Throw a party that’s fun for kids and kind to the planet!
It's more important now than ever to make conscious choices about the footprint we leave on the earth for the future generations, so they're bound to appreciate an eco-friendly birthday party! And it doesn't have to be hard; follow these tips and ideas to create a fun and memorable party that is kind to our planet.
Sustainable decorations and party favours
Instead of buying cheap, single use plastic decorations, table cloths, prizes and party favours, go for compostable or reusable versions.
For plates and cutlery, avoid plastic or even plastic coated paper crockery. Instead choose items that are home compostable or hire them from a party service or community 'things and tools' library. Or get your community centre/ local library/ kids school to invest in a party pack of reusable plates, cups and cutlery that parents can hire out.
Instead of plastic backdrops and balloons, use colourful paper streamers, paper chains and paper fans that the kids can help make and decorate, and can be used year after year or recycled.
Prizes and party favours are notoriously cheap plastic junk, often made in overseas sweat shops, that end up in landfill. Instead, use eco-friendly options like packets of seeds to plant, craft items like colour-it-yourself bookmarks, bird food or seedballs to put in the garden for the wildlife. This also has the added benefit of getting the kids closer to the natural world that we are trying to look after.
Tips for reducing plastic
As well as using reusable crockery and eco-friendly party favours, plastic can be reduced by providing food and drinks that don't have plastic packaging: instead of individual bags of snacks, make a large batch of popcorn to divide up into reusable pots. Instead of plastic packets of cookies, use ingredients from the bulk store to make party treats with your kids. Instead of bottles of water, juice or soda, use filtered tap water in a jug or water cooler (if the water in your area is safe to drink). And speaking of sustainable, water will be way better for kids' health than juice or soda and can be flavoured with citrus, fruit or herbs.
Use paper party favour bags instead of plastic and you could even put a small packet of pencils in them so the kids can decorate their own bags. Include some of the eco-friendly party favours mentioned above.
You can also ask your guests to refrain from bringing gifts that are bad for the environment, perhaps asking for thrifted items, handmade items or eco-friendly toys.
Using entertainers to minimise waste
Hiring an entertainer for your party can help minimize the environmental impact as they focus more on providing an experience rather than things which can impact the planet. Instead of playing games with single use props or craft supplies, an entertainer will have games and props that they use again and again. Instead of waste generating activities like plastic based or heavily packaged crafts, an entertainer can provide a magic show or a dance party.
Entertainers can produce a festive atmosphere with disco lights, props and costumes, which decreases the need for extra disposable decorations. The storytelling, interaction or games an entertainer provides means that kids go home with smiles rather than wasteful items that often end up in the trash.
Entertainers often offer balloon twisting. If the balloons are 100% latex and are disposed of properly they do break down over time, however if your party is in a park, near a body of water or at a nature reserve it is not advisable to have balloons as they can be harmful to wildlife. Ask your entertainer if they can provide something more eco-friendly such as face painting, giant bubbles, a magic show or treasure hunt.
And remember, if this is all feeling overwhelming but you want to do your bit for the planet, just choose one thing in your party planning to make more eco-friendly - if we all made one small change it would really make a difference! You don’t have to be perfect when trying to be greener, but even a small change can have a big impact.
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