It’s officially spring and time to hop into the first major holiday of the season – Easter! Wonderfully festive and full of freshness, Easter is the perfect holiday for flexing your eco-friendly muscles. If you’ve just picked up pre-packaged decorations and treats from the store, however, Easter can quickly turn into quite the carbon creator. Instead, celebrate sustainably with our Eco-Easter ideas.
Eco-Friendly Egg Decorating
We’re so over the store-bought egg dyeing kits! This year, get creative by using non-artificial dyes and colorants. Take very ripe fruits and veggies – think blueberries, raspberries, spinach, beet skins, red cabbage leaves, and orange peels – anything super colorful – and simmer in a saucepan with water for about an hour. Drain the water into a bowl and you’ll have exceptionally eco-egg dye. If you’re vegan and want to skip the eggs, opt for painted pinecones, stones, or buy a bag of wooden or ceramic eggs from the craft store.
Sustainable Easter Brunch
Everyone can agree on sitting down to a delicious Easter brunch. We can also agree that most traditional dishes are made with animal byproducts and processed ingredients that have to be transported long distances, and that most recipes leave us with lots of leftovers that go to waste. Opt for vegan or vegetarian dishes made from local, fresh ingredients and buy organic, when possible. Employ reusable plates, flatware and table linens and for decoration, try fresh flowers or greenery from your own garden.
Carbon-Less Candy
Skip the artificially flavored candy and chocolate, and instead, fill your Easter baskets with homemade treats that are healthier for you and your children and better for the environment. Make your own peanut butter eggs using all-natural nut butters and organic chocolate. Broken pretzel bits covered in chocolate can become birds’ “nests” to be filled with mini colored marshmallows as “eggs.” And there are stacks of recipes for sugar-free, gluten-free, organic cookies and treats that taste as delicious as their store-bought counterparts.
Travel Offsets
If you’re heading out of town over the holiday weekend, take time to consider how you’re getting there and back. Traveling is one of the biggest contributors to your carbon footprint. Click here to see our blog post on the greenest forms of transportation and click here to purchase carbon offsets that will cancel out the environmental damage of your travel. Your purchase supports renewable energy projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slows the effects of climate change.
Wherever you go and whatever you do, we hope you share the holiday with friends and family, enjoying the spirit of the season in egg-cellent, eco-friendly style.
For more eco-friendly travel and lifestyle tips, stay connected to the Terrapass Footprint Blog. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook, where we’re always sharing information for living in sustainable, green style.
Brought to you by terrapass.com
Sources:
https://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/Homemade-Natural-Dyes-31861660
https://www.frugalcouponliving.com/reeses-egg-recipe-peanut-butter-easter-eggs/
https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g3079/easter-candy-recipes/?slide=3
https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g3079/easter-candy-recipes/?slide=5
https://terrapass.com/wright-brothers-day-offsetting-air-travel
