Eco Friendly Birthday Party Decorations
Swap Out To Eco Party Decorations
A Kids Birthday Party Decorations cheat sheet for some eco friendly birthday party swaps. Helping you swap out those nasty single use kids birthday party supplies for some sustainable plates and cutlery, eco bunting, eco friendly balloons and eco friendly birthday party supplies.
NSW is a major contributor to the massive single use plastic waste problem in Australia. According to the WWF Australia produced over 3 Million Tonnes of plastic last year. Alarmingly over 90% of marine animals have plastic particles in their stomaches.
There are actions our governments can take to counteract this problem, but we can do it right now! Simply trade disposable kids party decorations and party supplies for some sustainable options, go on throw a green party!
Curious to see how your state fares in the war on plastic waste? WWF Australia have put together a score card showing which states and territories are acting on single plastic use issue and which aren’t?
The scorecard awards states and territories with a green score when a policy is in place or scheduled to be in place. An orange score when states have taken some action or are considering phasing away from specifically identified single-use plastic items. A Red score is shown where no action has been taken.
Sadly NSW is falling way behind so we’ve noted what action our local gov has taken to date and some suggestions on how you can help.
It’s up to us the consumer to show our support to end single use plastic use for good. By trading our disposable party goods for some sustainable party supplies we can go a long way to help!
Plastic Straws
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Disposable paper straws are an option in your eco friendly kids party kit. Be aware there are plenty of suppliers that claim to sell sustainable products, but you need to check the fine print. Some products can only be recycled in a compost bin and others take several years to breakdown.
2. Those metal reusable straws that come with a little brush to clean them. Ah but that’s a pain we hear you cry! We know, we don’t particularly enjoy cleaning them either, but it’s better than those awful cheap plastic straws choking our wildlife.
3. Our favourite solution – ditch the straws, do you reaaaally need them anyway???
Did you know over 10 million straws are used EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!
Single Use Plastic Plates
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Compostable party plates (although these do need to be disposed of in the compost bin) – there are several biodegradable serving ware options around. Be careful you’re not being hoodwinked tho, there are plenty products out there claiming to be sustainable, some may only break down into smaller particles but never really become one with the earth again.
2. Use what you already have. Ok so it’s doesn’t match your party theme, you may not have enough to cater for all your guests or it may be unsuitable because it’s breakable, we get it. But it’s certainly worth considering.
3. Little Ones Kids Party Hire, hire out a colourful range of reusable eco friendly party plates. They are super tough, re-usable and available in a huge range of colours. See our party crate which is an eco party box of all our re-usable kids party decor hire products! They are so pretty and definitely get the stamp of approval from the eco warriors.
Single Use Plastic Packaging
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Where ever possible choose recyclable packaging. Bring your own bag or box and dispose of your packing correctly. Also see Redcycle available in your local Woollies and Coles which accepts certain soft plastics (be sure to check out their website for details)
2. Choose items which can be purchased from a bulk supply store without the all the extra packaging. Take your own containers and fill them up. (e.g. consider buying one huge bag of mix and match lollies instead of several little ones)
3. Choose reusable items that only ever get packaged once or not at all. We hire our kids party decorations over and over again. Think fabric eco bunting, an alternative to latex balloons like our fabric pom poms, reusable cups, plates, cutlery, table cloths and more. You can hire all your kids party decorations from us starting from $40 for an eco party box of re-suable cutlery and crockery, bunting and serve ware.
Single Use Plastic Cups
NSW – Taken No Action
1. If you have no other option use plastic bottles that are recyclable and try dispose of them correctly.
2. Provide a watering and drinks station like with a drinks dispenser or something similar, label each childs’ bottle and refill them so you use as few as possible.
3. Use our environmentally friendly party cups which are re-useable, or water bottles (which make excellent eco friendly lolly bag fillers). Fill from a drinks dispenser or jug! And you guessed it we have those too. All the colours of the rainbow to match your other reusable party plates, bowls and cutlery. Super easy birthday party decorations.
If disposed of correctly there are most certainly options around to recycle your plastic bottles. There are return and earn centres and the yellow recycle bin. Recycling is still better than nothing, but zero waste party decorations are better
Single Use Plastic Utensils
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Disposable wooden cutlery – there are several biodegradable tableware options around. These need to be disposed of correctly so check out the details before you toss them in the bin.
2. Use what you already have. It may not match your party theme, you may not have enough to cater for all your guests or you’re just not keen on getting the Sunday silverware out, but it’s worth thinking about.
3. We supply a big range of coloured reusable knives, forks and spoons. Durable, high quality and can be hired to suit your kids party theme. Not only do the birthday party decorations look amazing on your childrens party table, you’re keeping nasties out of landfill.
Balloons and Balloon Sticks
NSW – Taken Some Action
1. Party decorations, yes that’s part of the fun but think about using paper pom-poms, instead of party balloons, and disposing of them correctly afterwards (but remember it still qualifies as a single use item)
2. Much like the straws our best solution is just ditch them! Are we really still hanging bags of air around ourselves especially now there’s covid?
3. An eco friendly kids birthday party does not have to mean no fun! In fact the opposite. We have a beautiful selection of reusable eco balloons. Our environmentally friendly balloons, fabric pom-poms make a fantastic alternative to party balloons. We also have some gorgeous themed fabric eco bunting. They look stunning together, are high quality and add a touch of class to your childrens party props. As always super sustainable! Party on guilt free!
We’re not entirely sure of how NSW has taken action on the use of balloons and sticks because we’re still seeing them EVERYWHERE.
The term biodegradable means to break down into smaller non-compostable pieces. So yes latex balloons are biodegradable. They just never return to the earth, which makes them bad for the environment. Don’t be fooled balloons are bad ok!
Single Use Plastic Bottles
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Use plastic bottles that recyclable and make sure you dispose of them correctly.
2. Provide a watering and drinks station and give each child their own bottle, get them to write their name on it and refill it each time they need a drink.
3. Use reuse-able cups or water bottles and fill from a drinks dispenser or jug! Yup we have those too. Many, many colours to match your other reusable party plates, bowls and cutlery. We also have some reusable jugs and drinks dispensers. So easy.
Recycling is still better than nothing, but this still poses the problem of the single use item always re-use if you can.
Single Use Plastic Table Cloths
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Where ever possible use the table top as it is. Give it a good clean and decorate with your party snacks and food. Single use table clothes are a nightmare. Basically a giant sheet of plastic used once and binned to never ever breakdown.
2. Use a linen table cloth. Simple, and give it a wash after. A little effort but for the environmental saving you’re doing mother earth a huge favour.
3. Hire an eco tablecloth We have table cloths and themed table cloth overlays to suit your party decorations. Best part, you get to give it back to us and we’ll wash it. An easy swap without question and you’ll still have the best looking birthday party decorations in town.
Coffee Cups
NSW – Taken No Action
1. Consider using cups and mugs you already have and making a large ern or thermos of hot water.
2. Use re-useable cups. To match your already filled eco party box we include re-useable party cups. Available in the same matching colours as the rest of our party hire supplies.
3. Just give up coffee. WE’RE KIDDING. Grab a “keep cup” or small thermos. See Keep Cups answer to covid. These also make beautiful party bag fillers which can be personalised by us.
Australia loves coffee so much so that we use over 1 billion disposable coffee cups a year. Coffee cups are plastic lined which mean they do not decompose. No matter which bin you throw them in.
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