Show notes
In this episode of Can Marketing Save the Planet, we were joined by Charlotte Curl marketing consultant and Founder of No Crap Parties, a movement on a mission to shift the culture of children's parties away from wasteful plastic crap, towards more thoughtful, sustainable gifting.
As happens to so many mums entering the ‘party time era’, Charlotte found herself surrounded by piles of party bag junk and endless gifts, she explains, "It seems like nobody likes this status quo of party bags and piles of presents, but they just go along with it."A survey then confirmed her hunch that parents do in fact, hate the clutter, the cost, the waste, and the overwhelm, but social pressure and fear of disappointing their children and others, keeps them trapped in the cycle.
‘The Kids Party Pact’ was born from this insight. A simple agreement between parents to give gift guidance on invitations, give more sustainable gifts, and rethink party bags. The campaign grew organically through Instagram, but really broke out when Charlotte secured a feature in ‘Positive News’, followed by a piece in The Saturday Times. She shared, "As soon as I had that, suddenly I looked credible. I wasn't just this random mum on Instagram."Today, over 25,000 people are part of the movement.
A key pillar of the campaign is showing people that alternatives do exist and that sustainable parties can be fun, easy, and affordable. "I think often the eco alternative is seen as expensive. People expect that it's going to be more expensive."Charlotte provides tools and resources such as invitation templates, wording for gift guidance and real-life examples by way of supporting the removal of friction from making a change.
She also successfully secured funding from the National Lottery, which will see the launch of, ‘The Big Toy Swap’ taking place November 2026. A national toy swap month with the goal of having over 50 swaps happening across the country. The goal is she explains is, “to have over 50 swaps happening across the country, led by people in their own communities, but supported by us...giving their communities an opportunity to come and get their gifts for free and be proud of giving secondhand gifts this Christmas and beyond."It's a powerful way to bring people together, tackle the cost of living crisis, and normalise secondhand gifting, so be sure to look out for that in November.
Charlotte also talks about her children's book, and the binding failure that became an opportunity for creativity, and crisis management.
Tune in as we talk to Charlotte about:
How a survey of parents confirmed that the status quo of party bags and piles of presents is universally disliked.
The power of the pact: why knowing you're not alone makes it easier to break social norms.
The importance of showing real alternatives, not just telling people.
The Big Toy Swap this November: how you can host or find a swap near you and get free Christmas gifts for your kids.
Why Marketers must move beyond awareness to action: removing barriers, giving people the tools, and constantly reminding them of the alternative.
And check out all these links as outlined in the podcast:
Charlotte’s Children’s Book - Elf Chloe’s Surprise - https://charlottecurl.com/elf-chloes-surprise/
Sign the Kids Party Pact - https://nocrapparties.org/
Join in with The Big Toy Swap - https://nocrapparties.org/thebigtoyswap/
No Crap Parties on Instagram for inspo and ideas - https://www.instagram.com/no.crap.parties/
Connect with Charlotte via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottecurl/
Enjoy…
With love
Michelle & Gemma
________________________________________________________________________
About us…
We help Marketers save the planet. 🌍
Join the Marketers and organisations who have signed our manifesto, engage with our newsletter and training and, work with us to communicate sustainability more effectively. Sign our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, and join us on our mission. Get in touch to chat.
You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.
Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.