37+ Plastic Free Party Bag Ideas

Avoid the waste with plastic free party bags

As parents, throwing a birthday party for our children can be an exciting event, however with the increasing use of plastics in everything from our food to our decorations, it can be daunting to plan a party that is both fun and eco-friendly. Fortunately, there are plenty of options available to us when it comes to creating a plastic free party bag.

P.S. You won’t believe number 38! It takes some guts but it’s my favourite idea for a plastic free party bag.

Plastic Bag Alternatives

1. Reuse party bags received from other parties

Give party bags a second life by reusing them for your party. They won’t match, but embrace them looking eclectic.

2. Make your own paper bags

You can follow the tutorial below to make your own plastic free party bags. The tutorial suggests using gift wrap but I always like to use whatever is lying around such as colourful magazine pages or newspaper.

3. Fabric bags

Fabric bags are a nice sturdy option that can be reused by the recipient. They can either be bought from somewhere like Partyora or make at home if you have some basic sewing skills.

4. Paper bags

Buying paper bags is the cheapest and most convenient option for containing a plastic free party bag.

5. Cellophane

Some of the options below like playdough or cookies are DIY and will require some sort of packaging. Cellophane is great for this because true cellophane is made from wood pulp and biodegrades in 10-30 days when composted.

Plastic Free Party Bag Fillers

A key slogan of sustainable living is to buy less. So please don’t feel a need to cram party bags full of the options below. It’s unnecessary and can get really expensive! Consider giving just one plastic free party favour instead.

Edible plastic free party bag fillers

6. Lollies in cardboard boxes such as nerds.
7. Chocolate in cardboard boxes such as Smarties
8. Foil wrapped chocolate
9. Candy necklaces
10. Homemade cookies
11. Homemade sherbert

Non-edible plastic free party bag fillers

12. Hair clips
13. Pencils
14. Stickers
15. Seeds
16. Colouring book
17. Crayons
18. Erasers
19. Story book
20. Scrunchies

21. Bracelets
22. Playdough
23. Notebooks
24. Chalk
25. Homemade bath bombs
26. Felt finger puppets
27. Eco bubble wand
28. Cookie cutters
29. Giant rainbow pencil
30. Printed activities – colouring in, word find, spot the difference

Turn an activity into an eco friendly party favour

Instead of a party bag, plan an activity that involves the kids making something that they can take home instead of a party bag. 

31. Make a bracelet
32. Decorate a biscuit
33. Pot a succulent
34. Decorate a mask
35. Make fairy wands with ribbons, yarn and beads
36. Paint rocks
37. Pinata – collect up the lollies to take home

38. Bonus idea

It’s a bit unconventional, but my favourite idea for avoiding plastic waste is to give no party bag or favour at all. 

I have actually done this for all my kids’ birthday parties so far. No one complained. There were plenty of treats at the party and fun activities so in my opinion there is no need for anyone to feel disappointed about their party experience.

Worried about what people might think if you don’t offer a party bag or at least something for guests to take home? I asked in a mums Facebook group with almost 50k members “Would you be offended if there were no party bags?”.

The response? 69% of respondents would be happy that there was no party bag! 30% said they would not care. Only 8% of respondents were worried that their kids would be disappointed.

Here are two of the most popular comments from the post:

“In all honesty, it would be great if this tradition stopped as it causes so much waste and gives children unnecessary expectations that when it’s someone else’s birthday they get a gift.

There is so much at the party that they get I.e cake, lollies, prizes for games. Change the narrative and you might get one or two question it but watch how quickly they follow suit”

“I don’t think I’d even realise there were none if they weren’t given…I did them for my sons birthday but definitely don’t expect them at another child’s birthday…it’s not what the birthday is about”

So are you brave enough to give this a go?

Or if you have any other ideas for sustainable party bags or favours, I’d love to hear in the comments.

More eco friendly party ideas

• 7 Eco friendly party decorations
• 10 Sustainable gift wrapping ideas
• 50+ Consumable gift ideas – no more stuff
• How to host an eco friendly baby shower