A Wales-based mum of three has taken the war on plastic into her own hands after launching one of the UK’s first ever sustainable party supply businesses.
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Laura Lowe launched ‘Make It Pop’ after a party held at her Vale of Glamorgan home for around 100 guests left her ‘freaking out’ at the amount of waste involved.
Disturbed at the level of landfill left over, Laura set about sourcing her own range of melamine tableware, decorations, plastic-free party bags and other eco-friendly alternatives which are now available to hire or buy online, UK-wide.
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Laura, 34, said:
“Like most parents I try and be mindful of the environment, and the amount of waste involved in hosting children’s parties at home or in hired venues is quite shocking.”
“With three children, there is rarely a weekend that goes by where I’m not attending a party and witnessing the wastage involved there either – Make It Pop is my own personal contribution to the war on plastic I suppose, which is far from new but has certainly gathered pace in recent times.”
Indeed, environmental threats posed by single use party plastics are now so significant the EU is considering banning single use plastic-coated plates, drinks stirrers, cutlery and balloon sticks from children’s parties altogether.
The BBC also announced in February that it aims to ban single-use plastics completely by the year 2020 after documentary Blue Planet II explored the effects of plastic pollution on the planet*.
Fortunately, hiring party supplies over purchasing single-use disposables is becoming ever more popular thanks to Make It Pop and a handful of other UK businesses currently leading the trend nationwide.
With a background in marketing, Laura created the site to help raise awareness of the positive effects renting out items such as table runners, re-useable melamine plates and cups, and decorations can have not only on the environment but on the purse strings too.
Laura, whose children are aged 3, 6 and 8, added: “It’s well-known that most drinking straws sold on the mass market today are made wholly or partially of plastic, but how many of us consider the same when it comes to plates, cups, party favours and even balloons, for example?”
“Make It Pop makes hiring in party supplies easier than ever as one of the first UK sites to offer a full range of sustainably produced tableware, decorations and other party related materials in one place – saving time, money and, above all, the planet in the process.”
