Tag Archives: easter

5 Ways You May Not Have Considered to Green Your Easter

5 Ways You May Not Have Considered to Green Your Easter

I’ve written in the past about having a more environmentally friendly Easter. The basics are pretty simple – reuse baskets and other supplies where possible, buy less stuff, don’t buy plastic if you can help it. Here are some more ideas you may not have considered.

1. Activity Coupons

Rather than give more stuff, print up coupons for activities you will do with your kids, such as a picnic outside, a trip to the park, playing a game together, things like that.

2. Handmade Toys

Are you creative? Make a toy for your child. Sewing, knitting, woodworking, if you have the skill to make something, why not?

3. Molded Crayons

Got a bunch of old, broken crayons around the house. Many families do. Rather than toss them, put them into molds and make new crayons for your kids’ Easter baskets.

4. Outdoor Toys

With all the candy most of us cannot resist giving, add in some outdoor toys and sports equipment to encourage the kids to get out and play.

Overall, the biggest challenge to having an eco friendly Easter is our own habits. I always have trouble resisting the Easter candy aisle at the store this time of year… some of my favorites are only in stores this time of year. While I don’t resist them entirely, I use ideas such as the above to cut down on the bad stuff while still giving really fun Easter baskets to my kids.

5. Hunt For More Than Just Eggs

Egg hunts are fun for the kids (and often the parents), but why limit yourself to just eggs?  You can hide money or clues for the kids to seek out also. You can even hide silly activities for the kids to do, such as walk backwards to the next clue, hop on one foot, pet the dog, and so forth. Have fun with it all.

Make Green Easter Baskets for Your Kids

It’s just a couple of weeks to Easter, and I’m thinking already on what I want to put in my kids’ Easter baskets. It’s a holiday they have a lot of fun with, and I like to keep up the excitement without overdoing the spending.

With that in mind, I thought I would offer some tips on keeping Easter a bit greener for the kids.

1. Buy Easter baskets that can be reused.

Our kids’ Easter baskets get reused every year. We didn’t get the cheapie ones from the store. We found nicer ones that will hold up for many years. The kids love them.

You can find good baskets at thrift stores or any store in your area that sells baskets. It’s been a few years, but I think ours came from Cost Plus.

You can also consider using a bucket as a basket. This is great for kids who are still young enough to really enjoy playing in the sand.

2. Reuse other supplies from year to year.

Sure, you don’t like all that ugly plastic stuff you may have bought for Easter in years past, but if you have it there is no further harm in using it. Just don’t go buying new plastic eggs or plastic Easter grass.

Build up your supply as needed with more environmentally friendly Easter basket supplies.

3. Real grass in the Easter basket.

Two ways you can do this. The first would be to take lawn clippings the day before and use them in the baskets. It should be simple enough to time mowing the lawn so that you would have the clippings ready when you need them.

Another would be to line the basket with foil, add dirt and grass seeds, then grow the grass in the basket. Best to get started now if that’s what you want to do, as it will take a couple weeks to get things growing tall enough.

4. Skip the egg dying kits.

Nothing wrong with dyeing Easter eggs, but the little kits are relatively wasteful, especially if you have what you need to dye the eggs already at home.

I like to dye the eggs with food coloring and vinegar in a colander. We did this last year, and it turned out really beautiful.

You can also use natural food colorings. You can start with the raw eggs and boil them with the dye agents and some vinegar, using:

  • Carrots or turmeric for yellow,
  • Red cabbage leaves or blueberries for blue,
  • Beets or cranberries for pink,
  • Yellow onion skins for orange,
  • Red wine or purple grape juice for purples.

5. Think about what you put into the basket.

Go easy on the candy and think more about what the kids will use. As it’s spring, seeds and small garden tools can be fun. Books can also be a good gift.