Ideas for an eco-friendly Easter
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March 29, 2023
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April 12, 2023
Easter time is filled with the promise of renewal, new beginnings, and the joy of Spring. It’s a time of year when we’re reminded of the beauty of the natural world. Perhaps, more than any other, this celebration is one which should have sustainability and eco-consciousness at its heart.
To make our Easter celebrations more eco-friendly this year, we can take inspiration from traditional celebrations, reduce our use of plastic and think carefully about recycling the waste we do produce. This way, we can reduce the carbon footprint of our celebrations and reduce our impact on the natural world.
#1. Don’t buy Easter eggs with plastic packaging
According to GWP Group, more than 80 million Easter eggs are sold each year in the UK alone. Although strides have been made in recent years to ensure the packaging of these eggs is recyclable, some eggs still include unnecessary plastic packaging. Use your consumer power by choosing only eggs that are wrapped in card and paper packaging that can be easily recycled.
#2. Don’t buy chocolates made with palm oil
Palm oil plantations are driving the destruction of important tropical forests around the globe. WWF says, “Palm oil has been and continues to be a major driver of deforestation of some of the world’s most biodiverse forests, destroying the habitat of already endangered species like the Orangutan, pygmy elephant, and Sumatran rhino. This forest loss coupled with conversion of carbon rich peat soils are throwing out millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.”
Uswitch found that 73 percent of the Easter eggs sold in the UK contain palm oil. Avoid these problematic products and stand against tropical deforestation by choosing Easter chocolate that does not contain palm oil.
#3. Choose Fairtrade chocolate
If you are planning to gift your friends and family chocolate eggs or other chocolate Easter gifts, be sure to choose chocolate bearing the Fairtrade stamp. This global certification organization works with farmers and workers so they can improve their living standards, invest in their communities and businesses and protect our shared environment. By choosing Fairtrade chocolate you’re ensuring that the beans that go into your chocolate are grown to high environmental standards.
#4. Avoid plastic decorations
Plastic decorations are made from petroleum products. Not only is the drilling and extraction of this raw material bad for our planet, but also takes hundreds of years to degrade. Much of its ends up in our oceans, soils, and water courses, endangering wildlife and contaminating the food chain. Avoid plastic decorations this year. Whatever decorative plastic grass, plastic egg hunt signs, chicks, bunting, or any other Easter décor item you want, look for a natural or paper alternative instead.
#5. Make your own eco-friendly Easter decorations
Instead of buying plastic decorations, make your own decorations from natural materials instead. Spring flowers, moss and wicker can be combined to create wonderful centerpieces, wall art or arrangements. You could try your hand at blowing and decorating real eggs (remember to blow out the contents first, so they don’t start to smell!). Or try one of our ideas for easy Easter paper crafts.
#6. Use recyclable eggs for your Easter egg hunt
Once you’ve decorated your eggs, you can use them for an Easter egg hunt. Instead of hiding chocolate eggs which require additional packaging, give chocolate as prizes after you’ve counted all the eggs that have been found. Or you could invest in some wooden eggs that can be used again and again year after year.
#7. Create new Easter traditions
Instead of serving up traditional roast meats for your Easter meals, choose seasonal produce, locally grown – so that the carbon footprint of this year’s Easter celebration is kept to a minimum.
This time of year, is a wonderful time to be out in nature. The forests are coming to life, with new shoots, nesting birds and emerging leaves and blossoms. Make the most of the extra days off to immerse yourself in nature. Its rejuvenating and relaxing. Plus, it will remind you exactly how precious this wonderful planet of ours is and why we all need to work to protect it.
What now?
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