Let Us Help You Throw An Organic Baby Shower

We’re so excited to hear you’re expecting. You won’t be surprised to learn that at Organic Zoo we love babies!! We’re also pretty keen on a party to be honest, so baby showers are right up our alley. Coming together to celebrate the pure happiness a new baby will bring into the world is one of the best ways to spend a morning.

We are tree-hugging hippies here (even if you might not be able to tell by looking at us), so while we love a party, we want to make sure we aren’t harming the planet in the process. We’ve put our heads together to come up with the best ways to host an organic baby shower that is full of happiness, joy and festivity but makes none of the waste that a party could.

Eco-Friendly Invitations

Let’s start at the start, because with no invites, there’s no party. You can send your invitations digitally, and these days it’s really easy to create beautiful digital invites. But for us, some of the fun of parties is in the nostalgia of ‘parties gone by’. The birthday parties you had as a kid where you wore your fanciest dress and blew the candles out on a homemade cake. And at those parties (that we loved so much), we had paper invitations.

We can lessen the environmental impact of paper invites by using recycled paper and natural dyes. For extra sustainable flair and to set the theme of your soiree right from the outset, why not use seed paper? It’s recycled paper impregnated with seeds which spring to life when buried and watered. Very organic!

Food

At an organic baby shower, of course, you would expect organic food. Usually, the food at a baby shower is a fairly light affair, with sweet and savoury finger food, little canapes and treats. It’s a nice touch to make all the food pregnancy-friendly (avoid processed meats, raw fish, soft cheese, alcohol) so the mum-to-be and any other mums-to-be on the guest list can nibble away without worry.

There is no need to buy special plates or cutlery for your party. The ones you have in your cupboards and drawers will work perfectly, and if your collection is a little short, surely some of your guests could bring a few to add.

Decorations

Just as the tinsel at your childhood parties brightened the room and added to the specialness of the occasion, decorations are an important part of your baby shower. But we’re going for an alternative to the plastic tinsel and perhaps opting for cloth bunting or paper pom-poms.

Have a look online for your local party hire store, and you might be able to find rolls of adorable bunting that you can hire, hang, and return. Alternatively, you can theme your party to match with the nursery you’re dreaming of, and after the party, the decorations become nursery decor!

Sustainable Games and Activities

Part of the fun of baby showers, and something that sets them apart from other parties are the games and activities. It’s a nice touch for some of the activities to involve creating something for the new baby or parents.

Guests can use organic dyes to colour some clothing for the new baby. We don’t want to leave bubs with twenty t-shirts and no bloomers, so select a range of white or pale organic items and give guests dyes in droppers to decorate the fabric.

Leave a stack of recycled paper cards and a bowl in a quiet corner for guests to write private words of wisdom or well wishes for Mum and Dad or the little one.

For those blessed with a spacious garden, guests could be invited to plant a shrub or small tree to grow alongside the newborn. Imagine a garden of fruit trees planted with love in your honour!

Pre-loved gifts

Ask your guests to bring a pre-loved gift. Choose a book from their collection that their little one has enjoyed, an item of clothing that they have outgrown, or a toy they no longer play with. And for those without kids, encourage them to thrift a gift or buy something hand-made, local or sustainable baby clothing.

If you’d prefer to avoid the issue of gifts entirely, you could encourage your guests to donate to an environmental charity of your choice in lieu of a present.

Zero-Waste Party Favours

It’s nice to send your guests home with a little thank-you gift for attending. But you want to be sure you’re giving them something they’ll like or use. We love a personalised bag of coffee beans (everyone loves coffee!) some organic shower products, or perhaps a half-bottle of sparkling wine for them to be able to toast the new baby when the day arrives.

The now ubiquitous proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” rings true in many aspects of family life. But we’d like to think that we can twist the concept slightly to mean, “The whole village gets to join in with the raising of a child”. When building your village, festivities and celebrations are lovely ways to share the joy of a child’s development. And a baby shower is the very first of these. Bring your village together to join in marking the beginning of a life of celebrations, big and small. Revel in the happiness a new baby brings to the world as you take a moment to connect with your loved ones. Your baby shower and the fun and festivity it brings is the first thank-you in a lifetime of favours, thank-yous and exchanges that is the village raising our children.

Related guide

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