Reply to Poll: Do you consider environmental sustainability when picking out supplies for your kids' parties?

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[quote=Anonymous]Yes, I do think about this.  I try to think about the environmental impact of all my choices -- which isn't to say that I always make the right choice for the environent, but at least I think about it.

I bought a Happy Birthday felt banner at Target when my oldest was 2 and have used it for 12 years -- it matches everything and is still cute.  (I think they still sell these in the party aisle.)  We have melamine plates from Target my sibling bought for a bridal shower at her house and then passed onto me that I use for b-day parties or any outdoor event.  The Ikea rainbow colored cups are great to have for kids and work really well for parties (as does the ikiea kids cutlery).  I try to do gift bags with things that are actually usable or donatable -- art supplies; paperback books; matchbook cars; candy.  Or do a take-home craft if it's a home party.  I hate all the little plastic toys that break in 5 minutes.

I know it's not the biggest thing I can do for the environment, but it's a small thing I can do.  It's not just the trash that generated, but all those things are shipped from Asia, then shipped from California here, there's packaging, etc., etc.  I look at the Oriental Trading website or places like Party City and I'm just blown away by the consumption of useless things....we didn't have any of that when I was a kid.  Paper plates (that were made her in America and probably biodegraded pretty well anyway) were the most anyone had at a party in the 70s.  At some point in the 80s, Americans just went ALL IN on consumption and every once in a while I take a step back and am just amazed at how many categories of stores/products we have now that just didn't exist 40+ years ago.  I guess we had a lot of wrapping paper back then, and people use gift bags now, so I guess that's some offset.

I agree I should have had fewer kids...but I bought into that story that women's fertility decreases in your late 30s.  I think a lot of women end up with families bigger than they intended because they think "I'm 39..what are the odds that I'll get pregnancy just having unprotected sex ONCE?"  [/quote]

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