I like it!

I'm confused, how does this "prevent your having to wash a giant pile of glasses after your guests leave"? You still have to wash them.

@KimberlyM - I think what they meant to say is a "bigger" pile because guests will use only one glass instead of say, 3 or 4 (hopefully those folks aren't driving home). I will say that the stickers seem wasteful - why not just tell people to take only one glass? If they're too drunk to follow those rules the stickers might not do too much good anyway. Creative thought, though. Might work with metal rings like they use on French champagne glasses!

Another option is to just write on the glass with permanent marker and at the end of the night a quick wipe with alcohol (rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, or even vodka) will take it right off.

Beer pong just doesn't work so well in glasses though...

I like this. We already try to use markers on disposable cups when we have kids' parties, so this just takes it a step further. And I understand the need for this--if everyone's cup looks the same, and you set it down for a few minutes, you forget which one is yours! Good idea.

you're still employing a one-time use item (the stickers) that end up being trash, though. One idea might be to tell guests to bring their own glassware-- all the glasses would look different and everyone would have an incentive to keep track of their own. (Plus, no pile of glasses in the sink at the end of the night-- or scrubbing off of stickers that could potentially clog the sink.)

@E53 or bring those Sigg flasks and everyone can pretend they're Yosemote Sam.

Spelling.

I get the jest but can't imagine actually doing it. But then again I don't have huge parties, at most of my shindigs, its pretty easy to keep track of your cup.

For e53s idea, instead of asking your guests to bring their own cups, you could have a collection of different cups you use for parties (easy enough to find at thrift stores, pier one...). No name stickers necessary and a fun look.

There are 31 glasses in that first photo. Who’s going to want to stand around washing 31 glasses after the guests leave? Why do you keep that many glasses around in the first place? I hope you have a large family or entertain large parties frequently, because that’s an obscene amount of glassware. I’ll stick with throwing my compostable cups in the yard waste bin, or I’ll go with E53s idea of BYOC.

We have invested in enough glasses, mugs, and plates for entertaining--we spent less than $150.00 and now can use "real" glasses and dishes for at least 40 people (we throw at least four parties a year for 20-40 people--mostly work related). Yes, things still have to be washed, but it is still much greener and cheaper than going with disposables.

We also use cloth napkins--I inherited 20 dozen napkins from my mother's house so we always use cloth!

Maybe I'm just a little old fashioned (or just getting old!) but I can't imagine having people over for a party and asking them to bring their own glasses! We have a dishwasher, but even if we didn't, I know that it would not take very long to wash 31 glasses. Quick dip in hot soapy water, scrub around the rim, and done. I know there is still some waste with the stickers, but I think it is a much better option than throwing 31 or more barely used disposable cups in the trash!

My friend used to throw parties where everyone had to bring their own cup.

A lot of people forgot.

No way, they would totally not come off.

I have a mix of different glasses so that at parties people can recognize their own glass. It's a funky look, but not as funky as having yard sale stickers on your glasses.

:) for our last big party we bought coozies at the dollar store and sticky letters so everyone could make their own cup holder. Then everyone knew which cup was theirs and had a little something to take home.

One couple often had a lot of people over since they had the only house in our circle of friends.

They bought a big stack of colorful plastic (non-disposable) cups and a big pile of colored sharpies, and had everyone draw names and pictures on their individual cup. From then on whenever we visited, we'd just grab "our" cup and drink from that. They had a few non-named cups with cute drawings too, for any new guests.

It felt really special to have "our" cups waiting for us whenever we came over! But since they were plastic stacking cups, it was easy for them to keep a bunch in a lower cupboard, so it didn't take up much valuable storage room at all.

I know plastic is kind of persona-non-grata in some circles, but you could always get BPA-free, as safe as possible ones.

You can do the same thing with glass cups as well if you buy the right markers, but most glass markers have to be baked on to be permanent, so it would probably be easier to do ahead of any parties instead of actually at the party. First brand that springs to mind is the Pebeo Vitrea 160 Paint Markers, but I think you should be able to find some kind at any big craft store.

You could always use something like this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/69783674/15-off-sale-customizable-chalkboard-pint

Or you could buy a quart of chalkboard paint in any color, buy a bunch of thrift store glasses and get to work. You could get a whole lot of glasses done with that one quart.

Or you can buy a bunch of wide rubber bands (we get them with our mail every day), write names on them in ballpoint pen, and then just wrap them around the glasses. If you have the same guests time and again, just keep the rubber bands in a box and distribute as needed.

I think the suggestion of guest bringing their own glassware is unrealistic and impractical.

These ideas may seem to require a bit of effort but as someone who now lives in a region with severe environmental damage (read: New Englahd) I hardly think a touch of effort towards environmental stewardship is too much to ask. You think this is hard? Try living without water. Leave yourself a note, for cripes sake.

I like the ideas of the rubberband, chalkboard paint, and guests having their own personalized cup. I don't throw many parties but if I did, I would consider this. My nephew recently had a party in my front yard, not hosted by me, and his parents brought disposable cups so I brought down a sharpie for everyone to write their names on their cups to reduce waste by having everyone grab a new cup whenever they misplaced theirs.