Declare your Independence in a cleaner and greener way this 4th of July. For some easy inexpensive eco-4th of July tips look below.

1) If you are holding a party in your home log onto Evites to invite people. Evites even has some decorative 4th of July evites ready for you. Take a look . Other eco-invitation options are: use the phone to invite, send recycled invitations via postal mail and send text messages.

2) Encourage carpooling to your house. Your guest can also bike or walk to your home if they live close by. It’s a good way to exercise before they stuff themselves with food.

3) If you are going to use paper plates buy plates made of recycled and or biodegradable material. Do the same with the cups, utensils and napkins. Preserves and Seventh Generation have a good line of recycled party supplies. If what you buy is not recyclable make sure it is reusable (ex. table cloth) so you can use it again next year or at another celebration. Real washable dishes are also an option, but washing these dishes can be tough especially if you had a lot of guest over. Maybe everyone can pitch in to help you wash and clean. Believe it or not some people like t help.

4) If you are going to buy soda and or beer have a recycle bin somewhere everyone can easily see it and dump their empty cans into it. Have several bins available for recycling around the house. Label them so people know where to put things.

5) Buy items in bulk and with the least amount of packaging possible. This one can be tricky since many bulk items still come with a lot of packaging.
6) Compost kitchen scraps, not including meats and oils. Have a bin for this too. People don’t want to go through the hassle of walking over to your compost bin, at least my people don’t-some excuse about bugs is what I hear, so provide a bin somewhere in the kitchen for them to empty out their kitchen scraps into it. Label this as well so that they know not to throw meats, or fats into it.

7) When grocery shopping for your party buy organic locally grown food. Avoid foods produced or raised on factory farms. Also avoid foods with chemicals and preservatives

8) Want to decorate with flowers, buy live plants and use these as centerpieces. Later you can add them to your garden or you can hand them out to your interested guest as gifts.

9) If you must grill and if you can afford it opt for a solar grill to grill your food. If not here are some other for a greener grilling.

10) If you are celebrating in the evening use soy candles and solar lights to power up your backyard and front yard for your guest.

11) Say No to Fireworks. Sorry to be the party pooper here, but as pretty as fireworks may be they are NOT at all environmentally friendly. In addition they are not safe and cause numerous injuries and fires every year. They are also unhealthily noisy and they cost so much money only to be wasted in a few minutes.

12) When the party is all done use eco-friendly cleaning products to clean it all up. To save money you can make homemade versions or you can buy them at your local grocery store.