Organic Easter in Three Easy Steps

I wish we could skip Easter this year. It seems as artificial as Valentine’s Day to me—a manufacturer’s holiday awkwardly slapped onto a day of religious significance. Why not just have Chocolate Day or Day to Support the Flower Industry? The Easter Bunny commercials seem to start the day they bring the cupids down—like it’s the same flow of chocolate, just cut from a different mold. So this year, I plan to shake things up a bit with three easy steps to create an organic Easter celebration to believe in. Join me?

Easter seems as artificial as Valentine’s Day to me—a manufacturer’s holiday awkwardly slapped onto a day of religious significance. Try these three easy steps to create an organic Easter celebration that you can believe in. ECO YOUR EGGO

Regardless of whether or not you plan to dye them blown-out or hard-boiled, organic eggs that are produced without pesticides, insecticides or genetically engineered ingredients are better for you—and the environment. Last year, my daughter and I dyed organic eggs using natural colors derived from fruits and veggies we already had in the house. (Click here for step-by-step photos and video.) No, it wasn’t as simple as using a tablet of artificial color—but I try to avoid those, as the colors have been linked to hyperactivity in children. The colors we developed from beets, yellow onion skins, spinach and blueberries were subtle and beautiful, but this year I might try an Eco-Kids Eco-Eggs Coloring Kit, which is a classic tablet-meets-vinegar system—minus the toxic food dyes.

CHOOSE ORGANIC PLUSH

You may think of fabric just in terms of fashion, but there are so many times when it just makes sense to avoid conventional cotton, which uses 17% of the world’s insecticides and is 94% genetically modified. I think that Easter, which is traditionally a time for rebirth and renewal, is one of those times. Which is why I was thrilled to discover miYim’s adorable certified organic plush bunny, pictured above. Perfect for peeking out of an organic Easter basket!

Update 3.20.15: Looks like the bunny pictured above is just about sold out, but I found this adorable organic cotton plush tweetie bird and cuddly bunny from Australian-based Maud N Lil, now in the U.S.!

FAIR TRADE YOUR CHOCOLATE

This is a pet peeve of mine: Despite efforts at reformation, the billion-dollar chocolate industry is still supported by workers—some of them children—who exist at subsistence levels. The irony of this chocolate fueling the sugar lust of Easter-basket loving children like mine is heartbreaking. Thankfully, you can now get fair trade and sustainable chocolate for an organic Easter basket! My favorites are the individually wrapped, Soil Association Certified Organic Milk Chocolate Easter Eggs from Green & Black’s, which also come in dark chocolate.

But at the end of the day, it’s not about what you buy: Easter is really a celebration of spring, in all its sweetness. How do you celebrate? Will you be creating an organic Easter this year? Why or why not? Please tell me about it in comments below. Thanks!