Comments on: Eco Friendly Birthday Party

By: Imissbear

Imissbear — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:31:00 +0000

GO FOR IT!

By: Imissbear

Imissbear — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:29:00 +0000

This is amazing! I always struggle with the idea of gift bags…and usually end up giving prizes for games we play to be the “gift bag”. Now you give me the idea of used books to trade (which my daughter cannot get enough of to read). This will satisfy her AND give, hopefully, the love of books to others. I love you and I do not know you. Thank you so much.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:52:00 +0000

I know there are balloons made of 100% rubber-tree rubber that goes back to the earth when put in soil. I know all of Japan’s water balloons are so. Don’t know if it’s the same in other countries, but you can look into it and still have conventional balloons and tons of fun!

By: dani

dani — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:06:00 +0000

Another option for paperless invitations is doing online invitations. You can send them to the parents email addresses. A lot of wedding are going this route, too. Dani @ ONNO Hemp Clothing

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:55:00 +0000

I came across your site looking for ways to throw any eco friendly birthday and love your ideas! I’m a mom of two boys working away from home as a server and sometimes late hours. My husband is a sailor so is rarely home! I am interested in starting my own eco-freindly birthday party planning business so I may be home more for my kids, make money and still do my part to the environment. I would love to hear other mom’s thought and ideas on this??

By: Madeleine Booth-Smits

Madeleine Booth-Smits — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Thanks for
these great tips. We’ll be doing these in the future. I’ve used you as a
reference please check it out on http://nzecochick.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-party-time.html

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 06 May 2011 02:16:00 +0000

Last year, we had a cat and dog themed party for our six year old and a donation drive for a local animal shelter. It was a big success! Guests were happy and the shelter sent a letter of thanks to my daughter. This year we are having a nature theme party at a local nature center. I am providing simple and healthy brown bag lunches (in muslin bags with cloth napkins) and making cupcakes. Minimal garbage and minimal cost. The kids are going to take a short hike and do a scavanger hunt along the way.

By: Organic Cents

Organic Cents — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 03:58:00 +0000

When researching for my daughter’s 6th Birthday I found a site called Echoage that lets you send online invitation with RSVP tracking but you also choose a charity and guest donate to the charity rather than bringing gifts. After the party Echoage sends 1/2 the $ to buy a gift for the child and the other 1/2 goes to the chosen cause. I like this b/c the parent gets to help choose a gift for the Birthday girl or boy rather than getting a ton of things he/she doesn’t really need and the child also gets to feel great about raising money for a charity. This also provides a great chance to theme your party with the chosen charity’s cause! (We didn’t use Echoage this year but if we have a party next year we will give it a try!)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:02:47 +0000

PS-I cant believe I spelt my own name wrong….Stephanie!

By: Stehanie

Stehanie — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:02:00 +0000

My daughter is only 5 months and I have already been thinking of what to do, to have a green birthday party! I know some of my family don’t get our chosen lifestyle and am not sure how to approach the “please don’t buy any gifts, she doesn’t beed any toys!” Love the adopt a goat idea…my dad and step-mom adopted 2 goats as mine and my husbands christmas gift this past christmas!

By: falon

falon — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:10:08 +0000

We do this as well for our kid’s birthdays and with tremendous success. Our son raised enough money to adopt acres of rainforest in the Osa peninsula in Costa Rica and to plant quite a few trees in the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil. Not everyone went along with our request but most did and since then, 2 of the kids that were at the parties have done the same! Kids are so amazing!

By: Jamie Smith

Jamie Smith — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:31:41 +0000

What’s more enjoyable in having a party if you can employ it and can contribute with the ecosystem! Thanks for the information you provided

By: Leona

Leona — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:41:02 +0000

We did an eco friendly party for my 7 year old and 3 year old. (combined party). I used plastic reusable party plates and cups borrowed from a friend, we rented a gymnasium and equipment for the kids to play with, had a donation party where the birthday kids “adopted” a pet through World Wildlife Fund (so they got a teddy bear of the animal they “adopted” plus adoption papers, and we went home reject baby trees that are native to the area, donated by a seedling company that would have thrown out the trees (wrong size/shape etc) and gift certificates for ice cream cones from a local business. Invitations and gift certificates and tree planting instructions were printed on recycled paper. It was a fantastic hit! No gifts! ANd believe it or not the kids loved it. We gave them money to buy a toy of their choosing afterwards and they received gifts from family. But none of th cheap, made in China junk toys that break sometimes even before they get used! We raised over $235 and so we donated the rest to the local SPCA (local animal shelter). The kids took the money in themselves and visited the animals. They felt good and I felt good! THere seemed to be no complaints from anyone.

A fantastic idea.

Good luck everyone!,

By: Amber

Amber — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:07:44 +0000

Love it! What a great idea!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:03:35 +0000

I especially love the party idea of all the gifts being “animal shelter” gifts to be donated to an animal shelter. I think that is a birthday theme that even kids who don’t have eco-minded parents would enjoy. It would teach the kids about the importance of generosity and giving and at the same time be something that every kid would enjoy. What child doesn’t love dogs and cats… Great post!

By: kelli

kelli — Fri, 21 May 2010 01:32:22 +0000

Great site. suggestion for eco-friendly invites – e-vites! Also, we did ‘Please no presents, just your presence!’ on the invites and most people played along :)
Thanks!

By: Heather Smurr

Heather Smurr — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:42:58 +0000

Our son’s 7th birthday is being held at our local nature area, the Cibolo Nature Center. Not only do we not have to decorate (Thank you, Mother Nature!), but the kids get to explore the area and all it has to offer. Our main party activity is a “Nature Treasure Hunt”. One adult will be assigned to each of a small group of kids. The adult will hold and operate a digital camera for the hunt. The kids will be in charge of finding various items around the center, such as a tree that they can all reach around while holding hands, a rock shaped like a heart, a minnow (the creek runs through the park), animal tracks, animal scat, etc. Once found, the adult will photograph the item, so as not to disturb nature. We will be able to replay the photos to check for a winning group. Leave no trace!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:22:04 +0000

Hi Kerry,

I was surfing the interntet in search of wholesalers and manufacturers of green party supplies, because I’m starting also on online partybox business.

I’m located in Europe and just wanted to have some advice from you.

Thanks lisa

By: Leona

Leona — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:21:29 +0000

I was inspired by greenplanetparties.com too. We are celebrating the 3rd and 7th birhdays of my son and daughter, together. We are requesting NO PRESENTS but if anyone wants to make a SMALL donation, we are accepting donations for my children’s “adopt an endangered animal” fund through World Wildlife Federation. The birthday child will receive a small stuffed animal and adoption papers for $40 and a charity tax reciept for $30 for each adoption. My husband and I will then give each child a sum of money to purchase their own toy… something they want. I am using reusable plastic plates and cutlery that I purchased ages ago for a party, and I am giving seedling trees I got free from a replantation nursery who disposes of trees that don’t fit the standard, and gift certificates for an ice cream cone from a local store. I have had a bit of negative feedback about the donation part and no presents, but this is what we truly believe in, the kids are very excited about “adopting” an animal and helping save the endangered species, and are looking forward to a party with lots of kids and fun all around! We rented half of a local gymnasium with access to gym equipment such as balls and hockey sticks, little tike cars etc for the younger ones, so we don’t need decorations or games! I am very excited about it! Good luck to everyone doing this and congratulations on making an impact! Even if ONE person likes the party idea and copies it, think of all the Made In China toys that won’t be purchased, the plastic packaging etc that won’t be in the landfill, and the trees that won’t be used for wrapping paper!

By: Shannyn

Shannyn — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:49:14 +0000

this year it’s my daughters first Birthday, and since they don’t know the difference anyway (she’s my third, the other two fell asleep before we ever made it to the presents) we are asking everyone to clean out their closets and toy boxes and meet us at a local homeless shelter to give away all the stuff. There are alot more homeless families in this economy, and giving in honor of my Daughters birthday seems like the best way to be thankful for all we have.