Summer is drawing to a close and September is here, meaning the start of a new school year. It is at this time of year when many parents resume their routines, with their children going back to class, buying new school materials and returning to extracurricular activities.
In addition to all this, resuming their routines can also mean having birthday celebrations for classmates or friends. There can be a significant number over the course of the school year, which means not only a major financial expense but also the many resources needed to prepare these birthday celebrations.
Celebrating and sharing moments together is always a good thing, but if you are someone who is committed to the environment and to sustainability, you will certainly have thought about how to reduce the use of products and waste on these special occasions.
Here we have a series of tips or ideas, so that the next time you can hold a more sustainable birthday celebration:
- Reusable tableware: one of the great traditions when it comes to celebrating a birthday has always been to use disposable plastic or cardboard tableware. In this case, there is nothing better than using the reusable tableware you have at home. If this raises any doubts due to the risk that it might break with children around, you could also consider buying bamboo tableware, which is much safer and can be reused at other celebrations. Once you’ve finished, it can be washed and stored like ordinary tableware.
- E-invitations: the use of paper or cardboard to write them on seems to be dying out and using digital cards for invitations is becoming increasingly popular. Using e-cards minimises the use of single-use paper and cardboard and also avoids producing this kind of waste. It also offers a wide range of possibilities when making designs using digital tools.
- Food: we know that our fast pace of life can make it difficult to cook all the food for the celebration at home, which would be the ideal way to reduce the use of single-use packaging as much as possible. However, for every celebration you can consider cooking at least some of the food, even if you buy in the rest. When shopping, try to choose products with biodegradable or more sustainable packaging than others. Lastly, don’t waste any of the food remaining after the celebration. You can always find recipes for making the most of food to avoid wasting any.
- Decoration: another classic item when celebrating a birthday are balloons, one of the most dangerous forms of waste at celebrations, as they have a major impact on the environment and especially on wildlife, in addition to taking a very long time to decompose. That’s why it is preferable to use garlands or streamers for decoration. You can buy and use them for any following celebrations or even design them to your liking at home by reusing materials such as paper or fabric. If you cannot avoid having balloons, we recommend you use biodegradable latex balloons, which is a less harmful option, but always making sure that they do not fly away.
- Recycling: last but not least, a sustainable birthday celebration should include bins or containers available to properly separate all the waste produced at the celebration. As the host or hostess, make sure that your guests separate and dispose of the waste correctly when it is time to tidy up.
These are our ideas or tips to make your next birthday a sustainable celebration. If you’d like to find more tips or similar sustainable ideas, you can follow us on our social networks, @AciertaOrganica on Twitter and @conrde_madrid on Instagram, where you can find more ideas in our posts.
Having fun and celebrating is also possible sustainably!