Tomorrow, we celebrate “We are moving to Texas for 7 months approximately and it so happens to be little E’s first birthday!”
I am not a big birthday party celebrating kinda gal, but for J.P it was important to celebrate in some form. Who am I to argue with that.
Of course, we had to come up with creative and fun ways to celebrate her birthday and our departure without creating waste and harming the environment in the process! Some may be thinking “how the ~beep~ is she going to do this?” Easy peesy! I will let you in on my secret.
The invites: I sent out an email to our family and BFF’s with a nice picture of little E as our invitation. Other options could be sending an evite or creating an event on Facebook. I was too lazy, so I opted for a simple email.
The food: We used all organic with minimal packaging and we tried to get as locally grown as possible for the food! Not always easy living in Quebec! Here is what’s for snacking:
- Tortillas in brown bag SCORE, but USA product.
- Homemade salsa with all locally grown tomatoes, parsley, basil and onions. Unfortunately, I was unable to find organic cilantro~insert sad face here.
- Homemade guacamole made with California avocados (better than Mexico), local tomatoes, Ontario oil.
- Veggie/fruit platter will have all locally grown carrots, yellow peppers, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, gooseberries, and radishes (I hate them, so I am hoping my guests love them) as well as fair-trade Peru bananas.
- Raw dip will contain U.S brazil nuts and cashews, coconut sauce, nutritional yeast and dates (all ingredients we already had from being in the US), as well as local parsley and basil, and Ontario oil.
- Salmon bites will be marinated in U.S soya sauce (Canada apparently doesn’t make soya sauce) and local maple syrup. We bought the salmon while in the U.S and it was sustainably caught fish.
- Bruschettea (yes, I love tomatoes ok) with local bread, tomatoes, parsley, basil and Ontario oil
- Cake will be banana bread made with U.S dates, homemade quebec apple sauce, fair-trade bananas from Peru, Ontario oil, and U.S flax seeds/Canadian flour, both we already had in our cupboard.
- Peanut Butter Balls-local honey, U.S PB and rice cereal-have had for months now and never used.
- Pizza slab (not organic) a guest is bringing, so I have no idea where it is coming from and will most probably be wrapped in paper, but paper will not be recyclable because of oil stains.
If anything came in a package it was recyclable. Most of the veggies and fruit were bought in my reusable bags. The only waste I can see is the stupid cereal bag and paper from the pizza! But oh well, I think that is pretty good.
The supplies and decorations: Balloons are out because they are toxic and when released into the air end up polluting the environment, and when left deflated on the ground, they lead to trouble for local wildlife that may be killed after ingesting them. Therefore, I have some used paper laying around, that I will write Happy Birthday on!
We are most definitely using reusable dishes and utensils, as well as a cloth napkins and tablecloth. No disposables for us!
The gifts: Well, I don’t know about you, but most kids already have way too many toys. Receiving tons of toys on ones birthday sends a message of over-consumerism that I just personally don’t like. Furthermore, many of the gifts will be plastic toys that are so full of toxins and chemicals that can have harmful effects on kids. Most of the toys are not made to last, and seeing as they’re non-recyclable, they end up in landfills.
What we wrote to our guests: We do appreciate the thought of getting little E a gift for her birthday, but we would a prefer a “no gifts” party. As you all know, JP and I are trying to live a more minimalist lifestyle, and we will be starting our “Project Green Foot” where we will be reducing our waste significantly and not consuming anything for one full year.
We are opening up an RESP account for her education, if you would like to contribute, but it is not necessary. We would just like everyone together to celebrate and have some yummy foods!
Of course, this may be extreme by other people standards, but be creative and do not be shy!
Here’s to hoping everyone respects our wishes of how we have decided to celebrate our little E’s birthday because the environment and Project Green Foot means so much to us!
The goody bags: There are 4 cousins that will be in attendance and seeing as we are trying to go waste free; I am not sure about the goody bags. Undecided! If I were to do the goody bag option, I would go with one of these great ideas over at Groovy Green Livin! My personal favorite is the tree.
There you have it; our plans for our eco-friendly/waste-free party. We know as she gets older, it may get more difficult but we love a challenge!
We feel that birthday parties or any type of party can still be fun and enjoyable without the large environment footprint!
How will you celebrate “green” at your next party?
Birthday Party, eco-friendly, environment, green party, organic food
I am the Good Girl Gone Green. Seeing garbage cans overflowing with recyclables breaks my heart.
I can’t handle how hip you are–the coolest, greenest girl I know! You had me at homemade salsa and homemade guacamole. Two things I love fiercely! (AAAHH, wish I could crash your party!) That baby picture at the top made me SWOON! Ugh, now I want to snuggle a baby! (damn you) HA HA HAHAHAH HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Bday, little E.
Thanks so much Aleisha! Come on over, we will have lots of food to share!
Sounds deeeee-lish! I love all your green ideas. I’m sure little E will have a great birthday
And you’re moving to TX??? We’d gladly welcome you down here!
Thanks candice! I do what I can. We are moving to DFW! You are in the Austin area?
Yep! Austin….right down the highway
That sounds like my kind of party! The food sounds fabulous. When are you moving? Hope everything goes well.
I figured, Lori! LOL! Thanks!
p.s. Thanks so much for the mention about the eco friendly goody bags. Let me know what you decide to do.
I hope he has a fantastic bday! The menu looks fantastic!
http://Www.the-mommyhood-chronicles.com
Thanks so much Melissa!
Seriously you are GOOD!
I love how detailed you are about all this and I love your ideas!!
Wishing little one a joyful birthday!
Enjoy your weekend and have a safe trip
Oh thank you! I can be a little OCD sometimes! LOL
Sounds like a fun party! Good luck getting the guests not to bring presents ;D
If they know me at all, which they do; they will respect our decisions. I am a pretty vocal personal when it comes to the environment and especially my daughter!
Great ideas! Love everything you are doing. Thank you for it. Especially love your food choices.
We’ve had luck at getting people not to bring presents when we ask for donated items for the food bank or for another local organization. Or asking for something pre-owned, especially if it’s been in the family of the giver.
I’m going to link from this post to Celebrate Green’s birthday party page. Hope that’s OK.
Of course it is ok! Thanks for sharing and for your kind words! I appreciate it.
Hi! Those are wonderful ideas! I’ll be interested to see how many show without gifts!
Thanks so much for linking up with our Feed Me Friday hop. There are several wonderful blogs participating again this week, you’re certain to find a few new favorites!
I look forward to reading more from you!
Your Co-Host,
Emily from Nap Time Is My Time
Everyone should show up without a gift well except maybe $$ for her education fund! If they know me at all, they will come gift less. I think it would be disrespectful if they do. We are trying to live one full year waste free and would love our friends and family to support our decisions!
Happy First Birthday to little E ; ) and to you also SuperMom!!! Wow, time flies! Thanks for writing this post and sharing your fantastic ideas! Keep up the green work : D !
Thanks Eileen! You are too cute…supermom; Easy!
Found you via the blog hop and am now your newest follower. I too hate seeing things go to waste and am always using as much as possible in upcycled ways…like cutting a styrofoam cooler into pieces and making frames, monogrammed letters, and other fun new decor with what would have been trash. I’d love if you’d follow me back!
Kristen@Turning a House into a Home
http://www.decoratingdiy.blogspot.com
Good for you for upcycling and downcycling as much as you can!
Wow, how fabulous and informative is your blog! Happy First Birthday almost entirely green, now that’s impressive!!!! Thank you for following me by the way, great to have you on-board.
Thanks Tracy!
I’m stopping by from hop along Friday! I adore your blog, if you are ever looking for a blogging buddy to host events with or to promote one another consider me your girl! I am planning my daughter’s “green” first birthday party as well, it’s on 10/1 and I’ll be writing a post after the party. I love your ideas, but we are doing some things a bit different (such as wood forks and biodegradable plates). It would be fun to link our posts to give readers two different perspectives. Feel free to add your blog to my blog directory at http://www.EcoCrazyMom.com under the “bloggers” tab, I look forward to keeping in touch!
-Terri
Thanks Terri! Will be in touch!
You are prepared and well put together. happy travels. Wishing you a weekend filled with joyful things, Katherine
Thanks katherine, I sometimes feel a little OCD…..lol
We asked for no toys for B’s 1st birthday and everyone but 1 person obliged our request! For gift bags we did little trees, the kids apparently loved planting them. For his 2nd party we didn’t do any gift bags as there was nothing I wanted to give out that didn’t seem wasteful.
Have a great party!
Sorry to hear that Jen! If my family and BFF’s know me, they will respect our wishes. They should know how important this is to us and it would be a slap in the face if they dont respect our wishes. We are not asking them to go waste-free, just support how we have chosen to live our life!
Thanks Jen. We are going party hardy, green style! lol
Good food should equal a great time! Happy Birthday to Little E!!
Thanks Melisa for the birthday wishes! I will tell her…:)
I’m a new follower but I think your birthday idea is quite impressive. I never thought of how much disposable and toxic stuff is used at a party. Thanks for the great post.
Thanks Nacia! Lots of waste at a party really for no reason! Just take some time to plan and be conscious of how we celebrate!
I am inspired! And a bit embarrassed that I bought so much crap for my daughter’s birthday coming up. Thankfully, I’m cheap and only bought 1 pack of disposable plates..so they’d be the right colors. I’m definitely going to rethink some other elements and find out how to make her party more green, as I am heading toward a more and more “granola” lifestyle as well. I’m still a work in progress though.
Whats done is done; dont dwell! Just now you know better so try and do better next time thats all!
LOL…. thankfully I am cheap!
Happy Birthday to little e ~ and her Mom sure works very hard at being Green ~ Bravo~ thanks, namaste, Carol (A Creative Harbor) ~ linked with Sisterhood Saturday ^_^
Thanks, Carole!
Sounds like great planning. Another thought I’ve had is homemade gifts. You could always do that with older kids
Thanks, Beth! Homemade gifts are great and usually very thoughtful!
Love it! I am in the process of trying to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.
New follower via the Sunday Funday Hippidy Blog Hop!
Meg@Mommy Needs A Time Out
http://www.mnato.blogspot.com
That sounds great! Not completely related but it reminds me of something funny. Whenever we went to parties or cookouts, my mom would collect all the recyclables that people were throwing them away and bring them home with us. Everyone thought we we so weird! Hahah. Luckily most people recycle these days so I don’t have to be the crazy and embarrassing mom. But I probably still will be in other ways… =)
Great! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me!!