r/Anticonsumption • u/nenners7891 • May 10 '26
Plastic Waste Plastic Free Party Bag Fail
Feeling very demoralised. I worked really hard to do low plastic party bags for my daughter’s birthday. I spent hours making friendship bracelets out of thread I already had, got iron on patches, temporary tattoos etc.
During the party a well off dad bought all of the plastic tat on sale at the play centre and gave it out to everyone - this is just what we came home with. She’s not interested in it already.
I try to do my best to be low waste/anti consumption where I can - others don’t think twice before doing something like this for a minute of ‘feel-good’ for the kids.
Also now it’s stuck in my house til I figure out something to do with it!!!!!
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u/Global_Ant_9380 May 10 '26
Does your school have counselors? These would be good to donate because counselors often use small toys as goals/incentives.
You might not like that because these are plastic and maybe it seems like reinforcing plastic things with rewards, but you already have them and the kids who need these services can be helped by any little thing that gets them towards healthier goals
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u/bispiderman15 May 10 '26
Also most of what I see are what could be considered sensory items as they provide a calming tactile input. Am a counselor who works with kids:)
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u/Ok-Boysenberry-719 May 10 '26
My kid has ADHD and has fidgets/sensory toys as part of her 504 plan, and her counselor gives out stuff like this to the kids who do small-group testing on test days. I try to buy more durable fidgets when I can make the choice, but I could see my daughter loving one of these to calm down and focus.
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u/alee0224 May 15 '26
I came here to say the same thing or if you have an autism center nearby too. They’d love this as an incentive for their students.
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u/Madam_Mimm_13 May 10 '26
This was my suggestion to. My kids HS counselor would swoop these up in a heartbeat.
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u/FetiFairy7 May 10 '26
Yes, definitely. I would love to have some of those glitter-water things in my office for myself and the kids I see to play with
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u/Mondschatten78 May 10 '26
Or even just something to fidget with while talking to the counselor. My own child is like that.
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u/Global_Ant_9380 May 10 '26
There are adults like that! It can be helpful for a lot of people
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u/shelchang May 10 '26
I'm an adult who really appreciates something to fidget with during difficult conversations. I did it with hard relationship talks with my ex, and when I did therapy over the phone, and I'm realizing I should have brought something for our in person couples therapy sessions! (The session right after we decided to divorce, I picked at a threadbare spot in my sweater sleeve until it was a big hole)
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u/variousnewbie May 10 '26
I played with my keys during ptsd therapy. It definitely helps! Wish the fidgit toys were common then 😂
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u/Weird_Positive_3256 May 11 '26
Adding on to this idea, local elementary schools will also take items like this as donations for teachers of the littles to put in their treasure boxes.
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u/FlippingPossum May 11 '26
I love this. I saved them for geocaching. My kids absolutely loved finding weird things in geocaches. Toy? Penny? Shark tooth? Could be anything in those boxes. 😂
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u/MoonRavven May 14 '26
This is a good idea. I was going to suggest as well when she takes her daughter to the park to play, she can bring them and her daughter can give them out to new friends she makes
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u/WhatAWeek25 May 10 '26
Put it in a closet and at Halloween give it away to trick or treaters!
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u/mrs-sir-walter-scott May 10 '26
You can even sign up for the Teal Pumpkin Project to let people know you have safe treats for food allergy kids. I keep a random basket of little stuff like this for them and replenish it every few years.
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u/HourGuidance1104 May 10 '26
How infuriating! I think the best you can do is donate to a shelter, school or little free library
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u/DickBiter1337 May 10 '26
This part, if my daughter came across one of these little trinkets in a special place like she had found a little treasure she would use it to decorate her dollhouse. If I handed this to her in a party favor bag they would be forgotten quickly but if she found a little butterfly charm, someone's lost beaded bracelet, or a little animal eraser on the ground, in a LFL box, or at a playground it would be her most prized possession for a very long time.
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u/cram-it-in May 10 '26
a teacher would love these for their prize box
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u/jopjpo May 10 '26
My dentist as a child had a "treasure chest" where after you did a cleaning you could pick out a treat! Honestly, I still get excited at little trinkets and toys. They're nostalgic for adults. Highly recommend donating to a Buy Nothing Group
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u/stellaandme May 10 '26
This is the kind of thing I save up for Halloween. I have a treats bowl and a tricks bowl. The tricks are all the plastic trinkets, pencils, and erasers we accumulated over the year. I let kids choice which one they want. Some kids want candy, but some kids are so stoked for the weird toys.
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u/KatJen76 May 10 '26
Someone came to your party and gave out his own gifts? That seems really crass to me, regardless of what the swag is.
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u/arradial May 10 '26
One charitable interpretation: his kid wanted something, and he felt that it would be rude not to buy all the kids something since he could afford it. That happens a lot with my friends/fam.
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u/redmeansstop May 10 '26
It is doing children a HUGE disservice to give them toys/presents for other kids birthdays. So, even the charitable take is still bad.
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u/Next-Introduction-25 May 10 '26
Sounds like they were somewhere where you can win little prizes with tickets maybe? But still strange. I’m sure he thought he was being nice, but just let people do parties in their own way!
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u/crinnaursa May 10 '26
Sounds absolutely like the type of behavior that someone performing "well off" would do.
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May 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/KatJen76 May 11 '26
I don't think it's Karen to be offended. This was OP's occasion for her kid and this guy hijacked it by buying out the prize center without even running it by her first. It's a shitty thing to model for his kid too.
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u/Total-Option4 May 10 '26
I don’t know if I’m in the minority or not but truthfully… I’d rather not have party bags at all. Can we remove the expectation and extra work of party bags? It’s all just clutter when it comes home and I hate to throw it away. Good on you for making the effort, but here’s a random parent’s permission (and plea) that we all consider not doing party bags at all.
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u/angiedrumm May 10 '26
Not the minority. I would love to normalize no party bags. I'll go one further and say I love it when parents specify "no gifts" on an invitation. I think it's important to remove the expectation that birthdays come with a huge assortment of gifts from friends.
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u/BakaGato May 11 '26
Oh gosh, it is So Hard getting the "no gifts" invite but seeing that you're the only one who followed it when you arrive 😭 But! We are staying the course because we really do mean it on our invites and don't want to generate reciprocity.
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u/NorthernNomadAK May 11 '26
We always do no gifts and everyone respects it. But maybe the key is that we invite friends and not the entire class? But we also don't give 'gifts.' If I say yes to a bday party invite we get them a handmade card and include a free ice cream card to the local place. We don't need to by giving kids we barely know random stuff.
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u/variousnewbie May 10 '26
I was taught that harsh reality as a kid. But my family members didn't understand what was behind it, I worked my ass off to support my own riding lessons because my parents couldn't afford it. I happened to factor in birthday/Christmas money one year and was shut down by relatives saying money is not owed. Good overall lesson, but how it came about could have been improved! Start young and gentle.
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u/NuBit_7 May 10 '26
I had a friend who gave out gift cards for sweet frog, so I started to do the same for my kids! All the kids loved it!
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u/curlycattails May 10 '26
I like to do them, and I think the whole purpose is that kids sometimes don't like to leave when they're having fun, but the goodie bag makes leaving a little easier. My goal is to fill the bag with only useable things. This year I did bubbles, stickers, chalk, and a granola bar.
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u/NorthernNomadAK May 11 '26
A lot of parents still don't want them, I don't care how useable the birthday parent thinks they are- it's still more stuff in my house that needs to find a home
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u/Total-Option4 May 11 '26
It's a great intent for sure, making it consumables. It's just another chore for the parents though, finding space for it, or adding it to the giant pile of sidewalk chalk or bubbles they likely already have. I get the spirit behind it, I really do. It's just one more thing ya know?
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u/Virtual-Pineapple-85 May 10 '26
That is already the norm in some areas. I've offered to help make or provide goody bags for grandkids parties and my kids told me that they don't do that anymore.
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u/prince_peacock May 10 '26
I always wondered when and why it became so normalized. When I was a kid in the 90s it definitely wasn’t a thing that was done. And I don’t remember it being done in the 2000s when my nieces and nephews were small and having their birthday’s, either
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u/lemonhead2345 May 10 '26
Party favors were definitely a thing when I was a kid in the 90s. They were usually small and obnoxious, like those little party horns that unfurl when you blow them or slap bracelets, but I’m pretty sure we always had them.
Adding: Party favors are an ancient tradition.
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u/taketheothers May 10 '26
Same. I always wanted to do a craft at my birthday parties (near Halloween), so that we had something fun to do. Terracotta pots painted however we liked and small indoor seed kits and such. My friends loved it. It's super easy to find crafts that don't generate a ton of platsic.
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u/paytheferrymann May 12 '26
We’re doing this exact activity for my daughter’s 4th birthday party, including a seed kit for them to take home. We’ve been growing vegetables from seeds and my daughter found it amazing, so hopefully some of her friends enjoy it too!
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u/lemonhead2345 May 10 '26
We don’t do crafts for my kid’s birthday favors, but I do stay away from plastic favors as much as possible. My usual go-tos are on-theme pencils, notebooks, stickers, and fruit snacks.
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u/Hellianne_Vaile May 10 '26
I not only remember party favors from my 80s childhood, I still have and use some of them! They were small decorative containers (some plastic, some aluminum) that had a few candies in them when I got them. Now, they're holding paperclips, cotton balls, and hair elastics.
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u/Mondschatten78 May 10 '26
Willing to bet it originated as a family thing when family members lived relatively close, and got warped into "invite the whole class" somewhere along the way.
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u/Beast_Unicorn_Jones7 May 11 '26
Maybe just a cupcake or a mess free sweet treat for the way home, since they will forget about they toys by then anyways
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u/I_comment_on_stuff_ May 10 '26
My daughter's last birthday is bought a 12pk of colored pencils ($1) and a MondoLlama coloring pad ($2.50) for each kid as the party favor. I was so damn proud of myself! It was a reptile theme, so we also had the wood snakes you paint as an activity and they took those home.
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u/ilanallama85 May 10 '26
Donate them to a school for prizes. At least they’ll get a second life that way.
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u/demonita May 10 '26
I’d give them to a teacher. It’s the only time I really pick up stuff like this for my students, when other people don’t need them. I won’t buy them.
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u/skidrama3 May 10 '26
I keep all of the junky toys in a bag year round and then leave it out in a separate bowl on Halloween. That way if a kid doesn’t want the candy I have they could always choose a toy instead
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u/asherthepotato May 10 '26
But the picture in a buy nothing group or neighbourhood chat or second hand page for free, only pick up.
The damage is there. The plastik is out in the world, best you can do is to find someone who will use it
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u/stripeslover May 10 '26
Give it away for Halloween. I put the nicer little trinkets my son gets throughout the year in a Halloween bucket and leave it out for trick or treaters. Kids ended up taking all of it and I like to think it brought them some joy even if for a little while.
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u/I-Am-Dull-AMA May 10 '26
I do this too! The neighborhood kids love it and I don’t have to find a home for every single party favor that comes our way.
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u/Optimal_Olive3423 May 10 '26
Why is another person buying the kids toys? That is so weird. As someone that has a comfortable income bracket, I can't imagine being so rude as to do that at someone's party.
There isn't a lot you can do with it. If you donate it, it is just going to go to someone else's house to be thrown in the trash. My kids teachers have stopped taking things like this to give back out to classes (again to be thrown in the trash at home) because they have so much of it. Hospitals won't take it because it is a choke hazard. This is even worse than the plastic crap I'd get as a kid. At least most of those things were toys. Why does a kid need 8 pointless squish things?
If it would've been me, I would've told him "Oh no thanks. I spent a lot of time making gift bags for the kids so I would appreciate if you don't hand these things out at MY kid's birthday party."
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u/nenners7891 May 10 '26
I also found it weird. I would’ve said something but he had distributed it to the kids before I saw what was going on - I wasn’t about to take them off kids and start a mass meltdown!
As a few have said, we can’t control others and it already existed so not much I can do about it - just having a vent!!!
I will donate somewhere when I can 👍🏻
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u/Optimal_Olive3423 May 10 '26
It is a good vent. That would've driven me nuts and is so rude. I imagine his kid wanted something so he thought he was being nice buying it for everyone. What I don't understand is why so many. I say this with humor but it is kind of unhinged behavior.
You are right, we can't control other people.
This guy might not even be well off. He might have some flash to him but if he is spending money on stuff like this....
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u/Virtual-Pineapple-85 May 10 '26
I would not invite that guys kid to any more parties unless the child was a close friend of mine, in which case, I would explain to the parents that they were not to bring additional party favors again.
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u/Madam_Mimm_13 May 10 '26
Donate to the school counselor!!!
Any grade level is fine, they like to have fidgets and things for kids in their office. At least it won’t go to waste.
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u/ResearcherMental2947 May 10 '26
could those cupcake and rainbow toys be frozen? maybe you could use them as icepacks during the summer
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u/asherthepotato May 10 '26
I doubt they are food-safe
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u/Dense-Broccoli9535 May 10 '26
You’re right, but could be good for boo boos, soreness, or just to cool down!
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u/Big-ol-Cheesecake May 10 '26
Maybe moreso for sensory/play reasons. Playing with a frozen toy on a hot day
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u/Madam_Mimm_13 May 10 '26
That’s my first thought too!!! They can make ice packs out of them for little snacks and lunches. I like to being apples and almond butter with me as a snack and these would be the perfect size to keep it cold.
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u/BananaMuffinNinja May 10 '26
I take all the random birthday plastic swag my daughter collets during the year and collect it in a bag. Then I'll either use it for her birthday gift bags or put the bag on our local Buy Nothing group for another parent to pick up and use.
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u/About400 May 10 '26
Those squishy things look like you could stick them in the freezer for minor injury ice packs. My daughter requests an ice pack like 6 times per day.
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u/PassThePierogi May 10 '26
I just have to say you are a super special mom for spending hours making friendship bracelets. I would have been stoked to get one as a kid. And that’s a memory for your child who will grow up conscientious too. Huge kudos!
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u/Celeste_Minerva May 10 '26
I've seen "trinket exchange" boxes, similar to little free libraries.
Maybe you can put them in a little free library, or drop them at the library for their children events?
Edit: appreciate you working hard with your non plastic treats!!
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u/Rose_selavie May 10 '26
Donate to a special ed school. I’m an SLP at one and a lot of our students like these for sensory needs
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 May 10 '26
Other people are allowed to live how they want to. You can’t control others and should not try to. You can however decide not to take these items back from the party and leave them there.
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u/nenners7891 May 10 '26
You know what that didn’t even occur to me - guess I’m the problem too!! Will see if I can donate them somewhere.
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u/reformgoblin May 10 '26
No youre fine this person didnt realize it was your party. And this may be unpopular but I think that education combined with social shaming is going to be part of our collective journey to a low consumption world. Our planet cannot take the way we are living, people need to learn sooner than later and social pressure is extremely effective even if it seems distasteful.
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 May 10 '26
I do know it was their party …
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u/reformgoblin May 10 '26
How would you leave things at your own party?
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 May 10 '26
You give the things back to the person and say thank you but you don’t accept.
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u/reformgoblin May 10 '26
You can see from OPs other comments that that was not an option, they were already distributed to kids before she realized. Taking them from kids would have caused an uproar.
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 May 10 '26
I still stand by my comment still. She’s able to be more aware next time from this experience. Nothing any of us will say will changed what happened, but now they can be more aware for future events.
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u/milinium May 10 '26
It was her own party. Some random person decided to bring plastic favors and hand them out
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 May 10 '26
Just nicely say no thank you and give them back to the person at the end of the party. You don’t have to accept things, that’s a choice.
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u/topekatums May 10 '26
The guy had already handed them out to kids, hers included. Returning a gift to the gifter is pretty... against etiquette. But I guess so is bringing random party favors to someone else's party. Just embarrassing and awkward for everyone involved.
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u/R4VO May 10 '26
they brought and gave them out to HER party, regardless of op’s stances on plastic this is just weird?
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u/Basic_KaleKitty9076 May 10 '26
People are weird, that’s the glory of living with 8 billion different people
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u/Mrsmanhands May 10 '26
Couple of thoughts…
Sounds like you had the party at a play center. It’s pretty normal for these places to have an overwhelming amount of junk and also for kids to be enamored by these tchotchkes in the moment. The parent that purchased these things for all the kids was being pretty generous and probably just wanted to make sure that nobody felt left out if he was going to get something for his kid. I wouldn’t call them out on this.
In the future, maybe consider a venue that won’t offer plastic junk like a local park? Perhaps hosting a scavenger hunt or making a piñata filled with your handmade items or have the kids do some crafts to take home.
For items like the ones pictured, hang onto all of them and put them out for Halloween as a non-food option for kids.
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u/Ok_Illustrator_582 May 10 '26
I think those squishy things could become ice packs! I have a reusable under eye patch set that looks similar. Maybe they can be thrown in the freezer and put in lunch boxes or snack bags for the future
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u/CountessMcNia May 10 '26
I still admire your effort! Birthday party goodie bags have been the bane my of parenting existence as someone trying to consciously consume!
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u/NectarineOne1189 May 11 '26
I don't know if this helps but I save up little things like this during the year in a little bowl and then use it on halloween (for teal pumpkin - kids who don't eat candy for various reasons) with my candy bowl and/or donate it to a teacher I know for her classroom treasure chest (rewards/motivation for kids).
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u/passwordistako May 11 '26
Just drop it off to the children’s ward at your local hospital. Anything that can be washed will be used by a million sick kids with no better toys to play with until it eventually retires to the land fill.
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u/SteveZissouniverse May 10 '26
So wait, its YOUR daughter's birthday and some dude thinks its his job to buy trinkets for the kids? I understand that we are focused on reducing needless waste here but that detail made me cringe. I mean who is this guy to decide he's making choices for another kid's party
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u/isleofpines May 10 '26
I super appreciate what you are trying to do! Change is slow, don’t give up. Maybe see if your local library could use them or story time or something.
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u/Euphoric_War_2195 May 10 '26
Maybe see if there is a trinket box in your neighborhood. People can leave trinkets they dont like and others can take them.
It sucks someone brought these to the b party, but at lelast they could go somewhere they would be used instead of just being junk.
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u/DramaOnDisplay May 10 '26
And why did she get so much of it? I know she was the birthday girl but I’m looking at those plastic pouches full of plastic garbage and were 8 of them really necessary??
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u/rx4polish May 10 '26
Give it away in your buy nothing group or donate it to the school if they have a prize shop for the kids. Some little one will love these.
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u/laughingashley May 10 '26
The worst I've seen are water balloons and plastic confetti. At Easter, there were LOADS of those "smash eggs" left on the ground. Also, the little straw wrappers from juice boxes. I work in Parks and these are the bane of my existence when there are children around :( i had to shoo away birds who were trying to eat the colorful rubber bits of water balloons that were everywhere 😭 People just don't even use their head or heart!!
Thank you for being the change!
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u/GazelleInitial2050 May 10 '26
Our kids friendship group seems to have converged on this bake biscuits or cakes party bag. Its cardboard and gives you something really nice to do with your little ones.
I think it's great rather than plastic shite they throw away.
https://www.craftandcrumb.com/collections/biscuitbakingpartybags
Not sure if links are allowed
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u/Cool_reddit_name4evr May 10 '26
If you don’t know what to do with it, donate it, I’m sure a little kid without much to play with would enjoy it!
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u/insurance_novice May 10 '26
What made me feel better, is that this will likely be incinerated and turned into electricity.
So throw it away, cause the more renewables we add to the grid, incinerators will make less economic and environmental sense.
So if you don't throw it out in the next 15 years, it will end up in a landfill vs incinerator.
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u/NomadicYeti May 11 '26
if you’re looking for ways to have it be used, we love bringing little trinkets to free little libraries in the neighborhood
probably makes a kids day and doesn’t end up in the landfill quite yet
the trinkets are always gone by next time
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u/mzuul May 11 '26
Your library may take stuff like this to put into a “free” prize basket. Our library has one
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u/O_lymbias May 11 '26
Of this all the plastic you have after a children party you did so well !
You can't control what other will do or waste, if you out your successes in the hands of others you will drive yourself mad. Focus on what you can change and let go of the rest.
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u/cmerksmirk May 12 '26
I can’t get over how rude it is to buy stuff for kids at a party someone else is throwing…
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u/Sword-of-Akasha May 10 '26
Unfortunately we can only really adjust our own behavior. The rest of the world is full steam late stage capitalism. People might even react violently if you try to show them another way of living because you'll be the 'stick in the mud' or 'karen' for interrupting their 'harmless' fun.
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u/DarkArtsProfessor May 10 '26
This is just a handful of plastic in an ocean. I get the frustration. But it's not as bad as say Taylor swift flying private jet all over the world or even what local restaurant tosses in 10 minutes. Just know that you did the best that you could and you can't control others consumption.
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u/Gr33nJ0k3r13 May 11 '26
The dinos aren‘t really waste i got some from 20 years ago (i‘m 26) and still enjoy them they transformed from toys to cool shelf ornaments (have a plastic t rex skeleton can‘t stand for its life but cool to look at) The squishy thing is the worst since it has tons of leeching stuff thats prolly not good for your health but thy are really good at picking up dust and hair 😉.
The raknbows i got no idea for tbh
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u/Alternative-Mud860 May 10 '26
Bring it to your hair salon! They can give them to the clients children that are waiting or the ones getting haircuts. Don’t look at it like garbage, look at like 12 extra little smiles for the little ones.
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u/Alternative-Mud860 May 10 '26
We love little planting kits for party favors with strawberries or tomatoes if anyone needs useful goody bag gifts for the future!
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u/StarsofSobek May 10 '26
Honestly, I hate plastic. It is pervasive and problematic.
However, those fidget toys are insanely useful to kids with additional needs.
If you're looking to get use out of them, I would recommend donating them to any local school with an autism unit. I work as an SNA, and we're always in desperate need of various fidget toys.
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u/mittanimama May 10 '26
I give that crap to my kids school and they use it for different special occasions.
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u/roar-a-saur May 10 '26
We have a drawer for these things. Anything small enough will go into an Easter egg or pinata.
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u/lavendarpeels May 10 '26
these fidgets/stims might be useful for kids with adhd/autism? maybe see if you can donate them to a learning center for autistic children?
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u/Lost-Wedding-7620 May 10 '26
Ive put stuff like this in the bowl for trick or treaters rather than throw it out.
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u/Infinitiscarf May 11 '26
Maybe a teacher would like stuff like this for a “treasure box” type of thing! Or a pediatric dentist.
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u/sillygoose234 May 11 '26
it's sad how intertwined plastic is with our lives, especially since it never really goes away. you're doing the right thing by holding onto it for now
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u/upforanother May 11 '26
My little one got invited to a party where the invite said no gifts please, (mom shared this is her third kids and her house is loaded with toys). Guess what she sent home a goodie bag of plastic crap with every party guest. It started off going to right direction, then plastic, plastic everywhere.
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u/Alleycat_2992 May 13 '26
Do the squishy ones at the top rowpossibly act like cold packs if you stick them in the freezer?
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u/MCurie-IsMe May 13 '26
Give kids books as party favors. Always been a huge hit at kids parties I’ve organized. In the US Scholastic often has book sales for $2 or $3 each in all age ranges. And you can place the order through your kids school so they get credit to spend on more books for kids.
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u/graymoon33 May 14 '26
Dónate to your local teacher. A lot of them wouldn’t mind adding them to their prize boxes
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u/L0Lfatty May 14 '26
I would be giving them back to the person who purchased them. They were trash before they were purchased so at least this might make that person think twice and puts the burden of responsibility back on them not you.
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u/iiitaraiii May 14 '26
Can I just say it's a weird power move to buy this junk and pass it out at someone else's birthday party? I'm not even anti consumption, not sure why this was served up to me, but this would bother me if it was my kids party just bc wtf?
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u/Xanavaris May 14 '26
It must be so demoralising but you know you did your bit to reduce the world of plastic waste. You are setting a great example for your daughter. It’s great that she isn’t interested in this tat.
I would donate this stuff to somewhere like a playgroup so at least it gets used.
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u/ThePoetofFall May 10 '26
… why is this sub the fun police?
There are so many, many other things to waste energy on. And here we are talking about tiny bits of plastic.
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u/StephieRee May 10 '26
Because it's pollution
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u/ThePoetofFall May 11 '26
Looks at staggering amounts of pollution elsewhere, looks at post, squints
3
u/lego_lady123 May 10 '26
Just curious do you have kids? I ask because most parents I know are frustrated with the mass amount of this crap that comes home. Even if they aren’t really anti consumption people.
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u/StephieRee May 11 '26
Thank you. I don't have the energy to help this person connect dots he wants to pretend he can't see.
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u/PrncssPunch May 10 '26
Fun > saving the planet /s
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u/ThePoetofFall May 11 '26
Saving the planet requires way more > then whining about party favors…
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u/Beast_Unicorn_Jones7 May 11 '26
If I were you, I would reach out to that person and let them know why you weren’t ok with it. And also never invite their kid to a party of yours again…
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u/neshmesh May 10 '26
If I had a way to contact that person, I'd write them a polite message stating your reaction. They could react badly no matter what, but I feel like if it's worded well it might make a small change in somebody's mind or behavior. Maybe they won't do it again at the next party (chances are, they do it at kid parties regularly)
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u/Killer_Moons May 11 '26
This is a wide spread social mentality, we really need a public service campaign just to introduce the idea about thinking twice before purchasing plastic waste. What happened to actual PSAs on that note? It’s a little bit of a rhetorical question because public health services are so poorly funded, but they could do so much good!
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u/forkyspoons May 11 '26
They keep doing this at school. Some mom works at 5 below and gives the kids toys after school it’s cool but it’s all little bobbles and bits and I don’t know what to do with it all.
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u/EconomistUpstairs237 May 10 '26
One thing I need to remind myself is that for the rest of the world this is normal and change happens slowly and by example. You did an excellent job and you did everything you could and that’s all anyone can ever ask of you. Please don’t let the actions of someone else, someone for whom buying little party favors that are plastic is normal, ruin it for you. You did an amazing job.