Ten Ways to a Greener Easter Basket
March 20, 2008 by Peggy
One- Make your own Easter grass for the basket. That yucky plastic stuff is dangerous if small kids and pets try to eat it. Believe me, it’s just the kind of thing my cat would try to eat. If you don’t already have some green, pick or yellow construction paper, buy some recycled construction paper. Slip it through your paper shredder, then scrunch it up a bit. If you don’t have a paper shredder, just cut it up the old-fashioned way.
Two- Buy real eggs instead of plastic ones.
Three- If you really don’t want to use real eggs, make fake eggs from egg cartons. The World Environmental Organization tells you how here.
Four- Choose eggs in cartons that are made of cardboard or recyclable plastic instead of Styrofoam. I usually get Eggland’s Best free-range eggs since the plastic the carton is made of is widely accepted at recycling centers. I sometimes get Sparboe Farms free-range eggs that come in cardboard cartons. Target carries these. You can also buy from your local farmer. See Jennifer’s post on natural dyes.
Five- Buy organic chocolate. Endangered Species Chocolate and Newman’s Own are two widely available choices.
Six- Use the same basket from last year. When I was a kid I had a wicker Easter basket that had a rooster head on the handle. I loved it and didn’t mind using it each year. If you really want a new look for an old Easter basket, try recovering an existing basket with any extra fabric or other craft supplies you may have from art projects.
Seven- As co-blogger Jennifer reminded me, keep bunnies, chics and ducks where they belong — outside! These are horrible Easter gifts, especially the poor chics that are dyed pink or green for Easter.
Eight- Make your own special Easter treats instead of buying them. Here are some recipes: Cherry Nut Easter Eggs from Recipe Zaar, Fluffer Bunnies (cute bunnies made from marshmallows) from Family Fun and Italian Easter Cookies from The Recipe Link. And Marye at Baking Delights was nice enough to put up a vintage recipe on how to make Easter Bunny Rolls!
Nine- Remember to recycle wrappings and packaging from any bought Easter treats.
Ten- After hunting eggs, compost the shells.
Easter cookies flickr credit.
People dye those little chicks! That I did not know. Lame. I love the make your own eggs tips (from egg cartons). I’ve never seen that before. We’ve been using the same plastic eggs for years and I don’t want to toss them, but I might try those egg carton ones too.
Jennifer, the feed and seed town in the town where I grew up dyed chics for Easter. I don’t know if they still do or not. I’m sure someone somewhere still does this.
I thought the egg carton egg tip was cool too.
Fantastic ideas. My kids did egg hunts at school and brought home those generic yucky plastic eggs. I usually put them in the garage and give back to the school or neighbors. Still I bet most of the plastic eggs get landfilled year after year. Making eggs from egg carton is a great idea.
Hi Cindy. Great to see you. That egg carton idea came from World Environmental Organization. It probably would have never occurred to me!
I’m guessing those plastic eggs don’t have recycle numbers, right? : )