How To Organize an Eco-Friendly Birthday Party

Throwing birthday parties can be a lot of fun, but if you’re trying to be more eco-conscious, it can be tricky. So much revolves around plastic and emissions, making hosting an eco-friendly birthday celebration difficult. 

But don’t be discouraged! There are plenty of ways you can throw an eco-friendly bash. Below are a few to consider. 

Why Go Eco-Friendly?

There are numerous reasons why having an eco-friendly party is ideal. Not only can it help you save money, but it promotes care for the environment. Many popular party features, like balloons, can damage the Earth and contribute quite a bit to pollution. By going eco-friendly, you can be sure that you show respect to Mother Nature while still having a good time. 

8 Tips for Organizing an Eco-Friendly Birthday Party

Find a Good Venue

If you want to organize an eco-friendly celebration, find a venue that encourages this. For an indoor party, look if the venue has eco-friendly features, like energy-efficient lighting or solar panels. You might also consider if its location is accessible to help cut back on excessive driving. Finally, consider a public park or local botanical garden for those who want to celebrate outside. There are plenty of options, you just have to look for them carefully. 

Send Out Online Invites

To cut back on paper and emissions, try using digital invitations to encourage guests to come to your party. 

There are plenty of online options to choose from. You can pick from a premade template or design your own. Then, when you’re done, you can quickly send them out via email or social media to announce the event. 

Better yet, unlike traditional invites, you can make digital ones more interactive and personal. For example, you can add characters, music, videos, and other unique elements that you can’t with printed ones. 

Use Digital Photos

Besides invites, consider showcasing digital photos. This way, you don’t need to print photos which saves ink and paper. Instead, you can display photos of the birthday person and incorporate videos to celebrate their special day better. 

Opt for Recycled or Reusable Items

One of the worst things about parties is that they create a lot of waste. Whether it’s plastic utensils or disposable tablecloths, it can create a lot of expensive debris. 

This especially goes for tableware which is typically made up of disposable plastic pieces. To cut back on this, look at things like bamboo utensils or paper straws which are designed to break down once they’re thrown away. 

Also, ask guests if they are open to contributing any previous party favors or decor for the party. This way, you can reuse items and not keep contributing to plastic waste or carbon emissions to make new stuff. 

Besides the usual decor, be inventive with your items by incorporating natural things. For instance, make confetti out of flower petals or leaves instead of plastic or paper confetti. Depending on the theme, you could also fill the space with bouquets and garlands, beeswax candles, shells, or LED lighting. 

Request Eco-Friendly Wrapping

If you’re expecting guests to bring gifts, ask if they can wrap them in an eco-friendly way. This could be with newspapers or a decorative cloth. Then, when the gifts are unwrapped, the covering can be reused or recycled. 

Brainstorm Activities

Every party needs to have some type of game or activity. 

As mentioned above, instead of guests previously wrapping their gifts, encourage them to bring it to the event at a gift-wrapping station. Here, you can have a table filled with eco-conscious wrapping tools, like fabric and paper. You might even have wrapping demonstrations to show how gifts can be covered with special folds, so tape isn’t needed. 

You might also include board games that can easily be reused and keep guests entertained. If the party is held outdoors, consider a nature scavenger hunt. You could have guests search for certain objects and whoever finds them first gets a prize. 

Besides this, you could have a planting activity. Guests could choose from various plants and make their own creations that they could bring home. 

Have Recycling and Compost Bins

You’ll also want to have some recycling or compost bins available for guests to throw their trash away in. This also makes disposing of it much easier when you need to clean up. 

Offer Unique Party Favors

If you want to thank your guests for coming, try offering them some interesting eco gifts. For example, you could give small plants away (like succulents) or reusable items they can use at home (like a reusable mug or water bottle). 

Organizing an eco-friendly birthday party can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. With these tips, though, you can easily put one together.