A few mindful choices will let you and your guests feel proud about making the world a better place, one fabulous birthday bash at a time.  Where to begin?

1) Say adios to stamps! And hola to e-invitations.

Sending e-invitations eliminates paper, ensures speed of delivery and  allows your guests to RSVP, right away.  Sending Thank You notes becomes a joy, not a chore, when you personalize them with photos from the party with a press of the ‘send’ button.   No emissions, no paper cuts and no searching for mailing addresses required.

2) There’s no place like home.

Dorothy said it best when she tapped her heels three times…

Bringing your birthday party into your home allows you to reduce the need to use paper goods and disposable decorations.  Setting your table with your own dishes, cutlery and glasses not only makes the party feel special, it helps to keep the recycle bin from over-flowing.  Collect flowers or rocks from the garden to make place card settings extra special.

3) Work smarter not harder.

Giving group gifts is efficient, resourceful and best of all, is likely to result in a gift that will last and be treasured for years to come.  Let’s be real. If you asked your wee one who gave the LEGO set for their 5^th birthday, chances are you would still be waiting for that answer. If you asked who gave them their first baseball glove (iPod, scooter or camera) you will likely get a very clear and resounding – all of my friends!

Group gifts are also a sure fire way to get the friend-of-the-year award (while saving on gas and aggravation). Imagine telling your guests that they can give online, in seconds, and still give little Johnny the gift he has been dreaming about – while never leaving home.

4) The only thing better then giving one gift, is giving TWO.

Amp up the meaning of any birthday party by  including a charitable component (no gift wrap required).  Not only will you be teaching your kids that giving can be done at any age, you will be giving your child the gift that can ONLY come from helping others in need. Make it easy, make it fun and most of all, magnify the lasting impact the choice to give back will have on others.

Green, for sure.  Smart, you bet. Birthday parties of today, certainly can keep up with the time.

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Ever since Elana was a toddler she’s had a strong interest in whales and marine life.  In fact, this summer she had the opportunity to see many varieties on a whale watching trip on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. WWF was just a natural charity choice for her, as well it fit with her party theme of exotic animals.

Elana has been playing the flute since she was 8 years old. She loves the flute for it’s beautiful sound.  Elana wants to pursue learning to play and perform into high school and getting a brand new flute for her ECHOage birthday was just the thing she needed to take her to the next level.

WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:

• -conserving the world’s biological diversity
• -ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable
• -promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption

Elana, you already are instrumental in making the world around you, a better place.  A giant happy birthday from ECHOage, to you!

When we think of the reasons why we are most proud of ECHOage, children like Amanda come to mind.  This girl made turning 10 extra special, and she did it so easily with ECHOage.  At 10 years old, Amanda loves to sew and make jewellery.  It is her hobby and she really enjoys making things for other people.  She chose sewing and jewellery supplies for her birthday because she will need more supplies in order to make more fabulous designs.  But that is not all…Amanda chose to support the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada because her grandmother has had Crohn’s since she was a little girl.  In Amanda’s words: “I want to make sure that anyone else who has Crohn’s gets good treatment like my grandmother has.” Happy Birthday special girl! You have made our day, and you will certainly inspire many other children to follow in your footsteps. Thank you, Amanda!

For her first birthday, Jaymee (and her family) chose to support the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Jaymee’s mom explains the motivation for choosing the hospital as their charity of choice. “The hospital does so much to help children of all ages every single day and we wanted to help them continue their high standard of care in any way we could. At 10 months of age, we had to bring Jaymee to the children’s hospital. Thank goodness everything turned out okay but she was very well taken care of so we wanted to thank them in this way.”

For Jaymee’s gift she will be getting an outdoor playground and can’t wait to play in it this summer with her big sister Gabrielle!

Jaymee, your ECHO, at age one will certainly have positive impact, far and wide.

Happy, happy birthday!

Here is an eight-year-old boy who thinks about his grandmothers, and how he can help them.  He chose to support Rethink Breast Cancer at his recent ECHOage birthday party because he wants his grandmothers to be healthy and enjoy their lives. One of Jamie’s grandmother’s died of breast cancer before he was born. Jamie chose to honor her memory at his party.

He also got to choose his birthday gifts – he got Wii games and a new baseball mitt.  Jamie said he liked this more than getting lots of different birthday presents because he could choose his own games and the style of baseball mitt.  When asked about the best part of his birthday, Jamie said: “The best part of my birthday was playing with my friends and having fun together!”  Happy Birthday, Jamie! Our hats are off to you.

Family Choice Award Winner

The Family Choice Awards Recognizes the best in travel, children, parenting and pet products and resources. This award program is one of the most coveted, family friendly consumer awards programs in the nation.

It may not be an Oscar – but for these two moms who brought the idea of birthday giving and getting to life – we humbly thank our own academy of families, friends and children who encouraged us to jump in, take a chance and not turn back.

A giant thank you from us, to all of you!

JACOB from Jacob’s Ladder with his family

Balance beams, back bends and birthday cake were the main attraction at this birthday party but Brielle and her friends also made giving a part of this birthday celebration.

Here is what Brielle had to say about her charity choice.   “I chose the Make-a-Wish Foundation because I wanted to help sick kids my age, older and younger to make their last wish come true and help them go places and meet their heroes.”

Looks like we found our real hero in you, Brielle.

Thank you for starting your ECHO at such a young age.

Kyle feels good when he helps other children.  That is why he chose to support The Association to Benefit Children for his 9th birthday party which he celebrated at the beach with friends and family.  “When mom read me the different charities on the ECHOage site, The Association to Benefit Children sounded really good because it helps abused and neglected children.  It is sad to think about kids being hurt and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.” While helping children, Kyle also got the birthday gifts he has been dreaming of: A Kindle Fire and Halo Mega Blocks. “Halo is one of my favorite toys!  I wanted a tablet because it’s cooler than a phone, and there are apps and fun things I can play on it.” Kyle told us that it makes him feel very good inside to know he helped other children. Kyle, it makes everyone at ECHOage feel good inside to know you’re leading the way for a new generation of kids who will celebrate their birthdays while thinking of others. Happy Birthday, special boy! You turned 9 and made a real difference in your world.