This weekend I'm having some of my ski buddies over for an end-of-season BBQ. Now, much as I love to host parties, I am spatially challenged: my entire house is 800 square feet. That means I don't have tons of space to store dishes and glasses and even less space to let people sit down. My other big challenge: I don't have trash pick-up so I take all my own trash to the dump.
In an odd way, both of these things have made me very conscious about both what comes into the house and what goes out. While normally I might buy two dozen paper plates and plastic cups, I know that a) I am not going to have much space to store extras and b) I'm going to have lug all those used paper and plastic items to the dump.
My solution and Green Tip of the Day: Ball jars -- yes the kind of jars you use for canning. I keep a box of them in the basement and when party time comes around, I take those and wrap and glue different colored wide, cloth ribbons around them (which makes it easy to tell who's glass is who's) and use them for drinks. They are solid, don't tip over and can be easily packed back in a box. If there are leftovers, I wash the Ball jars out, scoop the extras in, put the lid back in and they make for easy, portion-controlled leftovers. I also invest in inexpensive linen napkins (see yesterday's blog post) and the extra flatware (instead of spending money on plastic, I've invested in some inexpensive but very nice forks/knives and spoon). And I use small china plates, ones you can hold in one hand and are easy to wash.
As for the grilling, I use gas (which is preferable to charcoal in terms of emissions— learn more in EatingWell's Ultimate Grilling Guide) and am planningt o make this amazing recipe below, which uses quick-cooking chicken tenders. I'd love to hear your tips for a greener dinner party too!
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