How to Plan A Green Kid’s Birthday Party to Save Money & Waste
Monday, August 30th, 2010
Hosting a kid’s birthday party doesn’t mean whipping out the industrial size trash bags and sending shivers down the garbage guys’ spines on Monday. In fact, with a little bit of planning up front, reducing birthday party waste will save you money and time at future birthday parties and who couldn’t use a few more dollars and minutes?
Here are four tips that will help you do your part to make sure the world your little ones enjoy on their first birthday party is a clean as the world they enjoy on their 90th:
- Invest in reusable plates,cups and napkins- Paper and plastic are not the only items that convey a theme at a birthday party. Forgo the expensive disposable plates and put your creative juices to work on using food and activities that make your your theme instead. Investing in reusable, durable party goods in basic colors will allow you to reuse them at family get togethers and barbecues as well, saving money and time over paper goods.
- Make recycling part of the party repertoire- Kids love to help, and if you don’t have a single stream program in your neighborhood you can turn sorting into an earth-friendly educational game. Make sure recycling bins are in easy access for the little ones and any disposable party goods you do buy are made from post-consumer recycled materials and, in turn, are recyclable.
- Skip the plastic gift bags and send little one’s home with their own tree or plant- There are so many problems with plastic kazoos and noisemakers, and the fact that they end up in the trash after an hour of constant noise making is only one of them. Instead a little plastic toys you can purchase plantable seedling containers and keep kids busy while they play in the dirt planting their own seedling. Select plants that have names in keeping with your theme (such as a princess plant or have them plant tomatoes to accentuate a farm theme), and write the name of the plant and growing instructions on the side of mini watering cans for all of the kids to take home with them.
- Pick up reusable cupcake cups and a pretty serving tier- Cupcakes are not just the go-to treat for room mother duty any more (sadly many classrooms won’t even let you bring handmade goods in because of allergies, but we digress). Every shower and girls night has this staple treat so bucking up for reusable cupcake liners and a pretty stand to display them in will go a long way in your hosting bags of tricks. You can pick up liners in a variety of colors at many grocery or cake stores, and cupcake stands can be found for around $30 at just about any major retailer that carries kitchen supplies. Washing and storing the stands is a snap if you make sure it breaks down into smaller pieces, and many of the cupcake liners are top rack dishwasher safe.
Reducing waste and greening up your child’s birthday party is a cost effective party planning solution, and the clean up will take about the same amount of time if you have your dishwasher ready to go. So why not save your self time and money, and save the plant from all that waste?
Image Credit: Things We Make
