We celebrated my son’s fifth birthday this week! It was such a sweet time, and I was all awash with feelings. I’m so proud of the kind and bright person he’s becoming, but also nostalgic for his baby days. It seems like just yesterday he was just a little chub with ginger fuzz on his head.
I shared on Instagram some of my kerfuffles with the DIY powdered sugar which resulted in grainy buttercream and the lackluster GF cupcakes in compostable packaging. But that’s what this journey is all about – live and learn and choose better next time!
We landed on a mix of reusable and plastic and feel pretty good about the balance. Some of the low waste choices we made are super easy to implement: not buying balloons, no disposable dinnerware, and not all food items in plastic. Some would have been tedious and a hinderance to being fully present: making bread crumbs and frying up enough regular and gluten free chicken nuggets to feed my large family. All of the work we do in the every day to compost, recycle, buy in bulk, and consume consciously is not undone by a few plastic items on birthdays.
We had a weekend gathering with some dear friends and another with my family on his actual birthday. Better cupcakes the second time – thank goodness! I’ll share what we did for menus, decorations, gifts and wrapping. We were able to save waste in many areas and embraced ease (a little plastic) in others.
Party 1
- Menu: Sausage & Potato Egg Bake, Local Bagels (paper bag) and Cream Cheese (store bought for paper and foil packaging), Homemade Iced Berry Tea, Coffee, and Cupcakes.
- Decorations: We shopped our house for books about dinosaurs and archeology (A’s theme of choice). We set them all out in a wood box on the table which was covered with some jungley fabric we had. A wooden dino hung out near the cupcakes. Then, I strung a couple Sarah’s Silks together to make a banner and called it good. A vintage handkerchief or other fabric banner would be really cute too!
- Activities: Archeological Dig. I meant to burry some little toys, dishes, etc. for the kids to dig up. Annnnnnd I ran out of time. Why I thought I could cook, clean, decorate, and make a “dig” before the 10:30am party is beyond me. But it ended up working out! The kids just dug up rocks and acorns that were already in the ground. They had a delightful time as kids always do when presented with tools and a pile of dirt.
- Reusables: We used our regular plates, forks, cloth napkins, glasses, and silicone cupcake cups. I have a ton of empty glass jam and peanut butter jars which made the perfect sturdy, yet low investment cups. I put different colored produce rubber bands around matching glasses to tell them apart (you know the kind that comes around your broccoli?). If it had been a larger gathering, compostable paper plates and bamboo forks would be a good way to go!
Party 2
- Menu: Chicken Nuggets (My son’s all time favorite food. I compromised and got the frozen kind in a plastic bag), Homemade Roasted Potato Crisps, Fruit Salad, Homemade Honey Mustard and Ketchup. Dark Chocolate GF Cupcakes (went with the regular box mix on this one) with Homemade Raspberry Jam Buttercream.
- Decorations: Since this gathering was with my fam and not the “kid party” I went pretty minimal and just reused some of the decor we had out at party #1.
- Reusables: Same as above, except – I found this amazing metal frosting dispenser for 99cents at the thrift store this week! Such a good find. My mom said her grandmother used one back in the day. It came with six different frosting tips and worked like a dream.
Gifts
I shared why buying second hand makes a difference in my Spring Capsule post earlier this week. Much like our approach the clothing, we love to buy gifts second hand if possible. I found A. a watch on Ebay, and a bike on Facebook Market Place. However, I couldn’t find a used pickax and archeology brush, so I went to the local hardware store to buy a natural wood brush and a little hammer. They came in minimal packaging and by buying local I saved on extra emissions from shipping.
My amazing mom made A. this archeologist vest out of upcycled khaki pants and notions from thrifted clothes. I am so impressed with her skills! She also got some other explorer type dress up clothes for him from the thrift store. The wood magnifying glass and archeologist book were from grandparents. He had some other lovely presents from family, but I won’t make you read the whole list!
Wrap It Up
These are some of the wrapping items that get continuously repurposed in our home. Ok, these are the pretty ones. I also have a stack of sparkly, dinosaur and cat covered gift bags that are loved and used. I save any wrapping and strings we receive so it doesn’t go into the landfill. And any torn paper gets tape pulled off and recycled.
I also love the look and functionality of using beautiful fabric as wrapping. There’s no tape needed – just fold it around the gift and secure with a ribbon. Little bits from nature are a nice touch too. Totally free and biodegradable.
I think that’s everything! I’d love to hear your ideas for sustainable celebrations. Where do you like to shop? Any decoration or crowd-pleasing food ideas I should know about?
The Sustainable Hearth 