Reduce, Re-use and Recycle: Going Green on Easter

Easter just ended, and I have some stellar tips on going green during Easter.

First, REDUCE.  Be late for the church-wide, huge egg hunt your kids have been looking forward to.  Sure, they were able to hunt a few at school and at home, but the huge church-sponsored hunt is where the kids find so many that they require a plastic (gasp!) grocery bag to carry the extras that don't fit in their baskets.  However, if you are under the impression that the entire, several hour celebration will culminate with this hunt, and you decide to go about 30 minutes past the start time, you will drive up as all the other children are emptying out their treasured candies.  Ignore the big tears and sobs of disappointment because, dear ones, we are reducing this year...for the earth.

Second, RE-USE.  I have found plastic Easter eggs to be very useful for other things. 
1.  Bath toys.  Wesley loves to take a bath with them, and they pop up rather entertainingly from the bottom of the water since they float.  And since they come apart, they can be filled, and water streams out the little holes that are poked in them.
2.  Tops, or the "poor man's Bey Blades."  If you don't know what a Bey Blade is, feel free to google it.  A big fad the boys are into right now, but can't afford to get them all one.  Easter egg tops it is.
3.  Dodge Egg.  Who needs a ball?  Eggs are less damaging when playing indoors, and April showers make outdoor playtime limited.  Boys need as much gross motor as possible.
4.  Learning games.  That's right, the possibilities here are endless.  Math example:  number on 1/2 the egg and a number on the other 1/2.  Multiply (or add) and answers are in the middle.  Language Arts:  setting in one egg, character in the other, and a conflict in another.  BAM!  Write a story with the ones chosen.
5.  Resurrection eggs.  Another item worth googling if you don't know what I mean.  Who wants to pay for these at a Christian bookstore, when you can make your own.  There's not much to it.

Third, RECYCLE.  I am proud to say the boys have used the same Easter egg basket for 3 years in a row!  (Wait, this is Re-use.  Oh, well. We pay for recycling service, so I am feeling fine with this in general. And I use the re-usable grocery bags for small trips...dang, that's re-use again...but I can't use them for all my trips, because I use the plastic bags for trash can liners so I don't have to pay for other plastic bags.) Oh, all the Easter worksheets they do at school are recycled.  There!

If you failed at going green this Easter, there's always next year.  Now, I am humming "Was It a Morning Like This" (a great Easter song).  Google it if you've never heard of it.