Eco-Friendly Green Birthday Ideas... Send Out the Invites!

Having a party?

Then it's time to send out the invitations! But with the cost of stamps rising all the time (they just rose the price again!) and well, paper...some of it's recycled and if you're lucky you'll find a set of invites or blank notes that were made from recycled paper...but the time it takes to buy and send the invites, well, most of us would rather just not and say we did...

Then again, there are some really cute options out there, right? But, most of the stuff in the stores is made from unsustainable paper sources, most of which is printed and shipped in from China...and when you think about the cost of trees, production, fuel, unfair trade practices...those are really expensive invites!

But you have to get the word out that there is a party, right? Thankfully, there are tons of cool ways to do invites that will make you smile green :)

Go Paperless :)
You can easily bypass paper all together by using an online invite service or email all of your guests with a creative mass emailing effort. Whenever I am hosting a shindig, I like to use evite.com. They have new features now, too! You can ask guests to bring certain items, calculate how much local organic wine you need verses how many recyclable juice boxes because evite.com allows people to reply with how many adults and children are coming. It's really nice for people like me that hate keeping track of every little thing...it does most of the work itself...and it's free!

But what about those folks not online. Or worse, those who never read and/or respond to your emails?

Send a Green Message
There are tons of cute card shops online that specialize in recycled paper invites, some of which have awesome green messages on them! What better way to set the mood for your green party than having it loud and clear on the invite that this will be one of those parties: a fun filled, trash free, Mother Earth lovin' bash!

Create Your Own
I know my kids love being involved in planning and helping out with their parties. So why not collect some paper from around the house and make your own invites out of handmade recycled paper. Paper making is fun and you can really jazz it up and make your invites unique.

As for the Internetless crowd...this is when the artsy-crafty of you will shine :)

Reuse & Recycle!
Recently, I found a pile of old unsent birth announcements that I had in a box (from ordering twice as many as I needed for baby #2...oh, the woes of a mommy brain...) So, for my daughter's upcoming party, instead of tossing/recycling those beautiful baby pics of hers, I'm going to reuse them and hand write the party details on the back...I just hope the old timers look on the back and see that it's a birthday party and not think that I just had another baby!

Another option would be to call everyone and talk to them directly (wow, what an idea!) or leave a message...maybe even use this idea to tell them to check their email for the invite...ha ha ;)

Honestly, there are endless options and ideas out there. You just have to use your creativity using materials you have around the house and online. You never know, you could come up with the next best invention and make a WAHM business out of it...wouldn't that be awesome!

Got an Idea?
If you have a great idea and can't wait another second to share it, feel free to leave it in the comments, along with a link to your blog OR maybe even your eco-friendly shop online that sells such wonderful things.

Have a nice day and stay tuned for more eco-friendly green birthday party ideas :)

Peace :)
Green Mama Lia