Create cracking memories without the waste this Easter
This Easter, look beyond the quick chocolate fix and create long-lasting memories, that could also help save the planet.
Whatever the celebration, it seems like shops bombard us with seasonal-themed goodies earlier and earlier every year and Easter eggs are no exception, popping up in the blink of an eye as soon as the shelves have been cleared of snowflake and Santa adorned boxes.
Unfortunately, what we don’t realise is that this contributes to our consumption in Scotland which has a serious impact on the climate.
In fact, 80% of Scotland’s carbon footprint comes from consumption. This means that all the materials and products we manufacture, use, and throw away are negatively impacting the world around us by releasing harmful emissions like carbon dioxide.
Thinking about what we buy, including chocolate Easter eggs wrapped in layers of card, plastic and foil, can help make a positive impact on reducing our own carbon footprints.
Read on to get cracking with some sustainable Easter activities...
Homemade Easter treats
First on our list are hollow chocolate eggs. Try swapping them out for another delicious treat, like a tasty homemade Easter cake, that gives you more for your money and reduces your waste.
Baking a cake in the shape of an Easter egg is something the whole family can get involved in. Aspiring Bake-Off champions can test out their artistic skills by decorating the cake or making little spring-themed cupcakes or biscuits that look like eggs, chicks, and Easter bunnies!
Choosing to bake rather than buy reduces the associated waste as ingredients, such as flour, come in larger quantities than an individual chocolate egg or packaging free from a refill store. Edible or reusable cupcake cases are available to buy too.
Remember it is always best to look in the cupboard first to check what you already have before going to the shops so that you are only buying what you need. Any leftover flour, sugar and other ingredients from the cakes will get used up when making something else later. This way nothing ends up in the bin.
Easter activities
Another egg-cellent idea to get you in the mood for Easter is to find some oval-shaped rocks around your garden and delve into the arts and crafts box to paint the rocks in all sorts of patterns and colours, using pens to add the finer details.
Irregular-shaped rocks can be bunnies, chicks or anything else springtime related – just like with the cupcakes.
Create a fun challenge to keep the kids entertained during the Easter holidays by making it into a competition for the best painted rock. And the fun doesn’t have to stop there - use these painted rocks to place around the garden for an Easter egg hunt rather than opting for plastic eggs or decorated chicken eggs as these will ultimately be thrown away or left littered.
Use painted rocks to place around the garden for an Easter egg hunt rather than opting for plastic eggs. #HowToWasteLess
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A bonus could be that whoever wins this zero-waste game gets the first choice of the cakes you had made earlier. Although, reducing your waste this Easter to help tackle the climate crisis means that everyone is a winner - cakes for all!
Decorated rocks can be reused year after year. If the rocks start to fade, a fresh lick of paint will do the trick and you can even change their designs when you do.
By making it a new tradition, whether you paint them fresh each year or not, the rocks will become a household treasure that you can look back on for years to come, remembering your first time painting them and all the fun you had. The rocks can be passed down through the generations to make a new family legacy for every Easter.
Pass on your Easter traditions
Take a look through your belongings for a family heirloom that can be passed on to your loved ones. Perhaps an antique or porcelain rabbit that belonged to a grandparent? You never know what treasures you might find hidden away in a box somewhere in your loft.
Another option is taking little ones to a second-hand store or a reuse hub like the recently opened Stirling Reuse Hub and picking out something that can be used to celebrate Easter - maybe a new-to-you teddy that can then become a keepsake while reducing the environmental impact by keeping the materials used to make it in circulation for longer.
Pre-loved items each have their own story from where they have been to becoming re-loved and the more people who add to the story, the more value and love that item holds.
There are far greater gifts to be given during this special time - precious quality time and happy memories to last a lifetime. It’s time to switch up how you do Easter so that it is no longer one of endless consumption, as it has become in recent years, but a meaningful tradition for everyone to enjoy.