ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

Are you sick and tired of the commercialisation surrounding Easter and celebrations? For many people, Easter is just another commercial opportunity, benefiting greeting card and candy manufacturers. Unfortunately, most families’ Easter celebrations are orgies of excess packaging and unhealthy eating, tempting some to try to ignore it altogether.  

Of course, it would be easy enough to eliminate the impact on our environment by eliminating celebrations, but that would prevent us from sharing our happiness with the people we love best. And that's certainly not the point.

No, it's to celebrate, joyfully, without being unnecessarily wasteful. There are, we have discovered, many ways to do that.

A Eco conscious celebration  is one which takes into account the environmental impact of the event and lowers this through careful planning.

Easter is the most important religious feast of the Christian year. But as with many other Christian events, the celebration of Easter extends beyond the church.

Ancient civilizations celebrated by feasting with family and friends, and pagan fertility traditions and symbols have, over the centuries, become part of Easter celebrations.  

The season is fun for many children and invites those of us, to be optimistic about life and renewal, a sentiment that is much needed these days.

 In that spirit, here are some thoughts about creating a greener, healthier and more meaningful Eco Easter, whether or not you celebrate the religious aspect of the occasion.

 Eggs have been symbols of Spring probably since the beginning of human civilization. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs as symbols of fertility, rebirth and abundance. Eggs were also solar symbols and played a part in the festivals of various resurrected gods. The tradition of giving a chocolate egg to mark the end of Lent dates back to at least the 19th century.

Giving candy eggs at Easter might seem like a harmless extension of that tradition, but it’s one that can harm the health of both children and the environment.

Some FDA-approved food dyes are made from coal tar and other petroleum products, so they’re not necessarily healthy or eco-friendly.

According to Jane Hersey, Director of the Feingold Association, Easter candies can contain sodium Hexametaphosphate, Malic Acid, Blue 1, Mineral Oil, PGPR, Red 40, Magnesium Stearate, Yellow 5, Sorbitan Mono- stearate, Blue 2, Polysorbate 60, Invertase, Yellow 6. Studies have shown that synthetic food dyes, artificial flavouring, and certain preservatives found in many candies and processed foods can trigger hyperactivity and attention problems in sensitive children.

Read labels and buy organic sweets, without added sugar at organic suppliers, or a healthier option would be to make your own delicious organic Easter treats.  Also beware of those waxy chocolate eggs and bunnies. If you must give the gift of chocolate this Easter - - sans pesticides! Choose organic chocolate with the fair Trade label.

It is possible to make your own chocolates, and fill them with nourishing centres. A box of your chocolate creations makes a delicious personalised gift. Instead of buying chocolates with packaging sure to end up at a nearby landfill, make your own chocolate.DIY Chocolate

Hersey also suggests feeding children breakfast before letting them indulge in Easter treats. Replace Easter treats with organic dried pineapples, bananas, apricots, cranberries, figs or dates etc, which are much more nourishing.You could also put a wooden or cloth toy or play silk  + organic dried fruit in the Easter basket to help take the emphasis off sweets.

 A basket filled with cooking utensils and ingredients and create an Easter treat with the children would be a fun and healthy start for Easter.

The nicest gifts are always those that have been handmade, fashioned by the hands of the giver and full of warm vibrations. Making your own need not be expensive or difficult. It just requires imagination and a little skill. Buy locally-made items from your markets or craftspeople.

When Peter Cottontail comes hopping down the bunny trail, surprise him with a basket of organic eggs dyed in gorgeous, eco-friendly colors.

Most egg dye kits are labeled as non-toxic, but even some food-grade, FDA-approved dyes are made from coal tar and other petroleum products, so they’re not necessarily eco-friendly. Look for plant-based dyes instead. Create your own colors from the garden with beets, cabbage and onion skins ....

The most enjoyable and educational solution is to create your own natural dyes by experimenting with foods.

The baskets that traditionally carry all those eggs can be problematic too, all too often finding their way into the trash a few days after Easter. Look for alternative containers like small wooden wagons and dump trucks, book bags, toy carrying cases and other things that can have a second life after Easter. Small laundry baskets, recycling containers or waste baskets can be decorated with stickers, wool, ribbon, fabric strips or raffia. Skip the petroleum-based plastic “grass” in favour of natural products like sprouted wheat grass or raffia, or recycled products like paper from your shredder.

Older children might enjoy foregoing the eggs and fuzzy chicks altogether in favour of a plant pot, some heirloom seeds and soil so they can grow their own herbs or small veggies. 

Make up Easter coupons that can be redeemed for everything from a hug to weeding the garden and taking out the trash, whatever comes from the heart.

Use a hole punch and ribbon, a stapler, or paper brads to hold your coupons together. Breakfast in Bed Coupon, Walking the dog Coupon, An hour of silence Coupon, One hour control of the remote control, Big hug Coupon, Washing the dishes Coupon. 'I promise to mow the lawn for one month' or 'I promise to tend the compost heap for one month' or 'I promise to rake the leaves for one month'.

Ask  the recipient what they would like added to the coupons. Once you have the requests, all you have to do is make them a reality!

Easter Chocolate Lip Balm

1 teaspoon beeswax
2 teaspoons organic prime-pressed cocoa butter
3 teaspoons organic oil of choice - organic coconut or olive oil or rice bran oil /jojoba 5-10 drops peppermint essential oil

Slowly melt ingredients in a double boiler or in 30-second spurts in microwave. Cool slightly and fill recycled containers. You may like to adjust the ratio of ingredients to suit your liking.

Resist the temptation to buy live rabbits, ducklings or chicks as gifts. Though cute and fuzzy, they’re not kid-friendly pets, and many thousands are abandoned each spring. In the months following Easter, local humane societies and animal rescue organizations are flooded with Easter gifts whose recipients were ill-prepared to look after them and have tired of the novelty. It is illegal to keep rabbits in some states of Australia.

In Australia replace the bunny with the Australian Bilby, you can purchase some wonderful story books on the Bilby and also a donation to help save the Bilby would be one of the best gifts at Easter.

Give Easter gifts that teach. Show your loved ones how they can contribute to helping the environment. Many people don’t participate in eco-friendly processes because they don’t know enough about them and worry that they are difficult.

Give gifts that help live sustainably, such as organic seedlings for a veggie patch / organic seeds / fruit and local native trees / herb garden / worm farm / sustainable living books.

Vouchers for services like massages and gardening have a low eco-impact as do gifts like movie, concert or sports tickets. Make a donation to a non-profit as a Easter Gift.

Members of your extended family might not be in agreement with your desire for a healthy, Eco- Easter. Nevertheless, don’t be afraid to share your concerns about too much chocolate, candy dyes or excess packaging with close relatives, friends and schools etc.

Give them some alternative suggestions. Or ask them to join in some fun activities, like experimenting with natural dyes on a few dozen hard-boiled organic eggs or participating in an Easter Egg hunt. Or hold a recycled Easter bonnet parade with everyone crafting a unique piece of headgear out of scrap materials.

Plant some trees. Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai has called on people around the world to plant trees at Easter as a symbol of renewal and to protect the planet. “If it was a worldwide campaign it would be wonderful; you can imagine the millions of trees that would be planted,”

Maathai said when she received the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai, a Christian who has led plantings of 30 million trees across Africa to combat deforestation, thinks that an annual tree-planting drive could symbolize revival for all peoples. Easter is a good time, she says, because Christians believe that Christ was crucified on a wooden cross, which must have necessitated the felling of a tree.

Stage a family Spring cleaning event on Easter weekend. Think up the chores at a family meeting and then write them on pieces of paper and put them into a big jar. Each person takes a slip of paper and runs off to complete the chosen task within a certain time limit. When their chore is completed, they take a fair trade chocolate egg, or home-made organic Easter treat, from a second jar / basket. With some energizing music on the stereo and everybody sharing the work, the cleaning is accomplished in a short period of time, often accompanied by lots of hugs and laughter.

Lastly, preparing and sharing healthy food is a great way to celebrate any occasion. Host a potluck with a theme, using only organic local food for your feast is another good eco-friendly way to celebrate the occasion and help the environment.

Candles (parrafin-free), flowers (local/organic), ribbons, and handwritten, heartfelt messages. These are the magic ingredients to make a celebration.

Have a family picnic under the stars, or a candle lit breakfast or make reservations at an eco-friendly organic restaurant, or don your chef’s hat and prepare an organic feast that’s good to the tastebuds and good to the planet.

However you celebrate, have a happy and healthy Easter!

Remember as the Great Law of the Iroquois Federation eloquently states,

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the next of seven generations”