Macy's Eco-Friendly Birthday Party

Every year I claim "This is the year!" for the completely sustainable birthday party. We do a lot of our parties at home because they tend to be big. At home we can better manage cost, but then things like plastic cups or paper plates sneak in because we don't have enough of the real stuff to serve all of our guests.

I've thought about buying plastic plates for such occasions, rationalizing that I can use them for a long long time to come. But the truth is that I'd probably get sick of them after a few years anyway and wish I had something new. And then there's that whole moral aspect and the fact that I really prefer not to buy plastic.

So...for Macy's first birthday with us, we decided to throw her party at a local pizza place. They have music and dancing and are very family- and kid-friendly. Mostly we like supporting a family-owned small business, but having the party there added the benefit of eliminating paper plates and other disposables.

Macy wanted "chocolate cake with pink frosting and a princess" which I was able to make for the most part. I made chocolate cupcakes and found a princess candle on clearance for $0.98 at Target.

One of the things that I dislike about kids' birthday parties is the goody bags. (Did they have those when we were kids??) I don't mean to sound ungrateful because I think they're a very generous gesture. My issue is that they often include lots of plastic bits that get broken quickly and easily, then end up in the landfill.

For Macy's friends, I ended up sewing some cute cloth drawstring bags and stuffing them with notebooks, pencils and some fruit snacks. I even saw one of the little girls carrying hers at school on Monday, so I guess they were a hit!

The only waste I ended up with was the plastic wrapper from the princess candle. I have to say, I feel really good about that! Since we're currently in "Earth Month" it was a great lesson for the kids about waste and sustainability.