Earth Day

An often-forgotten holiday, this is a day that is so important to our future, I think we should all celebrate in one way or another! Whether you want to get together with your own family and celebrate, organize an event at your school, church, or in your neighborhood, have a kids party or a fund-raiser—Earth Day is a theme the touches everyone’s lives. There are many great ways to celebrate that also can make a positive impact!

Earth Day Invitation

There are many fun and green ways to invite your guests to your Earth Day celebration. Party411 has some personalized spring invitations. Or write out your invitation on a folded blue recycling bag. Let your guest know to fill it up and bring it to the party! Or you can have them each bring items such as clothing, books, or toys they would have normally thrown out, and instead you can donate it all to charity.

Check out these unique plantable invitations! Use the seed paper to write out the invitation yourself or personalize your invitation and have them print them for you ready to mail!

Earth Day Decorations
Go natural in your decorations. Potted plants or small trees scattered about create a beautiful atmosphere. The Arbor Day Foundation sells small trees and shrubs that are very inexpensive. Have your guests take them home to plant in their yards and gardens, the perfect favor.

You can also group produce in pretty bowls. This can double as party food, but be sure to wash everything. It is also a good thing to let everyone know that the decorations are for eating, or people will not want to disturb your pretty arrangements!

Try to buy locally grown products for your arrangements. Locally grown produce has the lowest negative impact on the environment because it cuts down on emissions from transportation, and because it spends less time in transit, tastes better too! Check out farmersmarket.com to find a place to buy locally grown food near you.

Earth Day Menu
Green Green Green Green Green! It's Earth Day so serve foods from the earth! Tons of fruits, vegetables, and salads are perfect for an Earth Day feast! Pick up local organic foods for the freshest taste. Add natural grains like couscous, wheat berries, whole wheat breads, and the like. Its good to stay away from disposable utensils or tableware, but check out this eco-friendly picnic kit! An Earth shaped cake is also perfect for this day, just grab some blue and green icing to make the continents.

Earth Day Activities
Here are a few ideas to help you celebrate on your own or with friends and family:

Organize a spring clean up in your local neighborhood
Color your own flower pots, these can be used as party favors too!
Create a backyard habitat to help restore the homes of local wildlife where commercial and residential development have degraded natural ecosystems
Paint a large mural on a school or a building in either an inner city neighborhood or your own! People can decorate with flowers, other earthy things and wishes for the future of Mother Earth.
Build a rain garden to help manage storm water runoff. Studies have shown that as much as 70% of the pollution in streams, rivers and lakes has been carried there by storm water, and rain gardens help reduce that pollution by naturally filtering the water.
Have everyone bring old white T-shirts to tie-dye and decorate as their own "Save Our Planet" T-shirt--give a prize for the best one.
Buy a carbon offset to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions you create on the other 364 days of the year. Carbon offsets fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, that displace energy from fossil fuels.

Earth Day Party Favors
For party favors, use the great decorations and activities from your party! Send your guests home with the potted plant decorations or the fresh produce, or grab some tin pails and seed packets. Party411 has a personalized spring theme candy bar wrapper to match the invitations! Take digital photographs of group projects to serve as a fun reminder of the day. You can also show the pictures to others to encourage them to think about what they can do to improve our planet!

Enjoy a day dedicated to our earth, don't forget to recycle! - From the Party Girl and the Party-ettes!