Do we really need to make the effort to have a plastic free easter?
You may be thinking, do we really need to worry about having a plastic free Easter. After all it’s only a couple of chocolate eggs bought once a year.Â
The resounding answer is Yes we do! In a recent study it was revealed that the average chocolate Easter Egg has around 30g of plastic packaging. With around 148 million hollow Easter eggs sold each year that adds up to more than 3.000 tonnes of plastic waste.
Yes, most of the plastic can be recycled; note the plastic window in the boxes cannot be recycled. However, recycling isn’t the answer and given that we only recycle around 30% of plastic packaging in the UK it really is best to try and avoid it in the first place.
So, now that we know we should try and have a plastic free Easter here are some ideas on how we can achieve it.
Plastic Free Easter Gift Ideas for Children
The first thing that springs to mind when you think about Easter and children is chocolate. But there are also some alternatives you may want to consider.
Here’s my suggestions for plastic free Easter gifts for children.
Plastic Free Easter Eggs
If you are looking for plastic free Easter eggs you can either buy one that doesn’t have any plastic packaging, my favourites are the milk chocolate mini eggs from CocoLoco or the foil covered Lindt bunnies.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to buy a packaged egg you could make up your own chocolate treat basket. There are some very cute Easter themed mini metal buckets or felt baskets available that you could fill with mini eggs or foil covered chicks and bunnies. You can buy unpackaged mini eggs from the pick and mix, Wilkos have a good selection.
Books
A book always makes a nice alternative to chocolate and you can buy some lovely Easter themed children’s books. I love “We’re Going on an Easter Egg Hint” by Martha Mumford, the illustrations by Laura Hughes are lovely.
Easter Treat Bag
We love planning Easter egg hunts around the garden, or indoors if it’s wet, with the boys. And, you can buy some lovely personalised Easter treat bags to collect the eggs in and they are so pretty. My favourite ones are from Tillyanna sold through Etsy. And not only are the bags gorgeous but they also have a wonderful ethical ethos:
With values as green as the valleys around them, the ethical ethos of the Tillyanna brand means that all of their products are made using 100% fairtrade cotton, 100% biodegradable jute and other recycled materials; earning the team the Ethos Award at the Not on the High Street,  Make Awards in 2015. Social responsibility sits at the heart of the brand, with Helen and her team continuously striving to keep their offering as eco friendly as possible.
Egg Cup
A fun Easter activity with the children is to paint hard boiled eggs. You can buy some wonderful egg cups and they would make a lovely plastic free Easter gift. When I’m looking for handmade personalised gifts I always find Etsy is the best place to look. I found some gorgeous personalised ones from Hand Made by Swans that I think I might buy for the boys.
Plastic Free Easter Gift Ideas for the Grown ups
Even though I daughter G is all grown up with 3 of her own children now I know I would be in trouble if I didn’t buy her an Easter egg.
Here are my ideas for plastic free Easter gifts for the grownups.
Plastic Free Easter Eggs
Again, the best place I’ve found for plastic free packaged Easter eggs is Montazuma and CocoLoc. They both have milk, dark and white chocolate options.
Gift Basket
Just because it’s Easter it doesn’t mean you’re restricted to giving a chocolate Easter egg as a gift although that is traditional.Â
The egg is an ancient symbol of new life and has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating Spring. From a Christian perspective some say it represents new life with Jesus’ resurrection And, decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century.
If you don’t want to buy a packaged Easter egg you can make up your own gift basket with sweets or alternatively with some plastic free gifts.Â
Also, a pot of Spring flowers would make a nice gift that can be kept and planted out in the garden.
I hope this has given you some ideas for plastic free Easter gifts and will help you reduce the amount of plastic waste created during Easter.
How are you celebrating Easter and do you have any special plans to help reduce waste during the holidays?
Love these ideas and I think it’s important too. I try to opt for small individual things rather than the traditional egg in a box and plastic. I love your gift buckets. They look really cute.
Books are always a lovely idea for a gift. We got Erin some really nice Easter themed books last year.
So much plastic everywhere, you are right, we should be looking towards buying gifts that don’t have loads of packaging. I like mini eggs personally and I think I little gift bucket is a great idea.
What lovely ideas. My son is dairy free so we have a plastic and chocolate free Easter! We do sweet treats and gift bags, usually with a little book or activity pack in. I love your plant idea though, might steal that one!
I think if we can then we should, we not doing anything special for Easter but loving some ideas in this guide.
I love this. I think cutting down on plastic where possible is so important. There is so much plastic waste at this time of. year!
I’ve seen those eco eggs around and have been curious about them! But yes recycling plants say that their waste can increase by 5 or 10% at Easter and they get a lot of non recyclable mixed materials in. Very good idea, shame I don’t like easter eggs
The Quirky Queer
It really winds me up how much packaging the eggs come in. This year we are going for homemade treats to try and be more sustainable.
I love this!! Anything that helps reduce waste is a good thing. The less plastic the better I say! xx