The holiday season is upon us and with every merry gathering, comes a lot of stress and mess behind the scenes. From hosting family, friends, or coworkers, across intimate dinners to larger festive functions, we’re here to help make the holiday season more sustainable for each & every host & the Earth. No sweat!
When hosting family: We know you love your family members, but hosting them in your own home, whether for a night or a week, isn’t always a merry and bright experience. When things get chaotic or overwhelming, it’s critical to set some boundaries, carve out alone time, and take a moment to reset so you can be your best self at the Thanksgiving table or white elephant exchange.
- Don’t let self care slip: Self care looks different for everyone—whether yours is a long bubble bath or a multi-step morning skin care routine, don’t feel guilty about prioritizing these critical rituals even when you are hosting others. Even if you literally need to schedule specific time in your day for self care, it’s OK to be a little selfish about your needs and mental health when you are investing so much time and energy in others. Our favorite self care secret weapons are our Skin Goals Facial Oil and plant-based body washes with indulgent essential oil fragrances.
- Reconnect with nature: Hosting guests in your personal space can start to feel claustrophobic quickly, especially when you add in pets or little ones. Instead of obsessing over the mess and noise indoors, get outside (solo or with the entire family) for a breath of fresh air. Bundle up for a walk in the cold, go for a bike ride, instigate a family pickleball tournament, take a day trip to a nature trail—spending time outside is truly restorative no matter what activity you prefer! We recommend pairing your nature excursion with our limited edition Juniper & Mint or Black Spruce & Fir deodorants!
- Get Ahead with a Game Plan: Whether you’re shopping for groceries or gifts, the stores are always slammed right before the holidays. It may feel like overkill, but mapping out a prep schedule can help you stay on top of your gift giving and hosting to dos, starting by working backward from the date of the family arrival or get together. What are the big no-miss order deadlines (plus add a few days for buffer just in case)? What can be bought or prepped in advance? The night before? The day of? For example, if you’re in need of clean beauty supplies to stock the guest bathrooms or to gift to your self-care obsessed family members, make sure to place your E&E orders by December 8th!
When hosting a party: It’s easy to get wrapped up in the process of party planning and lose sight of the true end goal: spending quality time with each & every of your loved ones! This year, it’s time to clean up the waste—both wasted energy and the truly unnecessary trash—to make holiday hosting more fun, festive and eco-friendly.
- Improve Your Invite Impact: It’s time to ditch the wasteful, traditional paper invites and upgrade to 100% recyclable invitations or even better—personalized evites! Digital services make the invitation process guilt-free and RSVPs more efficient for both guests and hosts. Because who keeps track of home addresses anymore these days?
- Invest in Local Ingredients: If there’s any mantra we live by, it’s that each & every ingredient matters and this rings true for everything from your clean beauty routine to the dishes on the dinner table. If accessible to you, rethink your ingredient list and try to source more staples from your neighborhood farmer’s market, organic produce store or local artisan shops so you know where your ingredients are coming from and can trust in the quality. Nothing beats ethically-sourced, pesticide-free fruits and veggies or farm-fresh eggs, cheese and meats—especially when in the right season! Your guests will thank you later for the best menu on the block!
- Clean Up Green: Sustainability is a core E&E value, but we can empathize with the difficulty of serving large groups in way that is both eco-friendly and efficient. If breaking out plates and silverware isn’t feasible, consider investing in biodegradable or compostable dinnerware. Many companies offer sugarcane options—which is the same plant-based material we source for our deodorant canisters!
- Don’t Forget Your Clean Beauty Toolkit: Last but not least, make sure you are getting ready for the festivities with tried and true clean beauty products that won’t let you down when things get stressful or the weather takes a frigid turn! Our aluminum free deodorants offer all day protection that will outlast any party circuit, while our Pristine Clean Facial Cleanser (hyperlink) and Skin Goals Facial Oil will keep your skin calm and bright all night !
Happy hosting!