I suspect that we socialize more during the spring and summer months. Under the warm sun, patios bloom with cold drinks and conversation, barbecues get fired up, and parties quickly spill out on to decks and into back yards. Shifting these sweet summer parties to ones that are also waste-free can be both simple and inexpensive, with just a few small shifts to the status quo.

The first step is to keep invitations virtual. Creating a Facebook event or sending a simple email is perfect for inviting guests to your party without generating waste from paper invitations, and if you’re looking for something a bit more formal, sites such as Greenvelope and Paperless Post have given the cheesy e-vite a brilliant makeover. Virtual invites also allow you to track RSVPs, communicate with guests, and provide clickable info about your event.

To decorate, make use of the candles, flowers and greenery already in your outdoor space rather than stocking up on store-bought flowers, and consider using decorations that can be reused (like a fabric happy birthday banner, for example) rather than one-time use decorations. Skip the helium balloons in favour of large tissue paper pom-poms, and offer up any decorations still in decent condition to a free group or a site like Craigslist after the event rather than just tossing them out.

Next, hit up your local secondhand store for vintage linens that’ll last, like tablecloths and napkins. Shopping secondhand for these items will help keep costs down – perhaps even less than buying plastic table cloths and paper napkins for each event – and it’ll be far less heartbreaking if a guest permanently stains a cloth tablecloth when it only cost you as much as a cup of coffee. After the party, cleanup is as simple as running a load of laundry (maybe drying them on your clothesline?) and folding your linens for next time.

The most obvious way to cut down on party waste, of course, is by ditching the disposable plates, cups and cutlery. I shouldn’t have to do much convincing in this department – does anyone actually enjoy using those flimsy plates that fold in half when you pile them high with too much greek salad or drip dressing through the bottom? Has anyone in the history of the world ever actually successfully cut anything with one of those completely useless plastic knives? Beyond making teeth impressions on styrofoam cups (come on, don’t act like you don’t do this), there really isn’t much to be gained from using disposables.

Linens and reusable utensils will cut down on waste. Photograph: Alamy

Despite the disappointing experience of using these crap products, however, we sure do it a lot. About 40bn plastic utensils are used in the United States each year – most of them for a mere five minutes or less – and the EPA estimates that more than 780,000 tons of plastic and styrofoam cups are discarded annually. Not all of these come from backyard barbecues or birthday parties, of course, but going greener will certainly help make a dent in those numbers.

For most home-hosted events it’s completely feasible to avoid disposable dishware by investing in an extra set of dishes and cutlery from one of those secondhand stores we talked about earlier – maybe pick them up at the same time as your tablecloths!

Stocking up on one or two sets of cutlery is incredibly inexpensive and a stack of dishes (either all-white for a clean, cohesive look, or, my personal preference, a collection of vintage old-lady dishes with mismatched china patterns for a cute boho vibe). And yes, they’re breakable, but we’re all adults here – surely we can be trusted with real plates? Plus, at a few cents a piece you won’t be heartbroken if you lose one and sourcing them secondhand means it’s easily replaced if you do.

All of these party supplies – decorations, linens, plates and cutlery – fit neatly into a small box when not in use, and I lend them out to friends and family for their events, too. Yes, using the real thing does mean a bit extra in the way of cleanup, but is running one extra dishwasher load or laundry cycle really that debilitating? Even without a dishwasher, I’ve never found the task of a little extra washing up too onerous. The environmental impact of both of these tasks is certainly far less than it is to manufacture, package, transport and process the waste of disposable options.

With these shifts and a few other small tweaks here and there – paper straws instead of plastic, a large drink dispenser rather than individual soft drinks or juice boxes, providing a compost bin for food waste in addition to garbage and recycling bins – you’ll be set to celebrate all summer long, without suffering the accompanying garbage hangover the next day.