Carro Gardner brought a fresh and radical approach to the lunch at our March meeting, serving as head hostess her first time since joining the club in 2001. An avid organic gardener, environmentalist, champion of sustainability and new board member of City Park, Carro decided we should try to make our club meeting at the Grow Dat youth farm as earth-friendly as possible.

Toward that end, she led her hostess team in rethinking how we handle lunch. Individuals brought real tablecloths and napkins, stainless silverware, and plastic Mardi Gras cups….all of which could be washed and reused. We purchased biodegradable bamboo plates. Four members each brought two casual flower arrangements with plant material from their yards for the table decorations. Instead of water bottles, Carro brought a two gallon water cooler. Instead of box lunches, Carro ordered organic green salad from Grow Dat and 4 varieties of healthy delicious wrap sandwiches from Green to Go, all served family style. When we finished eating, any food waste was scraped into a bucket which was then used for composting. The cans from some sodas and sparkling water were recycled. And after everything was cleaned up, Carro hoisted a very small bag overhead to show how little packaging was used and how little actual trash we accumulated from serving 45 people.

In addition to the almost negligible environmental impact of the lovely outdoor lunch, when the bill was tallied up, the luncheon cost HALF of our normal garden club lunch expenses. Each hostess only needed to chip in $31.50 for a beautiful, ecologically sound lunch in City Park. We left the site without any trace of having been there!

Thanks to Karin Giger Eustis for writing up this great report on how Carro and her hostess committee made such a difference!