We are fast approaching Easter and I’m sure we’ve all seen the hundreds of chocolate eggs in supermarkets, wrapped in plastic and full of sugar. Seeing as Easter falls in Earth Month this year we want to share how you can still enjoy festivities with healthier options for you and the earth.

90 million Easter eggs are sold each year in the UK alone. The UK’s Waste & Resources Action Programme estimated that the UK will discard around 3,000 tonnes of packaging each year. This would take 400 large lorries to transport to landfill but hopefully to recycling centres and here is how to recycle all the packaging.

How to recycle all the components of an Easter Egg

Most easter eggs are wrapped in foil, sadly a lot of people don’t know that you can recycle foil. The average personthrows away roughly three pounds of foil every year. This will take around 400 years to break-down through the oxidation process at landfills. This is unnecessary waste as foil can be recycled (if it’s clean) if you scrunch it up into a ball (the bigger the ball the easier it is to be recycled). So scrunch the foil up and keep adding to it until it’s around the size of a fist!

BUT before you recycle the foil, think, can I reuse this? Recycling should be the last option, foil can be used to polish silver, clean dishes and grills, sharpen scissors and can be used to reflect light to help your plants.

 

 

The Box:

The box of an easter egg is usually cardboard and hopefully everyone should know by now that cardboard is recyclable! Flatten the box and pop it in the recycling bin.

Plastic Moulds:

The plastic moulds that hold the easter egg in their box are usually made from PET (the same material used to make water bottles) so as long as they are clean they are recyclable.

 

 

In conclusion, if you have bought a standard egg, there is no excuse for waste being sent to landfill as all of the materials used can be recycled (make sure to check with your local recycling centre that they do accept all these materials). BUT these eggs will be full of sugar, which as we explained in our last blog is terrible for your oral health so make sure you clean your teeth half hour after eating sugary products to help prevent tooth decay.

 

Below, you can see how much plastic is used in traditional Easter Eggs.

 

 

Alternative easter products:

 

Easter doesn't have to be a plastic filled nightmare! We have found the best sustainable easter eggs for you to try.

 

Goupie

Goupie chocolates are cut into smaller pieces, covered in even more chocolate and packaged in a reusable, Faberge-inspired, tin egg. All of Goupie's products are vegan and they only use 100% recyclable or compostable packaging.

 

 

Divine

Divine's Easter Eggs are Fairtrade, vegan and plastic free. Plus, the cocoa producers receive a sustainable price and a premium to invest in their communities.

 

So Free

So Free's Easter Eggs are plastic free! They are also vegan and gluten free. The most impressive part is that there is no added sugar in their eggs.