Do It Yourself
You Don’t Get Older, You Get Wiser! Here’s A Guide On How To Throw A Green Birthday Party
A lowdown on how to celebrate birthday parties or anniversaries in a waste-free manner
New Delhi: In Mumbai, recently, Sonal Gawde and Shreyes Menon celebrated their daughter Samyra’s birthday, who turned two. But unlike traditional birthday parties, their celebration was sans plastic decorations, plastic or disposable cutlery and food wastage. Basically, it was a green celebration! Taking a cue from the family’s eco-friendly affair, we have curated a do-it-yourself list on how one can throw a green birthday bash. Take notes people!
Start With An E-Invite
Plan your birthday invite online and circulate it via mail or WhatsApp. In the invite, request all the invitees to follow the green theme and avoid gifting plastic or non-biodegradable gifts. Moreover, ask them not to wrap your gift in those plastic gift wrappers. This one step will save you a lot of useless dry packaging waste.
Also Read: Freedom From Pollution: Top 5 Ways How Offices In India Can Reduce Their Carbon Footprint
Dorn A Creative Hat And Decorate The Party Hall Your Way!
No plastic, it is all just eco-friendly decor!
Image courtesy: Pinterest
Ditch the plastic and rubber balloons, those happy birthday strings and party pomps..instead, take the DIY route and make handmade happy birthday party string, colourful paper balloons. You can also opt for decorating your party hall with the birthday person’s photos to give it a more special look and feel.
Ditch Plastic Cutlery, Say Yes To Eco-friendly Alternatives
Ditch the plastic cutlery and opt for eco-friendly alternatives such as compostable cutlery
What’s a birthday party without food. If you are celebrating your special day the greenway, one of the most important things you must take care off is the way you will serve the food at your party. Ditch the ubiquitous plastic cutlery, instead go for either steel alternative or eco-friendly disposable cutlery. Currently, in the market, there are many sellers of eco-cutlery that can help you out.
Just in case you are wondering why you should ditch the plastic – Currently, there are more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans and that’s equivalent to the area of Argentina. No doubt plastic cutlery is easily available, convenient and a cost-effective option. But, the problem is that everyone is using so much plastic without putting much thought on how plastic waste should be managed well. As a result, today our planet is chocking in this waste.
Plan On How To Minimise Food Wastage
One thumb rule to remember while organising an eco-friendly bash is avoid unnecessary food wastage
Ordering food from outside or making yourself – the thumb rule to remember is not to let anything go into the trash bin mindlessly. While preparing the food, keep all the wet waste aside and reuse it via composting. Another key rule is not to go overboard – make or order food in a limited quantity. Even then if there is excess food, instead of throwing it away get in touch with food banks in your locality so that the food goes to the less fortunate people instead of the dustbin. You can also choose to distribute food among friends and family.
Give Green And Eco-friendly Birthday Favours
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
Delight your friends and family with birthday favours, don’t forget to follow the green tradition and give the goodies that won’t even hurt the environment
If you are planning to giveaway return gifts to your invitees, go ahead with green and eco-friendly options like plants, seedlings, compost kits, reusable straws or water bottles to name a few.
Also Read: A Move Towards A New India: Five Ways How Malls Can Become Green And Sustainable
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.