5 Environment-tea-lly conscious tips

As a charity, we’re keen to consider ways to reduce the environmental impact we make.

So we wanted to share 5 simple, easy and fun ways to help make your Afternoon Tea more environment-tea-lly conscious. 

1. Think about leftovers

It’s difficult to know how much food to have at your Afternoon Tea, so if you find yourself having any leftovers – get creative to avoid food waste. You could:

• Put together some goody bags for guests to bring home 
• Drop off slices of cake to your neighbours  
• Bring leftovers in for colleagues (you could ask for a suggested donation and raise some extra pennies) 
• Freeze for a later date (if you can) 

2. Explore using refill stations

When shopping for ingredients for your Afternoon Tea, explore using refill stations instead of going straight to the supermarket.  

They can be really handy, as often when you’re baking you only need a small amount of an ingredient, that can lead the rest of the jar sitting in your cupboard. Using a refill station will help you avoid waste and taking up cupboard space.

You’ll also be using less packaging, as refill stations allow you to use containers you already have.

Where possible, you could also try and shop local and use seasonal ingredients. 

3. Get creative with packaging

You can use leftover cardboard from parcels to make a selfie frame. To decorate the frame, use materials from your Afternoon Tea kit (and anything else you have lying around and want to use). The pie’s the limit when it comes to decorating.

You and your guests can then take photos with your decorated selfie frame. It’s great fun and the photos will remind you of your special day.  

4. Reuse or recycle materials

Materials like bunting, coasters and posters can all be reused and don’t take up much storage room. Reusing will cut down on waste and means you don’t have to reorder items each year, which cuts down on our printing costs.

We know some materials can’t always be reused, which is why the fundraising kit we send is completely recyclable – so if you don’t reuse, please recycle.  

You can also stay conscious of how many extra materials you’re ordering, and check out our online downloads, rather than ordering these in the post to save on packaging and transport.

5. Borrow or buy secondhand

If you need anything for your Afternoon Tea, instead of buying new, why not see if you could borrow or buy second hand?

For instance, if you haven’t got enough teacups / plates, it’s likely family and friends will be more than happy to lend you some. Or if you wanted a traditional crockery set, you could probably find one in a local charity shop – helping the planet and the beneficiaries of the charity.