The perfect New Year's Eve party: this is a sustainable and vegan way to celebrate

The perfect New Year's Eve party: this is a sustainable and vegan way to celebrate

We're excited for Christmas for weeks and then all the hustle and bustle is over in a few days.

We hope you had a nice celebration and some relaxing holidays with family or friends. Before the year comes to an end, however, there is another highlight coming up: New Year's Eve. Regardless of whether you are celebrating the end of the year in a small setting or in a larger group, we have summarized 5 great tips for a perfect and sustainable New Year's Eve celebration in this article:

Photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash

New Year's Eve: for many that means rockets, raclette or fondue and dinner for one shortly before 12. While these traditions may seem nice at first glance, some of them come with negative consequences for you and the environment. In particular, shooting fireworks should be avoided for the following reasons:

  • Wasting money

According to statistics, at the turn of the year 2018/19 we in Germany spent around 133 million euros on New Year's Eve fireworks items. Instead of literally wasting this money, we could donate it to social initiatives that are committed to a more environmentally friendly and fair 2020.

  • Animals suffer from the noise and bright flashes

Anyone who has their own pet knows the panic they experience on New Year's Eve. But wild and grazing animals also suffer from the shooting. This sometimes even causes disorientation.

  • Risk of injury during manufacture and use

Horrible reports repeatedly dominate the headlines, reporting serious injuries caused by the negligent use of fireworks. However, what are exceptions here are unfortunately a sad everyday occurrence when it comes to the production of fireworks in developing countries. The rockets are usually manufactured there under catastrophic conditions by adults and children. Explosions that cost human lives occur again and again.

  • Harmful fine dust pollution

On New Year's Eve, the level of harmful fine dust increases explosively. In many places, the concentration of fine dust in the air is higher than during the rest of the year. Many cities have a ban on rockets in inner city areas.

  • Garbage pollution from rocket debris

While the light spectacle of a single rocket usually only lasts a few seconds, the rubbish that remains on the streets afterwards is often visible for days.

Party planning: Tips for a sustainable New Year's Eve party

So that you and your guests will remember this New Year's Eve for a long time, we will give you some sustainable tips so that nothing can go wrong at your party:

food and drinks

Of course, a good New Year's Eve party also includes a festive menu. There are now numerous vegan and vegetarian alternatives for many of the traditional classics, some of which we would like to introduce to you here!
We hope you enjoy preparing it and enjoy your meal!
  • Main course
    Raclette with vegetables and vegan cheese: traditional cuisine with a modern twist
  • Midnight snack
    Chilli sin Carne : perfect for warming up after spending time outdoors

Vegan dinner

Entertainment:

For many people, the evening arrangements on New Year's Eve look very similar. But similar to fireworks, many customs and traditions are not particularly environmentally friendly and are sometimes even harmful to health. We have put together a few ideas for you that will help you set up a sustainable entertainment program in no time.

  • Wax casting instead of lead casting
Not only is lead casting very dangerous due to the hot lead and open flame, the fumes produced during melting are also very toxic. Since the solidified lead can only be disposed of as hazardous waste, lead casting has been banned in Germany since 2018. If you still don't want to miss out on tradition, you can pour candle wax into ice water instead of lead. This gives the same results but is less dangerous and not harmful to health/environment. Candles made from beeswax or vegetable oils such as rapeseed, sunflower or soy are best suited for this purpose.
  • Scrap Secret Santa instead of normal Secret Santa

We all know it. Finding a suitable Secret Santa gift that is not only cheap but also useful is not that easy. Especially on Secret Santa evenings when the Secret Santas don't know each other very well, the small gifts often end up untouched in the cupboard afterwards because the recipient has no use for them. But it doesn't have to work that way. How about just throwing away junk this year instead of buying something new?

During Scrap Secret Santa, each guest brings an item that they no longer need at home. This then goes under the hammer as part of a fun dice game. Click here to read the detailed game guide.
With scrap gnomes you not only get rid of your own unloved clutter, you also provide a fun and entertaining entertainment program. Tears of laughter are inevitable!

Highlight of this year's OGNX Christmas elf: Katha is happy about her new, squeaky Minion.

  • Slide evening
The time between dinner and the bell at 12 can quickly become very long without a little entertainment. How about an interactive photo and film evening, to which every guest contributes. This way, the party planning isn't left to you alone and a quirky little short film is created with the funniest stories and shared experiences from the past. You'll be surprised at what moments your friends remember that you may have long forgotten.

Welcoming the New Year
In the first section of this article, we already pointed out the problem of fireworks. If you still don't want to miss out on the lights and fire spectacle, here are some alternatives for you:
  • Decorate your garden festively with wax or resin torches. With their cozy, warm light, these provide beautiful lighting for many hours, are reusable and therefore much more environmentally friendly than all disposable rockets.
  • Attachments for flashlights instead of sparklers and glow sticks.
  • If you don't want to miss out on rockets, you should attend a public fireworks display. Professional pyrotechnicians come up with impressive programs that can never be matched by private firecrackers.

We hope this article helps you plan your New Year's Eve party. If you are still missing ideas for your list of good resolutions for 2020, you can look forward to the next article in our journal. We won't reveal any more details yet, but a little tip in advance: exercising more often is right at the top of the list! If you also want to work on your fitness in the new year, a large selection of sustainable and fairly produced sports clothing is waiting for you in our online shop! Take a look.