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https://www.positive.news/society/tats-enough-the-no-crap-parties-movement/>
"The balloons! The games! The sugar high! The table groaning with panic-bought
presents. And of course, the party bag full of plastic doo-dahs, all destined
to end up in landfill. Just what we always wanted … said no parent ever.
For families firmly in the pass-the-parcel years, birthday invites can be a
source of stress, or even shame. Some 40% of parents say they dread the gifting
aspect, while only 9% love it. But parties wouldn’t be parties without any
presents … right?
Not according to No Crap Parties, a grassroots movement aiming to bin gifting
conventions for something more sustainable – and more joyful.
“A lot of people see gifting as a love language,” says founder Charlotte
Mason-Curl, mum to Heidi, four, and Max, 18 months. “Everyone wants the best
for their kids, but we’re sold this idea that ‘the best’ means having loads of
stuff. When actually, what kids really want is time with their loved ones.”
Like many parents, Mason-Curl experienced a rush of climate anxiety after the
birth of her daughter. “I had this moment of going: ‘Oh my god, what is the
world going to be like when she’s my age?’” Hearing about the slew of invites
and “plastic tat” that awaited her once Heidi started school, she became
determined to turn the tide.
“In the UK we buy around 28.5m new presents every year for kids’ parties aged
11 and under. And if a million children each attend five parties a year, and
each party has a party bag with three plastic items in it, that’s 15 million
short-lived pieces of plastic being handed out every year. It’s bonkers.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
