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Easter activities that won't harm wildlife
Half of all households with kids are planning an Easter egg hunt at home this year. Many of them will be hunting for plastic-wrapped candies inside plastic eggs to add to the green plastic grass in their plastic woven baskets. It’s plastic, plastic, plastic.
Plastic Easter eggs have been a staple in many households for decades, but, as with all plastic, they come with serious downsides. Plastic eggs are often used once and thrown out. Sometimes they’re forgotten and left to litter the lawns they’ve been hidden in. They contribute to plastic pollution and can end up among real eggs in the nests of native birds. So what are the alternatives?
Reuse
If you already have plastic Easter eggs, hold on to them and reuse them. Reuse can help stop the cycle of buying new every year and keeps these items from ending up in the landfill or the homes of wildlife.
Wooden eggs
If you’re committed to hiding eggs and don’t mind spending a little extra, opt for hollowed wooden eggs that you can paint in bright colors and use year after year.
Think inside the egg
If you’re hunting for hollow Easter eggs, make sure you don’t undo your eco-friendly choices by filling them with cheap plastic toys. One fun alternative is to fill your eggs with puzzle pieces. Once the egg hunt is over and all the pieces have been found, putting together the puzzle can be a fun activity for the group.
Real chicken eggs
Real chicken eggs can be an alternative to plastic, but they do come with their own downsides. Fluctuating egg prices, cruel practices at factory farms, air and water pollution, pesticide use in chicken farming, and high greenhouse gas emissions are just a few reasons people are lowering their egg consumption. If you choose to use real eggs, make sure to purchase organic, free-range eggs from local, small-scale farms.
Traditional scavenger hunt
You don’t need eggs to have fun exploring outdoors. A traditional scavenger hunt instead of a hunt for eggs is an even easier and cheaper option. Use colorful toys your children already have or hide clues in your garden to the location of a hidden Easter basket or treasure trove of Easter candy.
Springtime nature scavenger hunt
You can also get in the spring spirit with a nature scavenger hunt and search your neighborhood for signs of spring — wildflowers native to your area, buds on trees, common pollinators, or even simply “find a white flower” or “find something you’d eat if you were a bird.”
Family foraging
Go one step further and make a family activity out of foraging ingredients for your Easter brunch from outside. Learn to make magnolia blossom cookies and other foraged treats from experienced foragers like Alexis Nikole Nelson. Do your research before you head out and be sure to follow foraging best practices.
Easter baskets: More fun, less stuff
Giving gifts in an Easter basket has become increasingly common, but we know that more stuff doesn’t make us happier. Here are some tips for simplifying your Easter and keeping your gifts wildlife-friendly:
Earth-friendly baskets
Fill your Easter basket with shredded newspaper or old wrapping paper, thrifted fabrics or ribbon, or fallen leaves instead of using plastic-based fillers.
Easter chocolate
50% of Easter celebrants plan to buy candy and chocolates, making it the second-most popular holiday for purchasing sugary sweets after Halloween. Most of it comes wrapped in many layers of plastic. Keep the packaging to a minimum by buying in bulk from your local candy shop and look for fair-trade and organic chocolate.
Secondhand gifts
Give secondhand gifts from a reuse store, clothing swap, or yard sale. Camping gear, binoculars for birding, toys and puzzles are all great gifts to find secondhand. It’s the season of new life, after all. Kids grow quickly, so another good option is filling baskets with secondhand gifts that are needed for the warmer months ahead: bathing suits, flip-flops or a summer outfit are useful and fun.
Themed baskets
Have some fun in a secondhand bookstore and put together a thrifted book-themed Easter basket filled with your finds. Give a zero-waste basket with reusable straws and bags. Include plastic-free items like shampoo, conditioner, and soap bars that don’t come in plastic packaging. Stick to a spring-themed basket by giving seed packets you can spend time planting together or a build-your-own bird or butterfly house you can construct together.
Resist the urge to make a live animal part of your Easter basket. 80% of bunnies purchased for Easter are abandoned. Baby chicks and ducklings suffer a similar fate, with most of them dumped at shelters or released into the wild. These domesticated animals are unable to survive on their own and can spread disease to wild animals. Animals aren’t holiday props — they require a long-term commitment of care and attention. Opt for a visit to a wildlife sanctuary, national park or nature preserve instead, where you can enjoy the sights and sounds of wildlife in their natural habitat.
Easter meals
Cooking a holiday meal is one of the most popular ways to celebrate Easter, but 78% of Easter celebrants find hosting a large meal at their home stressful. The main thing they find stressful? Figuring out how much food to make. That’s understandable considering that 40% of edible food in the U.S. is wasted every year. See our Simpler Entertaining guide for more tips on hosting a stress-free, plant-based, wildlife-friendly Easter.
More than 100 million pounds of ham are sold leading up to Easter. While serving ham is tradition in the United States, it comes at a huge cost to wildlife. Pork is one of the top four greenhouse gas generating animal products, along with lamb, beef and cheese. Producing pork also degrades and pollutes 11.4 million acres of wildlife habitat every year. This year skip the Easter ham and enjoy a healthy, plant-based meal instead. Let vegetables take the lead and move any meat to side dishes.