Green Eco-Friendly Birthday Ideas

It's that time of year again: cake, presents, and goodie-bags...it's Birthday Party time :)

And as we all know, planning a child's birthday party can be fun and dreadful all at the same time. A party

is a wonderful way to celebrate the life of your wee little one. But with all the waste these soirees can create, it can drive a green parent nuts!

I remember one party we had for my son that ended in tears (f me, that is). Sure, some of the paper products were recycled in my clearly marked containers. However most of our reusables ended up in the trash with unwanted cake and dinner tossed in with them. I attempted to dig them out - which was absolutely gross - but I was more frazzled by the thoughtlessness of some of my guests. Hadn't I, ever so nicely, instructed everyone to reuse and recycle properly? And we won't even mention the countless gifts and wrapping and money spent and...well, the 'wasteful' list can go on and on.

Ok, so not everyone is green savvy and even the best intentions can end up in a hit-or-miss situation. So what's a green parent to do? I'd like to share with you some - dare I say - fail proof ways to through a fun-filled green birthday party!

First and foremost, I say make it a combination of a traditional and reinvented green birthday party. You can't expect everyone to jump on board and be amused by your ever-green ways. So let's compromise...or at least that is what it will look like on the surface :).

Invitations...
There are tons of cool ways to do invites that will make you smile green. You can simply bi-pass paper all together and use an online invite service or email all of your guests individually. But what about those folks not online. Or worse, those who never read and/or respond to your emails?

There are endless ways you can get creative using recycled paper. Kids love to be involved in planning and helping out with their parties. So why not collect some reusable paper from around the house and make your own invites or get crafty and make your own handmade paper, complete with wildflower seeds. Paper making is fun and you can really jazz it up and make your invites unique. Another option would be to call everyone and leave a message...maybe telling them to check their email :).

Party Decorations...
Streamers and balloons are soooo old school. Let's think with our green-caps. For my daughter's upcoming birthday party we are going to decorate some old sheets with fabric paints - think little hand and feet prints in all colors - and cut them up and use them as table cloths and napkins. We can reuse these for all birthday celebrations in the future too.

Also, you can cut long shimmery streamers from the any silky material that you have but aren't using anymore (hint, hint: slips, nighties) and use them as decorations: Just simply hang them where they will dance in the breeze. These reusable decorations are great to use in lieu of balloons. They just end up being swallowed by baby turtles. So sad. Check your local consignment shops for pre-used slips and sheets that you can transform into reusable party decorations, or I bet your local fabric store has some festive threads that you can get a yard or two of.

Presents & Gift Ideas...
Oh, the presents. I have to say that this is the part I dread the most. Not only wondering what in the world to buy for someone else's kid and them not liking it, but what will everyone else buy my kids!? Plus, how much stuff do the kids really need?

I don't know about you, but my kids have enough, and there are kids out there that don't. One green birthday gift giving option is to host a party host a party where instead of gifts for your kids, guests bring gently used or new toys to donate to a local shelter. Your child can pick which one and then help you make the delivery.

Another idea is to think local and register your child at a local toy store. And I don't mean the big-box corporate toy stores. Ask around, take a drive. We have such a store here on the east coast where I live that is filled with special gifts and good quality games and toys you won't find at the big plastic toy stores.

You can even ask guests to get your child a book in lieu of a card and write a personal note in the book. What child doesn't love books?! Also, you can send your guests home with a book in their goodie-bag. Everyone brings gently used books that they are done with for a new one. A book-swap party!

Another great idea is to ask for 'experience gifts' where someone can get your child a ticket to a show, a pass to a near by aquarium or museum. A camping trip anyone? These experiences will last a lifetime and won't break, aren't toxic, make a disaster of the house, are more fun and can involve other members of the family too. Everyone wins :)

My favorite way to deffer gifts is to, instead of gifts, ask guests to bring their kids favorite dish for everyone to share. Not only do you get a great variety of foods, this also cuts down on your own party costs. Which brings us to the best part of the party, IMO.

The Food...Yum!
Asking guests to bring food is great. If you are going to do it all yourself (for those supermoms and superdads out there) make all-vegetarian foods whose table scraps can be readily composted. Visit the farmer's market the week of for some fresh local produce.

If you do fire up the grill to satisfy the meat-eaters, buy local. Introduce your guests to some of the unknown local possibilities like local farmers and ranches. Not everyone knows about CSA's and local places where they can get free-range meats and fresh organic veggies.

Dishes, forks, napkins and whatnot...
I like to use cloth whenever I can. Why cut down a tree to wipe my hands one time and toss it out? It's insane. Here you can use your reusable birthday bash table cloths and napkins. The washing machine does all the work. It's no big deal, looks great, and feels great too. You'll save money and the trees :)

As for dishes and utensils, if you are partying at home, use your own dishes. There are also some great reusable dish sets out there. If you are out and about at your local park for your birthday bash, there are some great compostable alternatives. Potato forks, corn spoons, PCW paper products. Check online or at your local green grocery store for some colorful options.

Goodie-Bags and Games...
Last but not least, the goodie-bags. Those little bags you give your guests on the way out the door, filled with tiny junky plastic toys that are not only a chocking hazard, but are cheap, break, and probably have toxic lead paint! Not to mention the candy. Kids + candy?!...honestly, people. But you can't not have goodie-bags. The kids love to have something to go home with. They're kids, right? ;) So let's think outside the bag, shall we.

Kids love crafts. So why not have them make something that they in turn take home, and in a bag that they decorate themselves! Or, better yet, you and your child can decorate some brown reusable paper bags before the party that you can use in lue of a plastic one. For my son's last birthday party, we made some bags and the kids used them to bring home their handmade bird feeders: Send the kids off to find a pine cone, add peanut butter, sprinkle bird seed, and presto! Another year I made super-hero capes out of consignment found slips, complete with each child's first initial sewn on the back. They were a hit! (That's me with my daughter at my son's "Super Hero Training Camp" birthday last fall...like my power arm bans! Yeah, baby ;)

Other ideas could include: treasure hunts, have them make tie dye t-shirts, set up a paint-a-picture station, show them how to make homemade play dough, or they can plant a flower in a pot to take home. The options are endless. Get on your green creative caps!

As always, with a little imagination and ingenuity, the green possibilities are endless. I hope you enjoy your next birthday party 'green' style. I'm off to get mine underway. Wish me luck!

:)

Baby Blankets...knitting is back in and very GREEN

Seeing that I'm due with my baby at the end of August I knew I wanted to make my baby a very special blanket hand knitted by ME! I have many talented people on both my side of the family and my husbands side and I know that I will be receiving many more handmade masterpieces, but there is just something about hand making something for your own child.

I have made two blankets, the first one (picture on right) I started making during my first pregnancy last year. When I found out about my miscarriage I put the blanket in the closet as it was too painful to constantly be reminded that I wasn't going to be bringing my first baby home in October. After I became pregnant again I pulled the blanket out and decided I needed to finish it. I couldn't just keep going and pretend that the blanket hadn't already been started. I needed to have a marker as to where the blanket was made for our first baby and where I continued it to give to our first born. I ensured that there would be a place on the blanket my husband and I (and our baby) would know that this was made with love for our first. Still to this day when I pick up this blanket I have tears come to my eyes knowing that my first baby will never be wrapped in this blanket, yet at the same time I am filled with joy and love knowing that the baby I am pregnant with now will be cuddled in it.

The second blanket (which I just finished today, pictured on the left) I wanted to make so that I could tell my baby this was made especially for you. Since we are not finding out the gender of the baby until delivery I had to make it gender neutral. I must say I am so unbelievably PROUD of my work on this blanket, I want to show it to anyone and everyone!

Now I cannot wait until I have this baby and are able to wrap him/her in the blanket!

Keep America Beautiful! There's Still Time...

Have you looked outside lately? Take a walk around the block with your kids. Hike through the woods. Or just look at your own yard after a windy day. It's a mess!

Plastic bags, ignored roadside newspapers, candy wrappers, water bottles and more. All just lying around cluttering up the landscape. On a recent hike my kids and I actually found a ceiling fan in the woods...A ceiling fan!?!?

It is a sad absolute that when I take my children outside, they will see more trash laying around than other children playing and wildlife put together. Just as with violence on TV, the more they see it, the more immune they become to litter being a part of their world. If we don't do something about it, together as a family and a community, litter will become a permanent part of our great outdoors.

One way for communities to get together to tackle the problem is underway right now! Keep America Beautiful™, the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization, is hosting The Great American Cleanup™ in communities, both nationally and internationally. "The Great American Cleanup™, [is] the nation's largest community improvement program, [which] takes place annually from March 1 through May 31, involving an estimated 2.8 million volunteers and attendees…The hardworking volunteers donated more than 7.7 million hours in 2007 to clean, beautify and improve more than 17,000 communities during more than 30,000 events in all 50 states and beyond. Activities included beautifying parks and recreation areas, cleaning seashores and waterways, handling recycling collections, picking up litter, planting trees and flowers, and conducting educational programs and litter-free events.

"Keep America Beautiful™ believes that each of us holds an obligation
to preserve and protect our environment.
Through our everyday choices and actions,
we collectively have a huge impact on our world."

Get Local & Get Involved!
"There are more than 565 certified community affiliates of Keep America Beautiful™ doing good works." Click here to find a group near you.

Can't find an affiliate in your area?
Start one of your own. "Organize a clean-up committee by seeking out a few people who share your passion for the cause. Set a meeting date and let the ideas flow. Decide which project everyone wants to tackle." Click here to learn how you can Organize your own Great American Cleanup™

Here are just some ideas of how you and your kids can get involved in Keep America Beautiful™:

• Host a tree planting party
  
• Put a new coat of paint on a graffiti-marked wall
  
• Adopt a road with your friends and plant flowers
  
• Sponsor a litter collection contest
  
• Clean up a river or field that has become an illegal dump site
• Collect recyclable and reusable items on your block and deliver to a recycling center
  

Together we can make a difference. The possibilities are endless!

:)

Go "Green"...or...Go Home

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about going "green." Is that it's all or nothing. You may be interested in going green but can't afford to trade in your SUV for a Hybrid, or you would really like to buy organic food but either your store has a bad selection or it too is cost prohibitive. I think this all or nothing mentality has made people hesitate to make any changes in their lifestyle. But it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Actually if you start out thinking it has to be all or nothing you're setting yourself up for failure. It's impossible to change all aspects of your life at the same time.

Our mantra is “Make small changes, don't try to do everything at once. Small changes multiplied over time by many people makes a big difference.” When you decide to change something in your life to be “green” it is more likely to stick if you make it a habit. Take using reusable shopping bags, just because you buy them doesn't mean you will use them, it has to become a habit to remember to bring the bags with you. Whether you leave the bags in your car so they are always readily available or you put the bags next to your grocery store list, whatever your routine may be just add the bags.

Making small changes to your daily life can make a difference, trade out your cleaning products to use more environmentally friendly products, change your light bulbs out for CFL’s, buy organic food, if not organic think local. Next time you’re at the grocery store and pick up an apple look to see if it says where that apple came from, Chile, Peru, Fiji, or was it grown in the U.S.A.? Stop to think how many miles that apple had to travel to be in your local grocery store, these are thoughts that can make a difference. It will surprise you how this will become part of your shopping experience, and may change what you buy.

Even the smallest of changes to your lifestyle can make a difference. Don't think that just because you can't change your entire lifestyle that you shouldn't attempt to change the things you can.

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act... Mark Your Calendars & Meet Me in DC!

Back in 2005, I drove down to DC with my little breastfed baby boy, popped him in my sling, and waltzed onto Capitol Hill to show support for the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. It was an awesome afternoon indeed, full of nursing mothers, breastfed babies, lactivists, speeches, cheers, and a powerful showing of our joined support for the Act that would surely help protect nursing mothers in the workplace.

Again in 2007, I the made the same pilgrimage, this time with my little breastfed baby girl in the sling, toddler boy at my feet, and my sister-in-law and her baby girl too. (We actually appeared in the following issue of Mothering Magazine, sitting on the steps of the Cannon Building where the press conference was held - my beautiful daughter in my lap, me reattaching the clip on my nursing bra...yeah, it was a Kodak moment alright...)

So, why do I mention all this, you ask?

Well, guess what's coming up? (For those of you who are mathematicians, yes, it happens every two years). And this year - 2009 - the date to mark on your calendars to join in support of The Breastfeeding Promotion Act in Washington, DC is June 3rd @ 11:30am.

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act is to be reintroduced on June 3rd by Rep. Maloney's (NY). The following is from mama Lorrie Leigh who has been asked to coordinate an activist presence at the press conference that day. Below is the email she is trying to make go viral to all parenting lists, blogs, communities. Feel free to pass this on...spread the word!


To all breastfeeding activists/lactivists/concerned citizens!

Rep. Carolyn Maloney is going to reintroduce the Breastfeeding Promotion Act to Congress in June. With a change in leadership in both Houses and a White House that is attuned to work/life balance issues, this year we need to push hard for passage!

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act will:

• Add breastfeeding mothers in the workplace as a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Provide incentives for employers to have private lactation areas for workers
• Create a performance standard for breastpump equipment
• Create tax deductions for pumping equipment
  

Rep. Maloney and other co-sponsors will hold a press conference on June 3rd at 11:30am on the Cannon Terrace at the Cannon Building on Capitol Hill. Once again we are gathering as large a presence as we can to attend the press conference in support of the bill.

Here is what we need from all who care about this issue:

1. First, we need you to contact your Rep. in the Congress (find him or her here http://www.house. gov/ ), this week, and ask them to sign on as a cosponsor of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. The more cosponsors a bill has, the more attention and support it garners. We need all 435 Representatives to know how important this bill is to the 70% of mothers who work and may desire to breastfeed once they go back to work. So call AND email your Representative and ask to speak to a legislative aide today.
   
   
2. Second, we need anyone within driving distance of Washington, D.C. to make plans to join us on June 3rd at 11:30 am on the Cannon Terrace at the Cannon Office Building, Independence Avenue and 1st Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. You can drive in if you are willing to come early enough to hunt for parking spot south of the Cannon Bldg. or take Metro to the Capitol South station on the Blue/Orange lines. This link shows a picture of the terrace where we will meet: http://www.visiting dc.com/capitol/ ca...ng-address. htm
   
   We need pregnant and nursing mothers, their supportive partners, grandparents and all your cute little nurslings and toddlers to join us that day for the press conference. At previous introductions of the bill we have had between 100-200 attendees at the press conference. We would like an even bigger showing this year. It is very important that you RSVP to wchappel@myexcel. com with the number of adults/babies/children attending so we can be prepared (and have enough kid friendly snacks/drinks on hand). And so that I can email final details to all the night before the event.
   
   
3. Third, we need everyone who attends to plan on visiting the offices of their Representative in Congress immediately after the press conference, to personally appeal to them to throw their support behind the bill and sign on as an original co-sponsor. Don't let the opportunity to have face to face interaction with your legislators pass you by. Last time I went I had a very spirited conversation with a young female legislative aide who clearly didn't understand why her boss should care about this bill. The House of Representatives link above will give you the address of their Washington office. All of the legislative office buildings are clustered near Cannon Office Building. If you call ahead you can make an appointment (I would suggest you make an after lunch appt. time and go get some lunch with your kids after the press conference) to speak to someone.
   

Lastly, if you have a workplace lactation discrimination story you would like to share at the press conference please email wchappel@myexcel.com immediately. The speakers lineup is being put together now and some mothers may be invited to talk about their own stories.

This is the year to get this done! Please forward this message to every breastfeeding, parenting, working parent list and group to which you belong, just keep the contact info intact."

Thanks all,
Lorrie Leigh, AAHCC



feel free to copy the above and spam all your green lactavist friends!

Here's to a great turn out ;)