At first I thought it might be possible to do my time right here on Eco Child’s Play by writing a post about WHAT NOT TO DO when throwing a birthday party. However, I got side-tracked reading all of the eco-entertaining DO’s already covered, including the used book donation idea which I loved. This got me thinking that a theme party might be a great way to reduce waste, and convince guests and co-hosting partners (spouses and children) that environmentally friendly can also mean fun.

Here are five eco-friendly theme parties to consider for your next family bash:

The Take Home party

Reinforce a no-gift policy by asking each guest to bring one item they no longer use. As each guest arrives and places their donation on the table, give them a number to decide who gets to pick their take-home gift first.

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The birth of our second daughter was a lesson in patience, teaching me the lesson that all things in life happen in their in their own good time. And that we, for the most part, have little control over many facets in our lives. Waiting, relaxing, and letting things happen naturally are not things I am generally very good at.

You see, Elly was late. True to form of what would be her later personality, Elly just wasn’t ready to come into the world yet. And when I explain that she was one week late, people react that it was only one week. Even my midwife told me to relax and enjoy the last of my pregnancy.

But that was impossible. I was in labor for a week solid. Now don’t go calling it false labor, because if you would have said that during this time your life would have been in severe danger. There was nothing false about this labor.

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Our first river celebration was my Blessing Way. A Blessing Way is an alternative to a baby shower, and it is based on a Navajo tradition. My midwives led our “Humboldt eclectic” ceremony, in which I was surrounded by strong women friends (the men joined us later for food and river frolicking). Each friend brought a candle and symbol of strength for the altar, which was then set up in my home for the birth. Everyone also brought a bead, which was added to a necklace that I wore during my labor. We sang songs, told a collective angel story, and wrapped ourselves together with yarn in a circle. When the yarn was broken, each friend was wearing a piece around her arm or ankle. The yarn was not to be removed until I had given birth, and each time a friend noticed their piece of yarn, they were sent positive energy and thoughts my way. Often, these pieces of yarn will fall off on their own when it is time for the mother to give birth. My hair was lovingly braided to symbolize my new role as mother, and I was treated to a rose water foot bath and massage.

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Making small (or large, if that’s your cup ‘o herbal tea!) celebrations out of the Solstices and Equinoxes is one more way to teach your children that there is a rhythm to nature and a rhythm to life. If Winter Solstice is comparable to a “time to weep,” Summer Solstice is the “time to laugh!” (Thank you, Ecclesiastes for the most beautiful words on the seasonality of life…and thank you to the Byrds for putting it to music!)

Celebrate the longest day of the year with seasonal food and fun.

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GreenPartyGoods explains their company’s motivation for offering parents eco-friendly solutions for birthday parties:

While walking my dog through our local park and watching families disassemble their parties, I was horrified at all the waste that ended up in the garbage cans. Bags of plastic utensils, plastic table cloths, crepe paper and cheap goodies bags filled with dollar toys headed for land fill. This is what motivated me to create GreenPartyGoods.

Here are some of my favorite green party goods offered by GreenPartyGoods:

• Toy Wooden Racing Boat: These hand-crafted, hand-painted wooden racing boats are my favorite party favor and the ones we will be giving to our party guests. Since we hold our party at the river, the boats will be perfect for added water frolicking fun. The boats are made by award-winning Anatex. The wood comes from Germany, paint from Russia, and assembled in China. They are tested lead free by a third party and cost $2.50 a piece.

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Mother’s Day began when social activist and poet Julia Ward Howe wrote the original Mother’s Day Proclamation after the Civil War in 1870.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

This day began as a call to action, and it is only fitting this Sunday on Mother’s Day families take action on climate change and let their voices be heard.  1Sky is asking mothers and their children to create images to send to Congress urging them to remember the implications of climate change on the next generation.  The images will be compiled and be taken to DC to be displayed and given to Congress.

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Parents are often looking for a healthy alternative to the standard, sugary, preservative-filled birthday cake for their baby’s introduction to the wonderful traditions of birthdays. We’ve heard from parents looking for ways to buy an egg-free cake, to those seeking recipes for “healthy” cakes, or even whether to make/buy two cakes (one for Baby, one for adults).

Here are some ideas that keep the tradition of the birthday cake treat, but add some healthy twists (you can use these ideas for any age!):

Egg-free: If your baby has not been introduced to whole eggs by their first birthday, this is probably not the occasion to give them a try. Many egg substitutes contain eggs, so to be safe, look for cake and frosting mixes labeled “vegan” which are free of all animal products. You’ll need to go to a health food store to find these products. Or jump on the Internet, Vegan Baker is one company that offers cake and frosting mixes. If baking is not for you, many urban cities also have vegan bakeries too – check the Yellow Pages or ask someone at a vegetarian restaurant.

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Related posts:
A Birthday Garden
Four Hiking Activities For Your Children
Camping With Your Kids

The reason being that this seems to be one of the few holiday-related retail opportunities that the UK hasn’t latched onto yet - and from what I’ve learnt I really hope we don’t. Don’t get me wrong, we certainly know how to create seasonal waste - the amount of packaging for the millions of chocolate Easter eggs lining the shelves is obscene.

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After seeing bags and bags of them at thrift stores, though, I realized that not everyone holds on to them forever. (Come to think of it, I’m not sure where my childhood set went. Note to self: interrogate mother about how she disposed of eggs.)

So if you’re not going to continue using them for festive holiday celebrations, or if you’ve found a stash that’s begging for re-use, what can you do? As we’ve seen, Kelly’s using hers to organize craft supplies. Autumn found a tutorial on felting wool eggs using the plastic ones as a base.

Now it’s my turn. I’ll pose it as a riddle. What do you get when you combine a pizza box and a few dozen plastic easter eggs?

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At the risk of being the antagonist, telling you what not to do with them seems reasonable, albeit not crafty. At least I get to make a bullet list…

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Well have no fear because this week CAGW will tackle that very question and offer up nifty solutions to reusing your Easter eggs!

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Photo copyright Billi-Jean.com. Used with permission.

• Green Gift Ideas: Stubby Pencil Studio is now carrying wooden toys. The Spinny Speller is great for teaching children phonemic awareness and reminds me of the homemade phonics mediators my grandmother used to make for her first graders. The Made By Me wooden kits are perfect for little hands to decorate and assemble. Both toys are made in the USA. Stubby Pencil recycled cards and eco-art supplies also make nice additions to your child’s Easter basket. The cards now come in eco-friendly packaging consisting of a custom button/string tie envelope made from 30% post consumer recycled paper and green seal certified.

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You’re under intense pressure to find that perfect organic chocolate bunny. I could not, with a straight face, suggest that you attempt to weave baskets yourself when there exists such cute alternatives by a talented, green-minded crafter. Fisheye creates items using recycled and repurposed materials, including the Easter bag pictured above.

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I would ask my grandmother, “Why do those tiny dye-things need such a big box? I don’t even use the rest of the stuff, and I have my own crayons.”

To which she replied, “So people don’t steal them.”

Consequently, that answer was given to me many times over during childhood, yet I noticed rolls of breath mints and tubes of lipstick eluded this logic. Nevertheless, I was optimistic each year that my eggs would be just as bright and blemish free as those on the box (they never were), and continued to wonder what would happen if I ate one of the tablets. Odds were that it would not taste like a SweeTart, turn my mouth blue for a week, and could even lead to possible gene damage. Such is the industrialization of a holiday.

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You’ve probably met some of these folks before: The mother who so desires a Martha Stewart-worthy Easter that she purchases an egg decorating kit far too complicated for the children and ends up decorating the eggs by herself. The parents who witness their children getting increasingly unappreciative as they open one holiday gift after another. The child who fusses about having to participate in a family dinner until the whole idea of family meals is abandoned.

These folks were all featured in this week’s reading, and they prompted lively discussion among the group’s participants. The truth is, I’ve seen each of these dramas in my own home. Other parents have struggled with similar issues. We also know the loss that comes — a kind of vague dismay, a sense that something just isn’t quite right — from abandoning family ritual.

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According to Treehugger, a new study by Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois-Chicago and Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program found that “the time children spend in nature — particularly the activities we looked at in this study — determines their environmental awareness as adults.”

Citing the same study co-sponsored by the Nature Conservancy, the Grist states

Kids — and adults — these days are “videophiliacs” who prefer their nature through the TV screen rather than personally experienced, says a new study. It estimates that Americans’ participation in outdoor recreation has dropped as much as 25 percent over the past 20 years.

What’s a green family to do? Beyond offsetting your typical trip to Disneyland, there are now many eco travel tours and trips for families. Of course you don’t have to join a tour to take a memorable eco trip with your family. Camping and backpacking provide wonderful opportunities for families to experience nature; however, a well-designed eco trip will allow you to meet other families and take some of the responsibility off of your shoulders.

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Fortunately for kids (and grown-up kids) there’s a new eco-alternative. Launched in 2006 by Portland, Oregon’s Kate Rosenthal, Stubby Pencil Studios has created the Color ‘N Kids line of “interactive cards” made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper that are processed chlorine free and made with certified renewable energy. The cards are “interactive” because they are black and white and are designed to allow kids to color them in any way they desire. The words and phrases on the cards are made of dotted lines so children can practice tracing their letters.

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