HOW TO SET UP A REUSABLE PARTY PACKAGE FOR KIDS BIRTHDAY PARTIES IN YOUR TOWN
Description
I had the great pleasure of chatting to Tillie Mabbutt recently for Episode 37 of the Sustainable(ish) podcast, where she shared with us her amazing business Frome Eco Party Packages, and her top tips for anyone wanting to start up a similar thing near them. She's very kindly helped me to collate this little "How to.." guide with all the info in one place to make it super easy.
Why you might want to:
I'm sure any parent will tell you that kids birthday parties are massively wasteful - and that's before we even get started on presents and party bags. Many of us will resort to paper plates and cups to lighten the load a little but all of this ends up in our black bins and the more aware we become about plastic and rubbish, the more we’re realising that there is no simple magic land of ‘away' where the fairies take our rubbish and turn it into unicorns and flowers. It all has to go somewhere, and if it’s in our black bins it’s going to landfill or incineration – neither of which are great (to say the least) for the environment.
Most paper plates aren't recyclable so we can't use recycling to ease our consciences, and so-called compostable plates and cups are only truly compostable under industrial conditions, which are only available in a few selected sites around the country.
The ideal scenario is to use reusable party ware, but how many of have enough in our cupboards at home to deal with a whole party?
More and more people are wanting to do the right thing by the planet, but it makes no sense at all for each of to buy (and then store for most of the year) enough reusable plates and cups. Having a service that allows these things to be hired out to families as and when they need them makes perfect sense.
It sounds like a great project for a school PTA?
Yes and no. In fact, the inspiration for Frome Eco Party Packages came from an article Tillie read about a PTA in Wales doing exactly this. But as Tillie points out it seems ridiculous for every school in a town to buy the stuff and set up a scheme, when it would be much more sensible (and indeed more eco-friendly) to just have one central service for the whole town.
If you still love the idea of being able to fundraise for PTAs you can do as Tillie does and donate a percentage of the fee to the child's school's PTA (Tillie donates 15%).
What do I need?
Tillie has bought enought for two 'Ultimate party packs' which include:
- 20 plates
- 20 cups
- 4 food trays
- 2 water jugs
- 10 bowls for snacks and crisps
- 1 birthday bunting
- 2 compostable food waste bags
Optional add ons
Depending on how involved you want to make it, other ideas for additional extras you could offer include:
- Cutlery
- Eco-friendly/plastic-free party bags (there are ideas for these here) or you could hook up with an existing eco party bag business
- Additional bunting
- Pompoms/balloon alternatives
- Washable tableclothes
- Washable napkins
- Cakes/cupcakes
Should I use plastic? Aren't we trying to avoid plastic?
The main issue with plastic is single use plastic. Plastic in itself is actually a really useful material, especially for situations like kids parties where breakages are a possibility. Plus it's super easy to clean and can ultimately be recycled.Bamboo picninc ware tends to still be mixed with some kind of resin or plastic polymers making it difficult to recyle at the end of it's life and is also prone to breaking if it's dropped.
The plates etc that Tillie has found are BPA free, and dishwasher safe - so if you don't use the links below, do look for these two things.
Where to buy?
In an ideal world we'd try and pool together things from friends and neighbours, which can be a great idea if you're just doing it for your own use, but if people are paying for a service you may find that they're happier with something that all matches and isn't already looking too worn.
- Ikea plates - £1.20 for 6
- Ikea bowls - £1.20 for 6
- Ikea cups - £1.20 for 6
- Ikea plastic cutlery - £1.20 for six sets of knife/fork/spoon
- Colourful serving platters
- Jugs - Tillie says she got theirs from Sainsburys but I can't find a link at the moment!
- Bunting - obviously if you can make your own, or know someone who would be willing, that's awesome. A great idea is to reuse old fabric, so look out for colourful bed sheets etc in charity shops. Failing that a quick 'Ecosia search' led me to this company that make bunting from upcycled fabric.
How/where to store it all
Ikea do a range of various plastic boxes with lids - this one here looks like it would do the job .Or there's these ones with castors that also have lids available. Try and find something that will stack well so you can pop a couple on top of each other.
If you've got a garage or a shed then you can store it there (make sure the kid is on to prevent dust etc) or failing that find a corner of your home to squeeze it in! Make sure it's easily accessible thought otherwise it will become a total nightmare trying to heft it out each time it's needed.
Total start-up costs
This obviously depends on how many setting you buy - if you buy 60 plates and cups you will have enough for 3 x 20, or 2 x 20 with spares for people to hire as add-ons
- 60 plates = £12
United States
