Egg-cellent Eco-Easter Tips

Easter Brunch‍

Instead of having a family gathering in a busy restaurant, plan to have a holiday event at home. Serve brunch from your own kitchen or have a cookout at your backyard on a beautiful, crsip spring day. Avoid using the oven, and cook dishes on the grill or other appliances to save energy, using locally sourced ingredients. Try to stay away from non-sustainable, processed and pre-packaged food. If you would like to discover other ways you can save energy while cooking, check our blog here.

Easter Basket‍

Instead of buying one, you can make one out of other materials like magazine paper, scrap fabric, old clothese, and more. The alternatives are endless. You can start this tradition or share this activity with your family and friends to spend quality time and create new memories.  Avoid using cellophane grass, often found in Easter baskets. Instead, use shredded newspaper or recycled paper than can be reused and composted.

Easter Egg Alternatives

Try to stay away from plastic eggs. If you choose to celebrate with real eggs, support your local farmers and buy eggs from pasture-raised chickens. In addition, when cooking the eggs, use a lid. Alternatives to Easter eggs can be decorating wooden eggs, purchasing compostable eggs, or decorating papîer maché eggs. ‍If you have to use plastic eggs, make sure to recycle them for each coming year. In addition, try to opt for organic and fair-trade sourced chocolate or chocolate made from your local farmers' markets. Otherwise, you can make some homemade Easter-themed treats.

Naturally Dyed Eggs

You would be surprised by the amount of ways you can naturally dye your Easter eggs. You can use dye from food like red cabbage, carrot tops, onion skins, turmeric, beets, instant coffee, and even wine to decorate your eggs with nature's beauty. To naturally dye your eggs, place eggs in a big pot with 2 cups of liquid and your natural ingredients and 1 tablespoon of vinegar to use as a mordant. Cover the pot and cook the eggs for at least 10 minutes, if not a little longer. When cooked, place a couple of eggs in a glass mason jar and carefully pour the liquid in the glass mason jar, fully covering the eggs with the liquid. Cover, label jars, and refrigerate overnight. To see the full recipe for the colors, check the link here.

Holiday Travel

‍If your plans include traveling on the road or in the skies to visit your family and friends, do what you can to make your travel as sustainable as possible. Check out these tips for traveling for not only Easter, but for all holidays and traveling that you're planning in the future. Otherwise, the time of Easter also represents the season of spring is here. Travel to your local or national parks for a hike, see wildflowrs, and feel the crisp, spring air. By being away from your house, you don't have to use electricity. Before leaving, make sure to turn off all electronics or have them plugged in a smart strip.

It is always exciting to celebrate Easter. It can also be a time whena lot of energy and waste Easter can produce every year, from the plastic eggs, plastic basket grass, candy wrappers to disposable goods from Easter parties. This year, celebrate the holidy in an eco-friendly way and you will feel better, knowing that you are helping our environment. Not only will your famliy and friends benefit an eco-friendly event, but also, our planet that we call our home.