No age is too young to learn about becoming eco-friendly. As a matter of fact, most schools teach recycling at an early age in a child’s education. Recycling and reusing is introduced to some children as young as preschool age. So why not throw an eco-friendly birthday party.
Show your child it is never too late to start incorporating saving the planet into most everything they do. There is recycled paper and there are also environmentally friendly pencils, so why not let the kids get creative when it comes to birthdays, as well.
There are many ways to add eco-friendliness into a birthday party.
Invitations
Traditional invitations have fallen by the wayside with the use of the internet these days. Have your child get online and create his or her own evite. This can be fun for them, especially if you let them check online to see how many guests are attending. It is much more fun to check online to see how the guest list is adding up than to receive a phone call responding the same.
Also, thank you cards sent via email are fun and creative, as well.
Decorations
Discuss the importance of how sometimes balloons released into the atmosphere are hazardous to some birds and animals. Balloons that eventually fall to the ground sometimes wind up in rivers or lakes. When fish see the string, they may think it is something to snack on and wind up getting hurt instead. In addition, birds may try to eat a deflated balloon thinking that it is a juicy worm instead. So purchase balloons that are biodegradable and break down when exposed to natural elements.
Make decorations from recycled materials such as recycled paper and use birthday candles made from beeswax.
Getting Crafty
Of course, no eco-friendly birthday party would be complete without the perfect craft. There are many ways to make crafts that are ecofriendly. A lovely caterpillar crafted from an old egg carton is a perfect example of how to get crafty for your eco-friendly birthday party.
Goody Jars
Instead of handing out plastic bags filled with plastic toys as goody bags, how about creating a lovely goody jar instead. Goody jars made from recycled glass are best. Filling them up with
chocolates or candies is a great way to ensure no waste involved. Glass jars come in pretty colors too. Of course, glass jars would have to be age appropriate. If it is a party with younger children, how about a decorated tin that is useful to store school supplies or hair supplies later on when all the candy is eaten.
Food and Beverage
As far as food goes, why not have a barbeque. A barbeque does not waste gas or electric and is fun for everyone involved. Instead of using paper goods, why not use plastic dishware that is safe, eco-friendly and can be washed and used again.
For beverage, having each child write his or her name on an eco-friendly plastic bottle of the color of their choice and fill and refill as they go along.
These are just a few awesome ways to create an eco-friendly birthday party everyone will be happy to host and attend.