Egg-stra Easy Tips for Easter
The Easter long weekend is an Aussie favourite. For most of us, we have four glorious days off work to reflect on new life and new beginnings. So what better way to start afresh than to improve your ecological footprint with these simple tips for making your Easter more eco-friendly.
- Buy Fairtrade chocolate to help improve the living standards of cocoa farming families and their communities in the developing world. You can also check out the Oxfam Shop for other fair trade Easter goodies.
- Buy an Easter Bilby (rather than an Easter Bunny) from Haigh's Chocolates to help one of our cutest little native animals.
- Buy Easter eggs with less packaging and if possible, those with recycled content in the packaging or choose a chocolate bunny wrapped in foil.
- Collect your Easter egg foil wrappers and bunch them into a ball. They're too small and light to recycle on their own, but in a big ball, you can recycle them in your kerbside bin.
- Make your own hand-painted eggs with help from the kids, or bake Easter treats instead of purchasing them.
- Gift your eggs in responsibly packaging. Get creative by recycling egg cartons, and you could even make your own gifts with chocolate moulds, and decorate them with 100s and 1000s.
- Recycle your soft plastic packaging in the collection bins at many Coles stores.
- Recycle cardboard or paper Easter cards in your kerbside recycling bins.
- Double check which items belong in which bin by searching for your area on RecyclingNearYou.com.au
- Before going on that Easter road trip, ensure you car runs efficiently by inflating the tyres and tuning the engine. Recycle your old car oil, tyres and batteries if that car check up finds they need replacing. Check out Planet Ark's Better Motoring Guide for more information.
- Plant a tree along with your chocolate egg hunt to green up your home, it will not only help provide habitat and food for all kinds of Aussie animals and birds but will also create even more hiding spots for your eggs next easter.
- If your kids are in need of a new basket, get them a basket made of wicker (not plastic) or natural materials. Or make your own baskets out of recycled shredded paper, old toilet rolls and cardboard . . . anything you can recycle.
- If you plan to colour eggs, use natural dyes and free range eggs.
- If your kids are not that into chocolate, think about alternative gifts that will actually be used. Why not give a pair of kid-sized gloves and garden seeds? Or some books, a puzzle or outside activity gift to get them moving like a ball. A charity gift donation is also a great way to teach them about the benefits of giving.