Children’s Birthday Parties: Think Green, Think Theme

{Editor’s Note: this is Day 9 of the EcoChallenge through the Northwest Earth Institute. You can read about the kickoff here.}

With October comes my daughter’s birthday – always a highlight for her and an eco challenge for me. I struggle with the amount of paper products and waste that often accompanies kids’ birthdays not to mention the focus on presents. (See my post, Children’s Birthday Parties are a Scam!) Yet I don’t want to deprive Sofie of a good birthday celebration.

I told her we’d have a party at home for six friends (I’ve read that limiting the number of guests to the child’s age is a good rule of thumb). Then I braced myself for the fairy/princess/superhero theme my daughter might choose. But she surprised me this summer when she saw me reading the Defenders of Wildlife member newsletter. She asked about the animals on the pages and I explained what ‘endangered’ meant. Sofie has always loved animals (so much that she refuses to root for Team Blake on “The Voice“ since discovering that he hunts).

Her response to the adorable animals in my newsletter: “I wish I could help them, Mommy.” Bingo. Her desire evolved into the theme for her sixth birthday. Now my job was to make it fun and interesting and kind of green. I loved the challenge.

Sofie’s “Save the Wild Animals” party will introduce kids to six threatened species of America including the gray wolf, the sea turtle and the northern spotted owl. Guests will have their faces painted like one of the animals and wear a card that reveals a few creature facts. (e.g.: The northern right whale is a slow swimmer at about 6 miles per hour.) Then the kids will go on a treasure hunt of animal-related clues, working together to unearth the treasure while Mom makes cheese pizzas. (Spoiler alert! Sample clue: Butterflies use their feet to taste their food. Take off your socks and use only your toes to capture stones and put them into the box. When the box is filled with at least 30 stones, you’ll receive the next clue.) If there’s time left over, there’s always graveyard hide-n-seek in the cemetery across the street.

I aim to keep the party green by sending email invitations; using our dinnerware and utensils instead of paper and plastic (keeping numbers low makes this easy to do); finding reusable bags for party favors; and decorating naturally (mums and pumpkins).

And we circle back to Sofie’s desire to help the animals by making a donation to Defenders of Wildlife (a symbolic jaguar adoption) in the names of her guests. (Certificates printed on scrap paper will be part of the goody bags.)

That is my favorite part. That the party’s theme gives thought to ecology and our footprint on this earth, that Sofie has an awareness of such things and that it makes the birthday about more than just the gifts she’ll receive – although, undoubtedly, that is still her favorite part. Use themes to make the idea of going green more fun.

In our family’s progress in the EcoChallenge, my husband has turned off his computer every night since Day 3 (I’m excited about this becoming a natural habit), Sofie is still committed to not using tissues and I am 5 for 5 in biking/walking within two miles of home. We also donated an old costume to our neighborhood’s local Halloween Costume Swap. In return we received a ticket to choose a costume next weekend. Hopefully we’ll find a treasure for Sofie to wear next year.

Next on the EcoChallenge agenda: going meatless for a week. We’ve had meatless dinners, even used to do it regularly for awhile (see my post, Meatless Thursdays), but, again, we got lazy. This time I figure if I am high, I’ll accomplish more. So I’m off to plan a menu…

Are you going green with your family? What’s your biggest eco challenge?

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Donna DeForbes