Dr. Karen Bell

Keep Liberty Beautiful

I cannot believe we are at the end of March already, and Easter is this Sunday. With every holiday people seem to buy more things like food, gifts, and decorations. This is all good, and we can do it in a way that will help keep our environment safe. I read a great article online: Going Green at Easter: How To Celebrate Sustainably, which was written by their Greener Ideal Staff. They last updated the article on May 9, 2022.

The article starts off talking about how the highlights of the Easter celebrations with kids are colored eggs, Easter Baskets, and of course, chocolate. The problem with these things is, that a lot of the products are produced in environmentally unfriendly ways, and many of them are meant to be disposable, rather than reusable. The article went on to share a few sustainable Easter ideas that help anyone reuse their decorations year after year and make even the brightest Easter Baskets easily affordable.

Here are a couple of the suggestions they shared starting with the Easter Basket: Children love a nice Easter Basket to put all their candy and eggs in. Instead of buying a plastic basket at your local store, think of ways to improvise. If you want something green but fancy, there’s a wide selection of wooden and wicker baskets you can find at your local florist or gift shop.

If you want to try to find something around your house as a substitute, think about using an old flower basket instead. After all, it’s what’s in the basket that children will be most impressed with. When it comes to lining your basket with something fun, don’t bother picking up the bags of shredded plastic at your local store, try running a few pieces of construction paper or fabric through a paper shredder. If you invest in making a good, reusable basket for each child in your family, it can become a tradition to use it year after year with no added cost.

Now that we have our basket, let’s see how to dye our eggs eco-friendly. You can use food coloring. This is a great choice if you want to avoid using synthetic dyes, which can be harmful to the environment. Another option is to use natural dyes made from plant materials.

For example, you can use beet juice to create a beautiful pink color, or turmeric to create a yellow hue. If you’re looking for something a little more unusual, you can even try using coffee or tea to tint your eggs. Whatever method you choose, coloring Easter eggs sustainably is a great way to reduce your impact on the environment.

I may step on some toes with this because you don’t mess with chocolate, but please keep an open mind. There is an abundance of chocolate and candy on the shelves at Easter. But what type of treats should you be selecting for your children? Consider thinking outside the box and have the Easter Bunny bring snack foods that your children enjoy but that aren’t necessarily “sweet.” If chocolate is a must-have, try buying organic or fairtrade chocolate. Organic chocolate is made the same as most other chocolate, except with cocoa beans that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides.

Here are a few more ways to have an Eco-friendly Easter: Avoid wasteful packaging – choose products that are minimally packaged, or better yet, make your own Easter treats!

Support local businesses – buy your Easter eggs and chocolate from local producers who use sustainable practices.

Skip the plastic grass – use shredded paper or natural materials like moss to line your Easter baskets.

Use rechargeable batteries – many Easter decorations require batteries, so opt for rechargeable ones to avoid waste.

Donate instead of discarding – Give away whatever you’re not using instead of discarding it for the landfills.

Hopefully, all these green Easter ideas help make this year a special one.

Remember KLB Earth Day Celebration is April 19 from 3:30-6:30 p.m., at Bryant Commons. Great American Cleanup for the county is on April 27. KLB provides cleanup supplies like garbage bags, safety vests, work gloves, litter reachers, and water. We also offer KLB T-shirts to all registered volunteers. For more information, you can call KLB at (912) 880-4888 or email klcb@libertycountyga. com.