Did you ever think it was odd as a child that a giant, anthropomorphic rabbit came into our houses while we were sleeping to leave eggs? Anyone? And why eggs? Why a rabbit? Turns out, there is an uncertain origin story. But what’s even more puzzling to me regarding Easter is why we continually celebrate anything with copious amounts of trash. Easter is probably one of the worst offenders for cheap-o, plastic knick-knackery. But don’t worry, it is possible to have a Zero Waste Easter.
First and foremost, we need to stop correlating love with the abundance of stuff. An overflowing Easter basket with tons of plastic eggs, candy, and use-once-and-never-touch-again toys is not the embodiment of our affection. We can show our children we love them without smothering them with irresponsible consumption. We are taught at a very young age to associate happiness with stuff – we teach them that.
To help you, I have a list of zero waste, thoughtful, and fun Easter basket ideas. Your kids will love them and benefit from the simplicity and you will feel much better about not wasting money on throw-away toys, pumping them full of palm-oil laced chocolate, and contributing to the millions of metric tons of waste we have sitting in landfills.
Ollie’s Easter basket – or should I say Easter dump truck – is filled with a combination of secondhand items, homemade goodies, and usables. I think it’s fun to use “containers” from around the house to fill with goodies. It saves me money, a trip to the store, and when Ollie is older, he will think it’s pretty neat the Easter Bunny chose something from his room. This particular dump truck was a secondhand Christmas gift.
This year his goodies include:
- a secondhand wooden truck from the thrift store
- wooden eggs filled with treats I can get in bulk and FYI the jelly beans are for my husband
- bath fizzy shaped like a rocket ship
- homemade crayons
- 2 grow yourself plants in little mini terracotta pots
- on top of shredded paper I got from a Plaine Products delivery
25 Zero Waste Easter Basket Ideas (for kids)
Fill your Easter baskets with these low to zero waste goodies! Just remember, with some of these items, they are only zero waste depending on how you handle the packaging. Cardboard and paper can be composted or recycled.
- Secondhand Toys
- Secondhand clothing
- Bulk Candy
- Books
- Crayons
- Colored Pencils
- Grow Kits
- Fun Coupons
- Money
- Bath Fizzies
- Homemade Bubbles
- Sidewalk Chalk
- Coloring Books
- Homemade Playdough
- Baked Goods – I’d be ok with a pie in my Easter basket
- Secondhand Board Games
- Reusable Water Bottle
- Gift Certificates
- Library Card
- Trail Mix – from the bulk section
- Secondhand Puzzles
- Movie Tickets
- Seed Bombs
- Toothbrush
- Fruit
What fun, zero waste goodies do you put into your Easter baskets?
For more on how to make Easter zero waste check out my post Ideas for a Zero Waste Easter.
We would have the kids decorate baskets we already had. The Easter bunny would fill them with a bathing suit, flip flops,or summer pjs, and candy. Would reuse the grass year to year.
Oh about 25 years ago I made my Mom an Easter Bag that I made from my Fabric collection. Inside was an Egg Salad Sandwich, Carrot Cake, Hard Boil Eggs(all coming out of my own kitchen). I folded down the bag to reveal contents inside which sat on a bed of shredded paper sitting in my shredder. On top I included a small bunch of Baby Carrots as garnish or floral.