Ocean Protection Through Plastic-Free Living
Every year I spend a few days talking to my state leaders about plastics. I work with a coalition of other non-profits to help craft, support, and pass plastic-related legislation. In “Current Plastic Pollution Bills” I talk about the bills we were focusing on this …
There are trillions of microplastic particles entering the San Francisco Bay each year. I dive into the report that quantified this pollution and go into what you can do to stop it.
Parties are a great time to celebrate and have fun. But they can also be extremely wasteful. From decorations and food, to gifts and giveaways, there can be a mound of plastic waste at the end of a party. So, what are the best ways to prevent this waste? With a little bit of planning and adjusting the way we approach things, we can have a plastic-free birthday party!
Let’s go!
The most zero waste way to send out invitations is via email or text. You can use an invite service such as evite.com or create an invitation on Canva.com (I love Canva) and send it via email/text.
Since I don’t have all the emails of the parents in my daughter’s class, I print out little invitations and stick them on their cubbies at school. If you decide to make your own, just avoid glitter. Glitter is plastic.
I’ve been to some parties where I felt like every food item was packaged in plastic, except for the pizza. Plastic bags of kid-size snacks, plastic container for the cupcakes, individually wrapped desserts, juice boxes with plastic straws wrapped in plastic, and the list goes on.
For my daughter’s birthday we like to have breakfast at the park. So, I brought some large reusable containers to my local Panera and picked up savory and sweet breakfast options. I selected hand-held items, like muffins and croissants, that wouldn’t necessarily need a fork.
Same with the fruit, I picked bananas and grapes because they could be eaten without utensils. I also threw in some hard-boiled eggs because my kids love them. Like I talk about in “5 Tips for Plastic-Free Dining“, choosing hand-held food options is a great way to reduce the need for plastic utensils. Plus, having hand-held food items makes it easier for kids to squeeze in some food while they run around and play.
I brought a large thermos I purchased for parties to Panera and filled it up instead of getting a to-go box. Those to-go coffee boxes have a plastic pouch inside and you don’t want plastic leaching into your coffee!
I knew that the pot was about the size of three of my large to-go coffee cup. So, I told the cashier I essentially wanted four to-go coffees. (I got a decaf coffee for myself.) Since you’re doing something out of the ordinary, you want to make things as easy for the cashier as possible. Knowing the approximate size of a coffee container is helpful.
I bought juice in large glass jars that could be pour into cups instead of individually packed juice boxes. I see those straw wrappers littered on the playground all. The. TIME. Party Foul!
For water, I picked up two glass carafes from Target and filled them with water. I haven’t bought a plastic water bottle in years. And like I mentioned in “5 Ways to Reduce Microplastics Pollution“, bottled water has up to 7 times the amount of microplastics compared to tap water, even when bottled from the same source! So, no bottled water for my guests.
We started a tradition last year, that instead of a birthday cake, my daughter gets a pink birthday donut and everyone else gets donuts or donut holes after she blows out her candles. Again, no little plates or forks needed, no need to cut the cake, and who doesn’t love donuts?
One of the fun parts aspects of talking about plastic-free living on social media is that friends and coworkers tell me all about their efforts to go plastic-free. Occasionally, someone tells me about how I’ve inspired them to start bringing their reusable coffee mug to Starbucks. I love hearing this! One of the parents invited to the party knew about my plastic-free living blog and brought homemade cookies on a gorgeous wood platter! She even made sure to tell me that no plastic was used in the making. Love it!
Now, I’m not a barbarian. I didn’t have everyone eat with no plates. I bought stainless steel plates and small stainless steel cups.
I provided coffee cups from our cabinet for the adults and utensils for anyone that might want one. I poured some heavy cream and sugar into small glass mason jars and provided some hot pink cotton napkins. Can you tell my daughter likes pink?
Party City stays in business because we buy themed party decorations that get thrown away afterwards. Before I joined the events team at work, plastic table clothes, cheap plastic decorations, plastic knick-knacks were bought with each event. Afterwards, the plastic table cloth and nearly everything on it would be rolled up and put in the trash.
As soon as I joined the team I suggested investing in reusable decorations and food service items. I bought linen table clothes, glass candy bowls, metal serving utensils, and a slew of reusable food service items.
For decorations, I checked out a Home Goods near my office. I found this ceramic pink unicorn-shaped coin bank and two ceramic gold decorative pineapples. I figured we could continually use the unicorn until she grows out of that phase and when it’s not her birthday she can use it to collect coins. The pineapples are great for summer events and my house has a coastal-theme (because I’m for the ocean and all) so it doesn’t look out of place if I used it as decor through the year.
When shopping for plastic-free decorations, the key is to look for items that you will continue to use. You don’t want to end up with a huge box of decorations that only get used once a year. (They get lonely in the box and need love.) Think about items you might want displayed in your kitchen or on a shelf. Perhaps you already have a beautiful decorative figurine that would be a perfect addition to the main table at the party.
If all else fails, a glass jar with some flowers makes a beautiful center piece. I normally get flowers without plastic wrapping at the farmer’s market, but my local grocery store just started offering some flowers with a paper wrapping. It’s a great option if I can’t wait until my weekly farmer’s market.
Instead of plastic balloons to mark our table, I made some tissue paper flowers balls and hung them on the park shade. I am not very crafty, so they didn’t turn out perfect–thus the far away picture. I do what I can.
Let me start by saying, it is ok to not offer a party favor. Think about every party favor you took home as a child. I bet you can’t remember a single one. If you have kids, how often are those cheap toys relegated to the junk drawer? So, consider not providing a party favor. Or if you do, really think about what the kids will play with.
One year we had a superhero themed party. So, I bought these capes and masks for the kids to dress up during the party and it was also their party favor. The kids loved them, and my daughter still plays with the ones we kept.
This year I bought these metal wind-up toys. The construction is not perfect, but I was working with a small budget. My kids love these.
So, being Asian, I’m very used to getting money as a gift. It’s just what we’ve always done in my family and I know other Asian families do the same. Despite the peer pressure to conform with social norms, I give kids money for their birthdays. And here are the reasons why:
Kids get an overwhelming number of gifts for their birthday. I’ve had other parents tell me that their kids prefer Christmas instead, because they get fewer presents.
Most of the toys are plastic. At every price range the toys are plastic and usually made in China.
A few weeks later, most of the toys are no longer played with. Of the birthday presents from the previous year, my daughter still plays with maybe two of them–one of them is a metal tea cup set that sings. (Where was this when I was a kid?)
And maybe the best reason, it saves me from having to go find a present and wrap it. Like most moms, I’m busy. One less item on my list!
For the same reason why I give money to kids for their birthday, I asked the attendees of my child’s birthday to not bring gifts. Or if they wished to bring a few dollars to contribute to a gift of her choosing. I know this will make some people uncomfortable, but we do what we think is best for our kids. And what I think is best for my kids is to get a few presents that they love and that are made to last.
Looking back, I should have put a limit, like $5 max. I thought in writing “a few dollars”, that guests would bring a few dollars. But the parents of my daughter’s friends are very kind and generous (and I guess not as literal as I am).
With her birthday money, my daughter ended up buying an Elsa dress & boots from the Frozen II movie. My mother bought her some Frozen light up shoes, and a Moana costume. And one of her awesome sent her an awesome book.
My daughter got a total of four gifts she loves, there was no pile of wrapping paper, plastic packaging, and twist ties to clean up afterwards and most importantly, she had a blast!
When people think about plastic-free living, they think we are missing out on things. We aren’t (well, besides plastic packaging). You’re not missing out, you’re finding new and better ways to accomplish the same things.
The goal of the party, besides celebrating my daughter’s birthday, was to produce as little waste as possible. I ended up with a donut box and banana peels in the compost. A glass jug of apple juice in recycling. Three soufflé dishes and the top of the heavy cream glass jar in the trash.
Had I thought about it ahead of time, I probably would have gone to another local bakery that had a savory croissant breakfast option that didn’t come in a dish. And I ran out of large containers, so I couldn’t send one with my husband to get donuts. Overall, I’d say I was successful, and it gives me room to grow for the next party!
So, what do you think? Can you incorporate some of these plastic-free ideas into your child’s next birthday party? If you don’t have kids, do you think you can apply some of these tips to your get-togethers? I think you can do it!
Still looking for more? Check out:
Green is the new black when it comes to plastic. But don’t fall for the marketing, plastic is still plastic when it comes to pollution in the ocean.
If you look at items littered on the street or overflowing from city trash cans, it’s overwhelmingly food and beverage plastic packaging. Even paper coffee cups are lined with plastic. Nearly every time I go for a run or go to the park with my …