Earth-friendly décor lightens your celebration’s impact on the planet

This is it: the year you’ve finally decided to fully embrace environmental sustainability in your holiday celebration. You’ve sourced every ingredient for your feast from local farms, down to the chicken in the duck in the turkey. There’s nothing more you could possibly do to increase your sustainability score, right?

Just to be sure, you check Pinterest one last time, scrolling through endless aesthetic imagery for any ideas to make your sustaina-table really complete and ready for guests. Then it hits you, just as your finger hovers over a lovely beige arrangement. The table is set with a burlap tablecloth and placemats made of wooden slats that don’t fit your earth-friendly approach at all. That’s it, you realize, the last ingredient isn’t food at all, but the table itself!

We set the table with our heirloom glasses and utensils, adding ceramic bowls and plates made by Granada Hills–based Creative Fire Kiln & Kitchen and fair trade and sustainable Cypress Tree napkins and table runner from Ten Thousand Villages in Pasadena. The regeneratively grown fresh and dried greenery came from Hungry Gardens Urban Farm in Sun Valley.

The quest for the most sustaina-table family dinner has begun, but where do you start? The base, of course.

It’s always been difficult to find a tablecloth and napkins to match your giant “Live, Laugh, Love” mural and paisley accent wallpaper, but luckily there are several options available in cotton, bamboo, linen, hemp and even recycled plastic.

Perhaps a tablecloth isn’t to your taste, though. Linen and organic cotton table runners and placemats are also fantastic options to consider; they don’t fade as fast as those made of polyester or nylon. They won’t shed microplastics, either. There are plenty of local markets you could check, and you know the ladies in the sewing circle would love to help you out.

Having picked out a nice base layer, your eyes are drawn to the next element: napkins. Napkins made of natural fibers like linen, bamboo or cotton, like tablecloths, are reusable and wash very well. They can be folded into fancy designs to impress guests and absorb much more over their lifetime than paper napkins.

Hosting a big family gathering poses a challenge for your sustaina-table score, with all those extra table settings. While paper plates are convenient and disposable, they end up in the landfill because stains prevent them from being recycled. So you’ll need to buy more dishes.

You’ve been meaning to get a new set of matching dinnerware anyway. Besides, you’ll be able to reuse them the next time you host a gathering.

Ceramic plates, bowls and cups are affordable, and you can find a local artist who works in ceramics that you can buy from, with unique designs and lovely glaze patterns. Stoneware is also an elegant choice and non-toxic without any kind of special treatment while adding a contemporary-rustic element.

When it comes to centerpieces, your options are nigh-unlimited. You could go for a living centerpiece, perhaps a small arrangement of succulents or herbs that need little-to-no maintenance that can be moved to a sunny window while not in use.

The thought is nice, but you might feel a bouquet of cut flowers fits the theme of your dining room better. You don’t need a centerpiece for your daily life, just for the occasion (and for the ’gram). While more than 75% of all wholesale flowers in the U.S. are imported, yours don’t have to be! Seek out local growers who may have more diversity in their flower selection than most grocery stores, depending on the season.

Finally, with your table set and your sustainability score as high as you could possibly push it, you can kick back and relax as you wait for your guests to arrive.

But, you think as your eyes alight on the curtains in your living room, one more scroll on Pinterest wouldn’t hurt. – Adriel Chu

DECORATING NATURALLY

A sustainable fall tablescape is a beautiful way to elevate your holiday dining by bringing in texture, unexpected color, scent and beauty. When helping clients plan their fall entertaining décor, we encourage them to turn to nature and try an unexpected color palette, rather than the ubiquitous amber, yellow and brown.

TABLE TOPPING IDEAS

Create a stunning fall holiday table that can carry into December by arranging an eye-catching display of green and crème heirloom pumpkins in varying sizes, accented by soft green eucalyptus leaves, white roses, seasonal berries, acorns and glowing gold candles. The sophisticated palette of crème, white, green and gold creates an elegant aesthetic that complements most holiday dinnerware and doesn’t compete with the vibrant colors of the evening’s meal.

If you prefer a centerpiece using traditional fall hues, consider selecting natural elements that add colors complementary to orange, such as blue or purple. This combination of warm and cool colors will add visual interest to your table arrangement and can be as simple as incorporating blue hydrangeas, purple dahlias or fragrant lavender stems with seasonal pumpkins, gourds and greenery.

Winter produce can also add an element of the unexpected with pomegranates, persimmons and artichokes being a few of our favorite picks for a fall holiday table.

And remember, you can show off a sustainable, eclectic aesthetic by using non-matching elements, like place settings, and using heirloom pieces instead of buying new ones. – Gail E. Jamentz