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9 Easy Eco-friendly Birthday Party Ideas

How to Celebrate While Saving the Planet

Living an eco-friendly life is becoming more mainstream. Did you know that even a birthday party could be eco-friendly? How could you make a party eco-friendly? 

If you’re going to throw an eco-friendly birthday party, why not go all out? From party decorations, crafts, gifts, and everything in between, let’s explore some of the many options available.

There are many steps to throwing an eco-friendly party.

  1. Invitations
  2. Venue
  3. Food
  4. Tableware 
  5. Decorations
  6. Games
birthday cake with green candles, natural fiber party banner, recyclable party utensils

Invitations

Who needs paper invitations when you could create an e-invite? There are so many different apps and websites you can make an e-invite such as Canva and greenenvelope.com.

You could also simply send out a group text or create a Facebook event.

Venue

You could rent a venue for a party. However, if you’re trying to go green, throw the party in your backyard or at a public park. 

Food

You can even have an eco-friendly menu. You can find many different ideas on Pinterest.

Tableware 

Another part of going green is using eco-friendly tableware. This includes:

  • Compostable plates and eating and serving utensils 
  • Use recycled glass jars rather than individual drinks. Put names on cups and encourage everyone to use only one cup. If you choose to have cans or water bottles, be sure to recycle.
  • Use paper straws
  • Use a glass water dispenser
  • Use wooden or bamboo trays
  • Use cloth napkins

Decorations

Hosting your party outside doesn’t require much decoration. You could use durable and reusable fabric decorations.

Games

Every party needs a game or two. You could play lawn games like croquet, badminton, cornhole, bocce ball, or horseshoes. You could also do races and relays, and scavenger hunts.

Eco-Friendly Party Favors

Before we can dive into eco-friendly party favors, you should probably choose a party theme. There are so many themes to choose from!

Party Theme Ideas

Here are some fun ideas for kids, teens, and adults. You can turn any one of these themes into a birthday party. What’s the fun of a party if there’s not a fun theme? 

Kid Themes

  • Encanto party
  • Lego themed party
  • Ice cream themed party

Teen Themes

  • Masquerade ball
  • Scavenger hunt 
  • Movie on the lawn

Adult Themes

  • Hawaiian themed party
  • Whodunnit party
  • The year you were born party

Now that you’ve chosen a theme, let’s move on to eco-friendly party favors. You can find many party favor ideas on the internet, Pinterest, and Etsy.

Here are some eco-friendly party favor ideas for kids.

  1. Grow things
  2. Sidewalk chalk
  3. Homemade treats
  4. Painted t-shirts or bags
  5. Homemade play dough or slime 
  6. Recycled paper, pencils, and crayons

Grow things

It can be fun to plant and grow things. Send your guests home with a seed packet or recycled toilet paper roll seed pots. You could also purchase seed bombs made from recycled paper.

Sidewalk chalk

Who doesn’t love some good sidewalk chalk? Make your own sidewalk chalk to add to the party favors.

Homemade treats

If you love to bake, make some fun treats for your party. You could make cake pops and use eco-friendly sticks, bake some cookies and package them in eco-friendly bags. There are recipes and ideas all over Pinterest. 

Painted t-shirts or bags

Another party favor idea is to provide t-shirts or cloth bags for the kids to paint or draw a picture . If you’re really ambitious, you could have a tie dye party. That can be messy but fun for the right age. 

Homemade play dough or slime 

Making homemade play dough or slime is also an entertaining project. Again, find a recipe from the internet or Pinterest. 

Recycled paper, pencils, and crayons

You could make little notebooks out of recycled computer paper and attach pencils made from recycled newspaper or recycled tires. You could use some old, broken crayons and melt them and mold the wax into fun shapes. 

Eco-Friendly Gifts

There are all sorts of ways to go green when it comes to giving eco-friendly gifts. 

  1. Green Earth Amplify Box
  2. Eco-Swag Pack
  3. Eco Journal
  4. Succulents Box
  5. Organic Hemp Yoga Mat
  6. Sustainable Yoga Mat Storage

Green Earth Amplify Pack

The Green Earth Amplify Box is the only specially curated snack box that supports the environment and women-founded, black-founded, and people-of-color founded brands all at once. Black and bold whole bean medium roast coffee, a lined notebook, an all-natural candle, and 12 ultra-nutritious snacks are just the cherry on top.

Eco-Swag Pack

The Eco-Swag Pack is designed to create a corporate gifting process that values sustainable gifting by working directly with brands that utilize recycled materials, contribute to environmental charities, and create high-quality products that will last and take much longer to replace.

Eco Journal

The Eco Journal is sourced straight from nature. From the bamboo and vinyl trim cover to the 200 ivory-lined pages, this eco-friendly journal will give your friends, coworkers, employees, or clients plenty of room to write down their thoughts. Also, the refillable spiral binding means they can use it again and again by simply replacing the old pages.

Succulents Box

The Succulents Box is the perfect gift for nature lovers. These indoor plants can be placed in a home office or kitchen, and they will clean the air and delight the eyes with the added greenery. Each 2-inch succulent in this eco-friendly subscription box can be placed at different locations around the house or apartment.

Organic Hemp Yoga Mat

The Organic Hemp Yoga Mat is made entirely of natural materials such as fine hemp cotton, natural wool, and pure raw wild hemp. This eco-friendly yoga mat is perfect for practicing poses or even just resting on. Additionally, it’s good to know that no chemicals, bleaches, or dyes are used to make this hemp yoga mat. Every fiber is hand-harvested, washed in ash water, hand-spun, stitched, and weaved.

Sustainable Yoga Mat Storage

The Sustainable Yoga Mat Storage is the perfect storage solution for the yoga lovers in your life. The best way to stay zen is to keep things clean and organized, so the mat storage actually boosts zen in multiple ways.

Hopefully, taking care of the environment has never looked so good. Next time you plan a party, think eco-friendly and have a blast!

Katie Meyers is an SEO Specialist at SEO Design Chicago. Before joining the SEO Design Chicago team, she interned for them, as well as interned as a Content Writer at HZD Creates. Katie is from Washington State and has an AA and a Social Media Marketing Certificate.