Managing waste wisely

How to have a waste wise Easter

Like Christmas, Easter can be a time of over-indulgence. Follow our simple tips to avoid the excess and have an an ‘egg-cellent’ Easter without the waste!

Prioritise experiences

Create new traditions that are more about spending time together and less about buying gifts, and make memories not waste this Easter.

  • Decorate Easter eggs – if using real eggs, empty them first and use the contents in baking, or go for wooden eggs that you can keep as decorations for years to come.
  • Use your decorated eggs for an Easter egg hunt! Kids can collect the reusable eggs and trade them for chocolate purchased at the bulk food store without packaging.
  • Bake low-waste treats together like hot cross buns, cookies and cupcakes.

Avoid waste

Minimise waste by opting for packaging that is recyclable or avoiding it altogether.

  • There are lots of packaging-free chocolate treats available at your local bulk food store. Gift them to friends and family in reusable tins and baskets or in a decorated egg carton
  • Short on time? Opt for eggs wrapped in foil instead of plastic, as foil can be recycled in your yellow-lidded recycling bin.
  • Check your local op shop for secondhand decorations, use flowers, leaves, and other natural materials, or look online for decorations you can make yourself. Or best of all – reuse what you already have!
  • Bring a reusable container to the bakery and fill it up with hot cross buns instead of buying the ones that come pre-packaged in a plastic bag.

Recycle

If you do have packaging to throw away, be sure to put it in the right place.

Easter packaging

Which bin does it go in?

Aluminium foil Scrunch into a ball the size of your fist before recycling in your yellow-lidded recycling bin
Lolly wrappers, ‘fake foil’ If the foil doesn’t scrunch, it’s plastic and needs to be thrown in your red-lidded general waste bin
Hard plastic moulded inserts Keep as moulds to make your own Easter eggs, or recycle in your yellow-lidded bin
Cardboard box Remove any plastic film and recycle the box in your yellow-lidded bin.