Our Easter Isn’t About Religion It’s About Family And Living Plastic-Free

Can we all agree that plastic is just not a good idea? Especially given the alarming rates of plastic being found in the ocean, in whales’ stomachs and disrupting reproductive hormones of sea mammals. It’s alarming and upsetting.

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And using the holidays as an excuse to contribute to all that environmental harm doesn’t sit well with me.

The good news is, there are lots of great ways to celebrate holidays while avoiding plastic entirely. Here’s how we’re doing Easter this year (note: we are not religious, so that’s not our focus at Easter, but we do take part in the chocolate/Easter bunny side of things).

Using refillable (or solid) wooden eggs instead of plastic ones for a treasure hunt

Those cheap and flimsy plastic eggs are 100 per cent headed for the landfill. They aren’t really supposed to be single-use, but because they are so cheaply made, they are. If you already have them, by all means use them. But if you’re looking for an eco-friendly alternative this year, check out these or these on Etsy (or even better, head to your local thrift shop to see if there are some other unique options to use for an egg hunt!)

Painting our wooden eggs

This year we’ll be painting our wooden eggs as a fun activity. Then we’ll reuse them for our egg hunt every year (and my guess is they’ll also become a part of the toy rotation, since my kids love putting little things inside other things). You can also get some solid (not hollow) wooden eggs to paint together and hide each year. Instead of having Easter be all about the treats, it will be all about the scavenger hunt and the art you created with your kids.

Replacing individually-wrapped chocolates with bulk treats

We opted for the refillable wooden eggs. We’re filling them with eco-friendly beeswax crayons, some bulk treats from bulk barn (we use small cloth bags to shop there) and vegetable and sunflower seeds for the kids to plant in our garden. Trust me, the kids will be just as excited about all these fun options as they would be about junky chocolate wrapped in foil and plastic.

Also recommended: Dip-Dye Wax-Resist Easter Eggs

Gifts

Somehow, Easter, like all other occasions, has become a gift-giving extravaganza. I get it. Seeing our kids’ faces light up is the best feeling in the world. But there are other ways to make that happen without also harming the environment. Easter is usually a sure sign of warm weather and all the amazing outdoor exploring opportunities it provides. When we choose to give gifts, we opt for things our kids need anyway, like a new pair of shoes for the season (in a fun colour they’ll be excited about) and some garden tools for them to get digging. Not only do they love this gift, it also inspires them to get outside and appreciate all nature has to offer — which, really, is the best gift for all of us after a long, icy winter.