Ideas For An Eco-Friendly Easter
Go green this Easter with our eco-friendly Easter basket ideas. From Fair Trade chocolate to recycled paper grass, we’ve got sustainable alternatives to make your Easter a little more eco-friendly.
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When it comes to holidays, the landfills take the brunt of our plastic over-consumption. From little trinkets to packaging, there are endless ways to plasticize the holidays. Just think of all the plastic Easter eggs and Pez candy dispensers that are sitting in the landfills right now (and that’s just from one holiday).
Since it can take up to 1,000 years for plastic to degrade (1), it makes sense to look for plastic-free holiday alternatives. The good news is that there are options we can choose for more sustainable holidays, including Easter. Below are some eco-friendly Easter basket ideas to get you started on a more sustainable Easter.
Easter Basket Accessories
Starting with Easter baskets, we can avoid buying plastic pails and flimsy plastic baskets, opting for a sturdy reusable basket that can be used year after year. Plastic Easter grass poses a big concern for the health of wildlife, especially if ingested. Swap out plastic grass for recycled shredded paper or line Easter baskets with linen napkins for a greener option.
We can’t forget about plastic Easter eggs—the hollow ones that you open to reveal small toys and treats. Instead of buying more and more plastic eggs that end up in the garbage, look for hollow eggs made of plant-based biodegradable plastic, which takes between 3 to 6 months to degrade (2). Or stock up on hollow wooden eggs that you can reuse year after year.
Fair Trade And Organic Easter Treats
When it comes to chocolate, most of us aren’t really thinking about where it came from. But here’s the truth—a large number of companies use child labor to collect and process the cocoa beans that are needed for our beloved chocolate. It’s back-breaking work, and some children start at the young age of 12. The pay is horrible, and slavery plays an unfortunate part in this industry (3).
A Fair Trade certified label means that child labor was not used in the production of your chocolate. Certified farmers are guaranteed a fair trade price for their cocoa beans. GreenAmerica keeps a scorecard with certifications by brand of chocolate. See if your favorite brand gets an A.
Aside from Fair Trade chocolate, conventional Easter candy contains loads of artificial dyes and flavor additives. The brands below use minimal, simple, natural ingredients in their candy.
Plastic-Free Easter Basket Stuffers
We’re circling back to plastic in Easter baskets—moving from sweets to toys and trinkets. All of the little plastic toys that are stuffed into Easter baskets end up eventually piling up in the landfills. Here are some non-plastic gift ideas that work for a range of ages (babies and toddlers not included), and don’t contribute to plastic pollution in our environment.
