost savings and control over waste and energy, it is best to host the gathering within the office building or choose a sustainable venue and ask the right questions about their sustainability policies.
Ask your employees to use public transport or car share to help reduce their carbon footprints.
Ask your employees to bring their own dishes and use 100% bio-degradable and home compostable plates and bowls if you use your own place of work or use a catering company who has a sustainable policy who is eager to work with local and in season produce.
If you are planning to give gifts, look into items that are natural, eco-friendly and safe to produce/use, such as gift cards to eco-friendly stores or hand-made food or household items or ask your employees to wrap used items from home they think someone else needs or would appreciate.
Use a real tree and any products from last year like LED Christmas lights, Fairtrade candles or ask your employees to bring décor items from home.
Consider eco-crackers, Fairtrade decorations or making decorations out of newspaper or old book pages.
If your employees get together and give back with a bespoke outdoor activity day for colleagues or customers, whether it’s planting trees, managing woodland or keeping existing green space in top shape, you’ll be making a tangible difference to the environment, wildlife and local communities.
Planning a more environmentally friendly party can simultaneously reduce costs but the whole point of an office Christmas party is to boost morale and let staff know your values about them. Therefore it really is the perfect forum in which to highlight you value and care about the environment too.
As the awareness of global environmental issues grows, it is also important that you show your green credentials to your potential and existing customers.