Eco friendly party bags

I am fortunate enough to be the host of a monthly ‘Green’ roundup over on Britmums.

Last month I shared a post about party bags.

I don’t know about you, but these things fill me with horror, the landfill with layabouts and tummies with toxic chemicals.

As part of the roundup I shared a post from Mummy Zen about her eco friendly ideas for party bags.

She suggested giving a small book; something that can be kept and enjoyed again, rather than a piece of plastic that gets lost, broken or discarded.

Over on twitter, the post caused quite a stir and people retweeted and shared their own ideas.

Emma, recommended the book people – she said they sold great book sets at great prices…. and indeed the do. Preschoolers might enjoy Spot the Dog – a set of 10 books costs £9.99. Older children might like the Dr Seuss collection – 12 books is just £14.99. While more able readers can get stuck into Roald Dahl books where 15 books are £15.99 or the Horrible Science Collection is available for £9.99

Sarah picked up the idea and shared an idea from her son’s birthday party. He had a pirate theme and Sarah gave the children chocolate coins as treasure in their party bags!

When Little Miss Green was five she asked for a Birthday party and here’s how I dealt with the party bag issue. Before the children arrived I made a big batch of shortbread dough. The children had access to cookie cutters and baking trays and they each got to take home the biscuits they baked. While they were waiting for the biscuits to cook I gave them each a plain white t-shirt and some fabric pens; the designed their masterpieces and got to take them home along with the biscuits. By the time I’d added a slice of Birthday cake they’d filled their party bags with their own creations!

What about you – how do you fill an eco friendly party bag or have you been brave enough to ban them?