Sustainable Easter Celebration

It's that time of year when mothers and grandmothers begin to frantically search every local store in hopes of finding the perfect necessities for making their children happy on Easter Sunday. This generally includes baskets, filler presents, and plastic eggs. Sadly, majorities of the items used on Easter have a negative effect on the environment. In hopes of making your easter celebration, here are a few key tips on how to make a perfect AND sustainable celebration.

Baskets -

Easter baskets are one of the most common gifts among mothers across the globe. They spend countless time, effort, and money making sure that everything is perfect. What they do not realize is that most of the items inside the basket, and even the basket itself, are going to waste. Here are three main tips for reducing basket waste: reuse the same basket every year, donate the basket back to a left-hand store, or even better, don't use a basket.

The most common occurrence when it comes to Easter basket waste is that most of them end up in landfills at the end of the day, however, by using one of these three methods, you are saving baskets from becoming unnecessary waste.

To start off, let's talk about the first option, reuse the same basket every year. This is a very simple and obtainable method that will help reduce waste, money, and time spent looking for another basket. By reusing the same basket yearly, not only will you be helping protect the environment, but the basket can become a tradition. It will become more sentimental and special between you and your little ones. One day every year, the same basket from the time they are 2-16 years old will make it’s appearance and they will remember it as something special from their childhood. Hopefully it’ll leave such an impression that they will continue the tradition with their children, and so on. Then you have created a healthy and sustainable habit for many generations to come. So not only will this help you in short term, but you can make a generation-long impact all by reusing the same basket each year.

Now the second option, donate to a left-hand store. This is an amazing option for you and your family. Although you won’t necessarily have the luxury of not worrying about a basket for next year, you would be giving other people and families a chance to have a quality basket for their future celebrations. This is not only a good option to benefit other families but you would also be helping to eliminate unnecessary waste from entering our landfills. This option is all around a more sustainable way of living and can help to keep waste from polluting our world.

Last but not least, don’t use a basket at all. At first glance, I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. There are so many other ways to create a non-waste basket right from your home. You can get creative and weave a basket out of pipecleaners, or you can stay simple and use household items such as bowls, pots, or even cupcake pans. This method allows you to of course be sustainable as well as add your own twist to the holiday. Maybe to add a bit of spice, you and your family could hold a competition to see who can make the best basket out of only items throughout the home. There are so many options and twists to this and each family can make their own version of it. This fun and eco-friendly method can add some extra creativeness to your holiday.

Basket Grass -

It may be cute, and it may be fun, but one thing that the fake basket grass is not is necessary. Now yes, I know that some stores now sell paper instead of plastic grass, but what is it packaged in? You guessed it, plastic. Plastic is one of the world's leading pollutants and by purchasing this, the problem isn’t getting any better. Here are a few alternatives to this product, any shredded newspaper, receipts, or junk mail, as well as any yarn, pipe cleaners, ribbon, or string that you have around the house. Now don’t go and buy these things, but let’s get creative! Practically any household craft can be used to make this product. By using household items, this will keep unnecessary waste out of landfills. The overall alternative to something different from basket grass is to not use it at all. Now, if you must have it, then one of the above will be a perfect solution, but all in all, the grass is not needed. If you truly want to get rid of basket waste, then let’s start by getting rid of basket grass!

Plastic Eggs -

Pop quiz - what is one of the biggest pollutants in the world: if you said plastic then you were correct. And what do we buy EVERY single Easter? Plastic eggs. We put candy and maybe money in them for the little ones and hide them throughout the yard for them to run around and search for. But at the end of the day most of them end up in our trash bins and head to the landfill to create more waste. However, there are a couple of simple and easy options to combat this issue: reuse the plastic eggs each year, or use wooden or real eggs. Yes, I know that you can’t stuff candy and money into real eggs, so if this is a dealbreaker for you, then you’re not quite off of the hook yet. Instead of purchasing plastic eggs (unless you plan on keeping them for years to come), purchase wooden eggs instead. Then, not only are you being eco-friendly, but you also have the chance to paint the wooden eggs with your children. This could be a fun activity for you and your family to participate in, and it can serve as a family bonding exercise. Using one of these alternatives will help you have a sustainable celebration as well as a fun activity for you and the family.

Plastic-free -

Last but most definitely not least, if you want to have a sustainable Easter, do you best to eliminate as many plastics from the day as you can. This includes plastic wrapping, plastic silverwear during meals, pretty much anything plastic we should be making a conscious effort to get rid of them. Once you reduce the plastic waste for your celebration, you are making a HUGE step toward a better environment. If only everyone did one of these things differently for their Easter celebration, imagie how much waste and items we can save from entering landfills by simply being creative and using easy alternatives. This Easter, when you are thinking about what to use or give, think green living.