When starting to piece together plans for a bachelorette party, many of the ideas that are listed online involve purchasing themed decor, accessories, gifts, favors, and games. These purchased items usually come with a premium, like most things that are wedding related. The cost seems to increase as soon as you attach the word “bachelorette” to a straw, slipper, or pajama set.

The other issue with these items is that they are often wasteful. While some objects are sentimental and personalized, most things that are cheaply made and bought in bulk are later thrown away.

There are several ways to reduce waste for your bachelorette party to avoid making your bachelorette party a little more environmentally friendly. Here’s nine different ideas for how to have a sustainable bachelorette party!

1. Be in Communication with All Attendees

Our first idea is more of a general tip – you need to stay in communication to reduce waste with all of your bachelorette attendees. You need to have everyone on board. If you still want the cute merch that comes with traditional bachelorette parties, you will need to make decisions as a group.

Say you want to order matching silk pajamas, but half of the bridesmaids will never wear silk pajamas again. The silk pajamas are not a sustainable buy. Instead, allow everyone to have input and compromise on matching items to ensure that everyone will get use out of things purchased for the party.

2. Go Thrifting for Your Decor and Outfits

Pairing a thrifting trip with your outfit shopping is a great way to reduce waste for your bachelorette party. Instead of buying a fast-fashion cocktail dress, turn your attention to the thrift stores and hunt for a secondhand bachelorette dress. We’ve had great luck finding basically new dresses. If your guests are into it, you can also add a competitive thrift trip to the itinerary and see who can come up with the best night-out outfit.

Alternatively, you can also wear a dress you already own or borrow one from a friend. A borrowed dress will feel new to you without costing money or producing waste.

Your local thrift store is also a great place to find unopened decor and brand-new craft supplies along with cute smaller swag like mugs, candles, and accessories.

3. Decorate Lightly

Having a light hand when it comes to party decorations is a great way to reduce waste. Most of the items that you might decorate for a party are single-use. Choose one or two focal points for your decorations, and use recyclable or compostable materials made out paper. Reusing or thrifting party decorations is another way that you can decorate for the party without having to contribute to waste.

Or, choose a cute AirBnB or location with its own character to avoid decorating altogether.

If the party's destination is gorgeous or intriguing, there isn’t a need to add to it.

4. Avoid Passing Out Small Favors or Gifts

Think about your bachelorette party as an experience rather than a way to collect little pieces of swag. You can still give out bridesmaid gifts, but consider getting outfits that can be re-worn after the party. This means avoiding items that explicitly say “bridesmaid”, “bachelorette”, or “bride” on them.

Your guests will love this because every time they use or wear their swag, they’ll think of the memories they made at your party. We love useful tumblers, mugs, graphic tees, or pjs that match the color scheme or are in your guest’s favorite colors. Again, communicate with everyone to see what they would love to wear again and again.

If you do want to give out smaller gifts or favors, choose gifts that fall into the category of “consumables.” Consumable gifts are either eaten or used – think candles, chocolates, gift cards, coffee, etc.

5. Support Local

Supporting local businesses is a great way to have your bachelorette party have a smaller footprint. Think about buying local items for gifts, going to local restaurants to help your local economy, and staying local to avoid higher emissions.

You can still have a lot of fun with a local bachelorette — try renting a fun AirBnB, go camping, or host a lunch at a botanical garden. These parties also have the added bonus of requiring little to no decoration, which speaks to our third idea!

6. Rideshare for Those on the Go

Arranging a carpool to your bachelorette destination is a more sustainable option if you are all meeting somewhere for the festivities! This also typically works better for locations with limited parking. We also love Uber or Lyft if you’ll need someone else to drive you home.

Bonus points if you can walk, scooter, or bike to the party destination (and remember to arrange a safe way to get home!)

7. Avoid Plastic Utensils, Cups, or Disposable Napkins

Disposable napkins, paper plates, and plastic utensils can be a way to make a party theme cohesive, but can be so wasteful! Instead, try to source reusable utensils, dishware, and cloth napkins which will help eliminate waste for your party.

You can add these items to your thrift store shopping list, or most AirBnBs will have some in their pantry! Reusable cups are another great option to reduce waste at your bachelorette party, and these can also be given as gifts!

8. Embrace Digital Invitations

Printed invitations are gorgeous, but these designs are much cheaper if you choose to forgo printing, and they are more environmentally friendly. You can reduce wasted paper by sending out email or text message invitations, and they can still be just as gorgeous and well-designed as those that are printed. You don’t even have to be a graphic designer.

Check out our pre-designed invites and itineraries here.👉🎉

9. Keep it Simple

Remember that social media isn’t real life, and the sum of your experiences isn’t based on public perception. You can have a fantastic bachelorette party without needing frills, unnecessary decor, and items that are just going to end up in the trash later. The key to reducing waste is to just have fun.

With your closest friends and fun activities, you can have a great bachelorette party that subverts the traditional expectations of spending money on items that will be discarded later.

By purposely making decisions that help the environment or are zero-waste, your bachelorette party will still be just as fun for you and your bridal party without having to be harmful to the environment.

Even if your bachelorette party has some waste, being conscious about what you are purchasing and throwing away is a step in the right direction. We hope that you enjoy your bachelorette party, and we’re proud of you for thinking eco-friendly while planning!

If you loved this article, we think you might like our Complete Outdoorsy Bachelorette Guide.

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