Question: I'm interested in the idea of a party of a biodegradeable party. What would this entail? What part would be biodegradeable and what parts would you just take home, like the chairs and tables?

Polly Keen answered on 17 Jun 2023:

Thanks for the question. Parties involve a lot of single use plastic items. And plastic mostly comes from fossil fuels, lasts much longer than the party, and is often not recycled, and recycling costs money and energy. I’d envisage everything which only needs to last for the length of the party, and doesn’t make sense to reuse, is biodegradable. So balloons, banners, other personalised decorations, maybe cutlery and crockery (if it can’t be “forever reusable”) would naturally break down (and feed the soil / bugs) within a day or so of the event. Big items which can be used for many many years, such as chairs and tables and tents, shouldn’t be biodegradable. But anything which has a short lifespan, or is at risk of getting left behind, should be. We have lots of options of biodegradable materials now to replace plastic, but they don’t last as long, so a party is the perfect place to showcase them.