As the seasons change, the age-old debate about the timeliness of decorations reemerges.
Last year, a staffer with the Chimes wrote about when they believed holiday decorations should go up.
They wrote,“Imagine this: the date is Nov. 1 and you just finished your festivities for Halloween. You walk into a store and, instead of seeing pumpkins and spooky objects, you are greeted with tinsel, twinkling lights and Santa Claus. It is time we consider these decorations should start Dec. 1.”
Feel free to put up decorations whenever is desired, but please do not hang any streamers.
Streamers are the most pointless decorations that exist.
Party streamers are considered lightweight crepe paper products. Crepe paper products are around 65 gsm (grams per square meter) or 3 pt (“point”), meaning the material is very thin.
While some are attracted to crepe paper for its crinkled look, it is so thin that it is transparent and prone to ripping.
Think about going to the doctor’s office and sitting on the examination table with a sheet of white paper. That white sheet of paper that easily tears when sitting down is made of the same material as streamers.
Likewise, one wrong move and party streamers rip or tear, falling to the ground.
Streamers are also pointless because they are only hung for short periods of time. Like balloons, once an event is over, no one knows what to do with them.
Balloons receive backlash for their environmental hazards.
According to Stephen Hamilton and Emma Rosi with the Chicago Tribune, “Balloons present hazards to aircraft and the electrical grid” because they persist in the environment well after their release.
Hamilton and Rosi also said the microplastics and the helium that result from deflated balloons contaminate the air, land and seas and damage many vulnerable populations.
Hamilton and Rosi list “banners, flags, paper streamers, pinwheels” as environmentally friendly alternatives to balloons.
The outlier of those alternatives is streamers because they are one and done apparatuses that cannot be used again.
Streamers typically hang on walls as backdrops or garlands. There are even YouTube videos that instruct people how to make flowers and ceiling decor using party streamers, but their true purpose is unclear.
The momentary satisfaction that party streamers achieve does not outweigh the expenses and time commitment.
What to Expect, a pregnancy and parenting site, conducted a study that found that parents spent, on average, $314 on a child’s birthday party.
While there is no data that directly reflects how much of that budget was dedicated to decorations, there is evidence that decorations are a large expense.
Senior Director of Editorial Strategy and Growth at What to Expect, Robin Hilmantel, said, “This [the trend to throw elaborate celebrations] is driven largely by social media, which has inspired parents to throw parties with tons of on-theme decorations, foods and party favors.”
Some suggest that hosts should keep their parties simple and maintain realistic expectations.
Leah Rocketto, What to Expect’s associate shopping director, said, “Keep decorations simple and focus on the essentials: food, activity and dessert.”
No attendee is going to remember if there were streamers or not, but bank statements will remember how much was put into those must-have streamers.
If the goal is to be around others and celebrate, focus on those rather than party streamers.
Save the headache and ditch the party streamers.
