Ideas for Small Changes You Can Make to Create Eco-friendly Birthday Parties.
Children’s parties often generate a lot of waste, much of which can easily be avoided. However, it’s a big ask to try and make a party entirely eco-friendly and I think it’s more realistic and important that all of us try to make a few changes that we feel are manageable and affordable, rather than just a few of us trying to do everything. Perhaps you could opt for some eco party decorations, or maybe some eco party bags, or you might like to opt for a pre-loved fancy dress costume for your little one. Here are some more ideas of small changes you can make to to create more eco friendly birthday parties.
Tablewear
Biodegradable
If you want to buy ‘one time use’ tableware, you could consider buying biodegradable. Little Cherry has a bamboo range and Pretty Little Party Shop has a palm leaf range.
Compostable
For ‘one time use’ you could also buy compostable. Pretty Little Party Shop and Ethical Kidz have some compostable plates or Party Delights has some compostable boxes or these gorgeous woodland boxes. The Original Party Bag Company have some great dinosaur plates too. (NB. All compostable items are biodegradable, but not all biodegradable products are compostable).
Recycleable
It’s difficult to find plates that can be recycled, but you could consider food boxes. You can find recyclable food boxes at Kite.
Hire
Hiring tableware can be very cost effective and virtually hassle free! The Party Kit Network is a network of individuals, small businesses and community projects that hire reusable tableware (and decorations). You can find your local party kit on their website.
Buy reusable
Assuming you have the space to store it, this can work out to be a very economic option, particularly if you have more than one child. You can buy enough plates, bowls, cups and cutlery for 30 children for less than £30 at IKEA. Or you could buy a bamboo set such as these pretty scalloped ones from Party Pieces.
Buy preloved
You could buy second hand and then reuse it year after year or sell it on after the party, there is a Facebook page dedicated to this, or you could try Facebook market place, eBay or your local charity shop. Or if you are short on time, a great resource is Rumage, which ill search all your favourite secondhand marketplaces at the same time!
Community
Your school or class could buy a reusable set of tableware for all the children to use for their birthday parties. Perhaps a small rental fee could be applied to raise money for the school or a local charity.
Borrow
Borrow plastic tableware from a few friends so that you have enough to go around, or I’ve even heard of one family who negotiated with their local charity shop to borrow some tableware for a donation to the charity shop and then they returned it all the next day.
Party games and activities
Pass the parcel
You could wrap the layers in newspaper, or your kids drawings or you could use a series of drawstring bags, which you could use year after year. You could make drawstring bags yourself from scrap fabrics or you can buy ready made sets from Sew it Seams.
Eco craft activities
There are lots of fun things you could do such as building a bug hotel or decorating a bird feeder. You can find lots more ideas in my blog Eco Friendly Craft Activities for Children’s Parties.
Scavenger hunt and nature trails
These can be great fun for kids of all ages. Little ones just love hunting for things in the wildlife or perhaps some painted rocks. Older children could be given clues to follow and riddles to solve.
Gift wrapping
Reuse
You could reuse last years wrapping paper or gift bags. You could also reuse a newspaper, pages out of a magazine, wallpaper samples, your children’s drawings or even pages from a redundant road map.
Recycled and recyclable paper
There are lots of great recycled and recyclable wrapping papers available these days, such as those on Planet Wrap It and Plastic Freedom. Most importantly, you should avoid shiny and glitter covered paper as this can’t be recycled. You can find a good range of eco wrapping materials on Eco Craft. Most supermarkets are now selling recyclable wrapping paper too. Brown paper and coloured brown paper are always good options if you are not sure. Deborah Panesar illustrates recycled wrapping paper printed with vegan inks.
Brown paper
Brown paper can be recycled and it’s super versatile. You can decorate it to lend it to any theme or colour combination of your choice.
Fabric
Fabric can be used again and again, so it is a great eco choice. You could use drawstring bags or wrap in pieces of fabric, also known as Furoshiki. Country Living has some good tutorials. You could also check out the book ‘Zero Waste Gift Wrap’. You can buy fabric wraps at Pri Pri and Planet Wrap It.
Decorated tins
Whether you buy new tins or find some pretty vintage ones, they make a great gift box that the child can then use to store their toys and treasures in.
Crackers
Reusable
Reusable crackers are becoming increasingly more popular and easier to get hold of.
Homemade
Crackers are easy to make at home with toilet rolls and left over wrapping paper or wall paper samples etc.
Birthday cards
Make your own
You could, paint, draw or even collage with last years birthday cards.
Digital
You can create some lovely digital images these days, there are lots of free drawing apps, which can then be emailed or sent by text. You can also use mini-epic to create digital birthday cards.
Birthday book
Loved by Olivia have created a lovely book (to use instead of writing a birthday card each year), which has a page for every birthday up to the age of 18. There are questions on each page to complete, so you can keep a record of your child’s journey as they grow and also a space to include a photo.
Plantable
You can buy cards that you can plant, which then grow wild flowers, try shops on Etsy such as Blushful Earth.
Party bags
Party bags are often one of the largest producers of plastic waste at children’s parties. However, there are various options for making them greener. You could source paper bags, or use reusable bags or even make some yourself. There are also lots of party favours you can put in the bag that are less damaging to the environment and you’ll find lots of ideas in my blog Eco-Friendly Party Bag Fillers.
Alternatively you could do away with party bags altogether and just give the children a slice of cake to take home, or perhaps let the children know you have made a small donation to a local/relevant charity instead.
Decorations
I have a whole heap of ideas for decorations that are more friendly to our planet in my blog Eco-Friendly Party Decorations.
Fancy dress costumes
Making your costumes at home is a great way to ensure they are more environmentally friendly. You don’t have to be an expert with a sewing machine, you can easily repurpose items from your own wardrobe with a pair of scissors and some imagination! Alternatively, you could purchase costumes secondhand from websites such as Facebook Marketplace or Vinted.
Most party decorations and costumes are used just once and aren’t exactly subject to a great deal of wear and tear, so there is usually a lot of life in them left. So perhaps consider buying everything you need secondhand. There’s a Zero Waste Parties Facebook group, where parents can buy and sell preloved party decorations, costumes etc. or you can also find lots of party things on Facebook Marketplace or Vinted. And once the big day is over, how about passing on all of your party items to another family that could use them. You can either sell them on the platforms mentioned, or perhaps give them away on Olio, a free sharing app for passing food and household items to your neighbours.
