Imagine: you go to excitedly tuck into the buffet at a birthday party. But then you see the plastic cutlery and plates.
Suddenly your mind is preoccupied, as you know each item will end up in landfill or go on to pollute the environment.
To bring comfort and peace of mind to you and your guests, make the switch to eco-friendly birthday party supplies.
Replace paper plates with palm leaf tableware
Made from areca palm leaves, palm leaf plates are the perfect substitute for stacks of paper plates. The leaves are collected after being shed from the trees, essentially recycling natural waste.
As a sustainable material source, which does not need to be cut down as part of the manufacturing process, areca palm trees are different to oil palms. You won’t be contributing to the deforestation of fragile ecosystems.
Once collected, the leaves are washed and hot pressed. No chemicals are used in the process, so the plates are food safe on arrival, and safe for microwave and freezer use. Unlike some paper plates, they hold their shape with hot, cold, oily, and wet foods, and can be wiped down and reused.
Biodegradable birthday buffet platters
No birthday party is complete without an overflowing buffet. Compostable palm leaf serving platters beautifully present any type of food, and are unaffected by moisture or heat.
You can complement colourful crudité or a sumptuous seafood platter by combining biodegradable serving platters of different shapes to form an eye-catching display. Centre your serving tray around a small dipping bowl, filled with vinaigrette or cocktail sauce, for guests to lavish onto their own plates.
Pile a platter high with cheesy garlic bread or fresh baguettes to show an eco-friendly party never has to mean a dip in quality.
Serve party snacks in sugarcane bagasse bowls
Whether you choose to fill them with buffalo wings smothered in blue cheese sauce or crispy vegetable samosas, sugarcane bagasse bowls can handle anything and go straight into the compost bin once the last morsel is snapped up.
Compostable party supplies elevate events by reducing their environmental impact. Sugarcane is a great, resourceful plastic alternative – it has a fast reproduction rate and decomposes in 1-6 months.
Large palm leaf bowls for birthday treats
If you need an excellent vessel for serving nachos, a deep palm leaf bowl is the answer. As they are microwave safe, you can use the bowls for prep, not just presentation. This helps to avoid needless washing up and the potential for spillages when plating up.
Sturdy and robust, there’s no amount of salsa, sour cream or guacamole that would be too much for these bowls, gravity and flavour being your only limits. Alternatively, your guests can cater to their own tastes, if you fill small bowls for separate sauces.
Sustainable straws for birthday beverages
For a more natural approach to disposable straws, opt for eco straws. Choosing natural straws reduces the footprint of your party, even if guests use a few each – easing some of the pressure of hosting.
Wheat straws are a by-product of wheat harvests previously discarded as waste. Naturally water resistant, they don’t disintegrate like paper straws, allowing your guests to savour their beverages.
A natural food-safe substance like wheat also reduces safety concerns around more rigid or breakable straws, such as those made from metal or glass. They’re also fully home compostable and gluten-free.
Sipping birthday drinks with bamboo straws
If you’d rather use reusable straws, you can give your guests their own bamboo straw for the evening. They could take these home as a party favour, or you could collect them at the end of the night and clean, ready to adorn the drinks at your next bash.
Tiki-themed drinks lend themselves perfectly to both wheat and bamboo straws, helping to tie your ethical choices into an intentional theme.
Eco friendly party favours: a sustainable send-off
When it’s time for everyone to leave, send them home with notions of environmental responsibility by providing plastic-free party bags.
Pop a small palm leaf dipping bowl filled with sweets onto a small palm plate. You could add a piece of cake and a set of birchwood cutlery, then wrap it all in a beeswax wrap. Your guests could reuse these items and take inspiration for their own eco events.
There’s no need for extra planning time or a bigger budget – holding a biodegradable birthday party is easily achieved. Our full range of eco-friendly disposable tableware will provide enough quality options without inflating your budget.
Looking for more ways to use compostable party supplies? Our blog contains a range of original and creative suggestions – from planning eco picnics to hosting plastic-free dinner parties.