A Greener Bunny Trail – Tips for Greening Your Easter

I cannot believe that Spring is almost here and Easter is less than a month away.  While at Blissdom this year I got to spend a few minutes with the Easter Bunny and his friends from Hershey’s to talk about how to green your Easter.

5 Tips for Greening Your Easter:

1. Skip the plastic grass please!  If you must use grass in your basket use the recycled paper grass and reuse/recycle it when Easter is over with.  The plastic grass is horrible to the environment and makes a huge mess anyways.  In the past I’ve been known to shred junk mail at home and make my own Easter grass (this also works for packing material too).
2. Reuse a basket!  The one thing I remember as a child is that my mom reused our Easter baskets each year.  It was the only thing that remained the same each year and I’m pretty sure if I go searching through my moms storage shed I might still be able to find my basket from childhood.  We started this same tradition with our kids.  Get creative with your baskets too – you can make them from weaving old magazines or t-shirts together, you can use old milk jugs, or a reusable shopping bag.
3. Naturally dye your eggs.  This one is actually a lot of fun and we’ve done it for a few years now.  Skip the artificial dye and use vegetables and fruits to naturally dye your eggs.  Looking for some vegetables and fruits that make pretty colors?  Try blueberries, raspberries, carrots, spinach, purple cabbage, tumeric, and onion skins.  Your kids will have fun experimenting with different items they find around the kitchen.
4. Eco-friendly gifts!  You don’t have to skip the candy (because really we all have our favorites, right!!) but mix in some eco-friendly toys in the basket so your little one doesn’t overdose on the sugar.  Add an Easter storybook, organic stuffed bunny, or make up a batch of homemade play dough.
5. Go outside!  Turn off the television and the computer on Easter and spend some quality time outdoors with your kids.  Pack a picnic and head to the park for an Easter party with friends and family.

Even though you want to try and be as eco-friendly as possible that doesn’t mean you have to skip out on the good candy.  We always toss in a few of our favorites like Cadbury Mini Eggs (my husbands favorite), Twizzlers (my favorite), and Cadbury Creme Eggs (because who doesn’t like the hidden creamy center).  For fun Easter crafts, recipes and tips visit Celebrate with Hershey’s and follow their Virtual Bunny Trail.

What are your favorite tips for celebrating Easter?  Do you try to limit the waste?  How do you go green while still keeping some of the fun?

Disclosure: Hershey’s is sending our family an Easter basket full of our favorite Easter candies (and no plastic grass) as part of their Virtual Bunny Trail campaign.  No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed in this post are my own.  No, not all Easter candy is healthy for my children but we do like it in moderation!