With Valentine’s Day just past and Easter around the corner, consumer holidays can create a lot of waste. But, with a little planning, you can have a ton of fun without breaking the bank or increasing your environmental impact.
There are a lot of hotels, resorts, wineries and other ecotourism businesses that cater to this family-friendly holiday. Before you go out and spend your “Easter activity budget”, keep these 5 tips in mind.
Organize 100% Recyclable Crafts
Think paper -use 100% recycled paper, card stock and construction paper. Grab a tin of kid friendly scissors and crayons and you have yourself a recyclable craft station. My favourite Easter craft for kids is making bunny ear headbands. These can be personalize and all material is recyclable after. There are so many good ideas out there, I am sure you can come up with something that doesn’t create garbage or excessive mess (stay away from glitter and jewelly stickers!).
Zero Waste Easter Eggs
I know, reusable eggs are usually cheap plastic made in China. But, if used year over year, they can be a more sustainable way of delivering treats than a lot of individually wrapped packaged treats (also usually from China). Here are some eco friendly alternatives to plastic Easter eggs.
What should you fill the eggs with? Organic, unwrapped goodies like Annie’s Homegrown graham cracker bunnies. Someone with gloves on puts the crackers in the eggs and hides them in a safe dry place, and voila, low packaging Easter treats.
Planning to give out Easter eggs? Parents and kids will go nuts over these tactile, long-lasting felt Easter eggs. They are really easy to make, you can do it as a children’s activity, Make your own or buy some on Etsy.
Quality Over Quantity
It’s the experience that matters. Families that have to do an obstacle course, search for clues around your property or do engaging activities together will make a much better memory than a mad-dash scramble for as many treats as they can get in under 5 minutes. (Believe me, I have done both with my kids and the later always ends in tears!) Ending the Easter festivities with one, high quality chocolate treat (think certified organic chocolate from Denman Island) will go over much better with parents and environment.
The same goes for decorations. Some high quality decorations will go a lot further than a bunch of stuff from the Dollar Store that gets thrown away right after. Think felt, wood, cotton, wicker… Pinterest is full of awesome ideas.
Give out Reusable Easter Baskets
Decorating second hand easter baskets could be an activity that you sponsor, or you could hand out cloth Easter bags to all the children with your logo on it. Whatever you plan to do, make sure it’s not plastic and it will not end up in the trash after the big event. Better yet, give them out for activities and then store them to use year after year. Check out these 25 up cycled easter baskets.
Easter Brunch – Go Local/Organic
Everyone looks forward to a big Easter Brunch, but you don’t have to go overboard to impress. Vintage is in, so serve guests mason jars with organic apple juice, locally grown kale frittatas, or bread made with locally ground flour and organic jam. It doesn’t have to be everything but people will notice when you present these local and organic options.
Kelowna Inn and Suites General Manager, Michael Saufferer said, “More and more we are noticing guests who do appreciate the environmental changes [we make at the hotel]. We even get thanked for having organic options on the menu.”
Have a blast this Easter, and take it easy on the environment by consciously reducing your waste and supporting local crafters and food producers.