Compost and Recycling

Your guests are likely to throw everything away. Leftover food, cups, plates, etc. If people have access to a trash, a lot just don't go to the effort to separate things out, unfortunately.

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I actually would only have one trash can at the venue to discourage trash and signs requesting that people be conscious. Everything would be either recyclable or compostable. Only the bar would have plastic, the plates and table settings are glass and china.

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You still may have people who ignore the signage - and in this case put trash in with recycle/compost. When my mom's best friend's daughter got married, she had people throw away silverware (like metal pieces that are reusable).

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Oh wow. I guess I'll leave the composting up to the caterer then. Thanks for the advice.

From my experience of hosting a party this summer with compostable plates…no guests will not! follow or notice disposal rules , no matter how clear you are with signage. That said, if you have serving staff or anyone to bus tables, I think it’s still fine to go compostable and simply give them the instructions (it’s easier to get a few paid employees to follow the rules than party goers!)

Renting is more sustainable. Most rental companies do not require you to wash them before you return them. Unless you have attendants specifically for directing trash disposal, they will not separate trash from recycle or compost on their own.

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I want to rent, but we have no source of water and can't wash dishes throughout the night. We'd probably need 1,000 glasses and I'm not sure if that can be done. That's why we're considering plastic.

View Quoted Comment Talk to your caterer or bartender and see what their suggestions are. They have experience working in a variety of settings including no kitchen on site. They can guide you through what works best.

So I grossly overestimated the number of glasses required. We're going to rent glassware to reduce waste. The caterer will take care of recycling and compost. Thanks all!