5 Tips for a Zero Waste Easter

Easter can be such a special time for families with little ones. Unfortunately Easter also tends to be a big contributor to landfill, with plenty of Easter themed items that are designed to be pretty but are made cheaply and break quickly. The concept of zero waste simply means to avoid unnecessary waste and use only what is needed. Read on for some handy tips on how to strive for a zero waste Easter this year.

1. Choose a zero waste Easter basket

Store-bought Easter baskets are almost always made from flimsy plastic (or polyester fabric) and only last a single season. The best sustainable choice you can make is to use what you already have. Search high and low around your home and you may already have baskets, buckets etc. that you can repurpose as Easter baskets.

Can’t find a suitable basket, and need to head to the shops? Try your local op shop or market for a second hand basket or box to use. Some very crafty people also use up-cycled materials like old clothes and cardboard boxes to make their own baskets.

If that doesn’t work, or you simply don’t have time for op-shopping or DIY-ing, the next best sustainable option is to pay attention to the material that the basket is made from. Natural materials like straw, wood, grass, bamboo and some fabrics like hemp or organic cotton are all good choices as they will break down relatively quickly, and can be composted. Alternatively, investing in a basket made from sturdy materials like metal can be a good option to ensure your Easter basket stands the test of time and survives from year to year.

2. Get baking!

One of my favourite memories from Easter in my childhood is baking Easter goodies with my mum and siblings. Now that I have my own children, I love to get in the kitchen and bake up a storm as often as possible. At Easter time, we put a festive twist on our baking. Yesterday we made hot cross cupcakes. This just involved baking standard cupcakes and icing a cross on top. So simple, yet my kids LOVED it.

3. Get crafty!

My girls love to draw and paint and get crafty, and we do this on the daily. With Easter approaching, we make sure to include lots of bunny, carrot and egg crafts. My girls are still young, and they are more than happy for me to free-hand draw onto paper for them to colour in, cut out or glue things onto. This week we have done watercolour painting on bunnies and crayon colouring egg pictures. Today we went outside and practiced scissor skills by cutting grass clippings, and then glued these onto our carrot collages (the orange part is felt pen). Again, super simple, and my girls adored it.

4. Recycle your Easter egg foil

Yep, it’s recyclable. I only learnt last year that the foil on Easter eggs is recyclable in kerbside recycling collection in Australia. The trick is to scrunch up all the bits of foil into one big ball so that it won’t get lost during the recycling process.

5. Mindful gifting

Look, I’ll be honest. I really don’t want my kids to have a basket full of chocolate to send them hyper on Easter morning. But, I also don’t want to take all the fun out of Easter and not give any chocolate at all. My girls get a couple of small chocolates each, and their basket gets ‘bulked out’ with a couple of items that they need and I would have to buy them at some point anyway. So, this year from the Bunny they are getting a few chocolates, winter pyjamas and toothbrushes and toothpaste to combat the chocolate! From my husband and I, they will each get a small chocolate and an experience to enjoy as a family (tossing up between Australia Zoo or the Ginger Factory this year). If we weren’t doing a family experience, we would choose an alternative gift such as a game to play as a family, or a book.

It can be a little tricky to maintain a sustainable lifestyle, whilst celebrating with your little one at Easter time, but you definitely can have it both ways. I would absolutely love to hear about your Easter traditions and activities in the comments!