Reducing Waste at Your Child's Birthday Bash
Parents of young children would be all too familiar with the yearly ritual of organising a birthday party. The planning that begins at least three weeks beforehand, preparing the guest list, bulk-buying return gifts, deciding on the cake (I loved Barbie-themed cakes when I was a kid), organising party games (even tougher if the birthday child wants something different from the usual passing-the-parcel)... Jeez, I'm feeling nostalgic now! But at the end of the party, we're left with a huge pile of waste to contend with. Gift wrap is mostly non-recyclable. Disposable cutlery can't be recycled either — even paper ones are rendered non-recyclable on being contaminated with food. So where do they wind up? In the dreaded landfill. Putting together a low-waste birthday party that the kids would love without turning it into a teachable moment for them seems like a herculean task, but it's not. You need only make a few small changes to what you already do. I'll get you st...
