APLS: Green on the Cheap

August's APLS topic couldn't be more timely for me -- "Green on the Cheap". The host asks, "Has the economy impacted how you live green? Do you buy fewer green products to save money? Or have you redoubled your efforts to live sustainably? What have you learned about living environmentally friendly on a budget?"

I recently wrote the post Less green in the wallet = Less green at home? about the backsliding we've done during this recession. Things like buying hot dogs for the kids instead of healthier options because they were practically free with the grocery store sale and coupons. Or going back to a regular shampoo/conditioner because I couldn't justify the cost of organics.

I decided to stop hanging my head in shame when my son's birthday came up, and to put my money where my mouth was. Or...put my money back in my wallet and put my conscience where my mouth was. Something like that.

Every kids loves going to a party at Chuck-E-Cheese or fun places like that. It's easy on mom and dad because there's no food to cook, no running around like mad cleaning the house in preparation and, at the end, you just walk away and let a 16 year old do the clean-up. But there is the cost of feeding the kids ($12.95 each - can you believe that???) and probably the adults too.

Instead of having the party out at a Chuck-E-Cheese type place this year, we decided to host it at home. It was a lot of work, but I didn't have to pay myself anything. We wanted to do something fun that the kids would enjoy just as much as an arcade, so Mr. Greenhab planned a treasure hunt adventure. Living in the mountains gives us lots of land to work with and explore. He hid clues along a half mile hike, with a treasure box at the end. How cool is he?

We kept the decorations simple. I've never really been one for plastic banners and crepe paper and themed plates and napkins. Luckily Fletcher doesn't seem to care much about it either. I went with bright, summer colors to make our deck look festive instead.

I made this table cloth (sorry, bad lighting) out of scrap fabric I had around (an old crib sheet of Fletcher's, a sheet from a set I'd bought on super clearance a few months ago to make tote bags out of) and also found a few pieces at the local thrift store and an estate sale. My plan is to finish the back and make it into a picnic blanket for future use. Table cloth: Free + no plastic waste!

Back in June, our Goodwill and Savers stores were having a 50% off sale where I scored a bunch of fun, brightly colored linens and things, which I also used for the party. Two bright yellow place mats sat under the drink pitchers, I used some of the left over green polka-dot fabric from the above tablecloth to cover a smaller table, and the cute floral napkins below were scattered in various places. They all added colorful touches without costing a thing.


Those little tins are vintage jell-o moulds I found at an estate sale 24 for $1 earlier this summer. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them at the time, but they worked perfectly for a tiny fruit salad.

One area where I saved a lot of money was dessert. I made cupcakes. $1.76 for two boxes of cake mix and $1.26 for a can of frosting. One of the dads at the party told us they'd spent $30 on a cupcake cake for their son's birthday this year. Mr. Greenhab gave me a big high five on that one...and he's not a high five type of guy (just a cheap type!).

While boxed cupcakes are not the greenest thing, a foodie I'm not. I'm sure that YOU could make homemade! Will the kids really care if they don't have a store-bought Batman cake? I think they'll just be happy to blow out the candles and eat some sugar.

On to supplies... I really (REALLY!) wanted to be eco-friendly in this area. But I'm cheap. And I procrastinated for so long that I ended up using paper plates. I looked into compostable plates and they really just cost more than I wanted to spend (not to mention the shipping costs, plus environmental impact of shipping). That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The cups we used were made from recycled plastic (then recycled again after the party) and we did use our regular silverware. Instead of napkins, which we don't use at all at home, I put out wash cloths in coordinating colors. I've been using the same set of wash cloths since Fletch was born. The dark colors are bleached, the light colors are stained and they're all just falling apart. I decided to retire them to the cleaning rag pile, and treat him to some new ones. I think I paid $4 for a pack of 18 at the Evil Place.

For food, Mr. Greenhab made chicken - one plain chicken nuggets for the kids and one teriyaki chicken for the adults. (Chicken was on super sale last week!) I made potatoes as the side dish and we had fruit too. That's it. Everyone was happy, and full. Do you go way overboard with food when you have people over? We usually do too. But you know what? No one cares, so keep it simple! We did that with drinks too - a pitcher with water and one with lemonade. No waste, no fuss.

My favorite part was the party favors! At most of the parties we attend the kids get goody bags before leaving. They usually have candy and little plastic toys in them. This year we did aluminum water bottles.

My plan was to make water bottle holders for all of the kids so they could take them on their adventure. I didn't quite get around to that, but they all clipped the carabiners onto their belt loops instead. They were steel grey, so we let them decorate them with Sharpie markers before the hike. Ingenious, I thought!

I found them on Amazon for $2.89 each which, I'm sure, means they were made in China but better that than giving them sugar and plastic crap that will break before they get home that is also made in China, right?

In all, we spent about $75 for a party for 20 people. Everyone had fun - especially the birthday boy - and no one even made fun of me about the missing themed napkins or Batman cake.