Re-use gift bags and gift wrapping when possible

I am a huge advocate for saving any and all gift bags to reuse in the future. It not only saves a perfectly good gift bag, but it also saves you money!

Additionally, when possible, saving wrapping paper is a really good habit to get into. For kids, the biggest and arguably best part about opening a present is going crazy on the wrapping paper. As adults, it's about the aesthetic - so why not keep the aesthetic going?!

Lastly, another cute little alternative I've started is reusing newspaper and my paper trader joes grocery bags (when I forget my reusable bags) as wrapping paper. This makes gifts look super cute and it's different so you'll also get creativity points!

When hosting, try to avoid plasticware!

My absolute biggest pet peeve in the world is plasticware at parties. It makes no sense whatsoever to me to not use perfectly good REAL washable plates. But hey, I get it. It makes life easy.

When I host, I absolutely refuse to use plasticware. I use my normal dishes and cutlery, as well as my super cute mason jars for glasses and I provide straws of all kinds - silicone, metal and glass. Anything but plastic!

It may make the night or cleanup a little bit more annoying, but think about all the plastic you're not wasting!

When buying gifts, or just shopping in general, have your receipts emailed to you rather than printed out 

The literal first thing I do with a receipt when I get home from shopping is toss the receipt, so what's the point! Also, in relation to returning things, having it emailed to you means you won't lose the receipt. I take that as a win/win!

When it comes to buying gifts and gift receipts this can be a bit trickier, but I don't see any problem with having the receipt emailed to you and then you can forward it to someone if need be.

When going to parties, bring your own cutlery and such from home to avoid any waste of your own

Sure you may not be able to influence your in-laws to convert from using plasticware, but you can avoid creating waste of your own! So go prepared to any parties you may have and feel confident in your choices and actions to not create waste!