Hoppy, Healthy and Green Easter and Passover Tips and Gifts

This year, Easter and Passover fall in the same week. So while the festivities and dishes may differ, the common thread can be that we all want peace and happiness with our families and friends and perhaps, we can make both green!  Check out some fun and simple tips on how to green your Easter and Eco your Passover!

Easter

So while Easter isn’t the largest gift giving season of the year, there are gifts given nonetheless. Be it a cute chocolate bunny or candies eggs to a basket of toys for kids, gifts should as be as thoughtful as they are healthy and eco. In fact, the Easter bunny prefers eco, healthy and vegan goodies!

Some things to think about:

• Opt out of buying cheap, disposable, plastic baskets. Not only are they not green and they fill up the landfills with junk, they are petroleum based and toxic. Buy a nice basket that can be re-used again and again either from a fair trade organization, arts and crafts fair or even thrift store!
• Nix the Easter grass! Also toxic and dangerous, not to mention bad for the earth, plastic easter grass is the worst and a total waste of money. Shred green construction paper or grow your own Easter grass!
• Don’t waste eggs, get creative with paper mache eggs, paintable ceramic eggs or find eco-eggs made from corn to hide treats in.
• Paint wooden or ceramic eggs. A night out at a place like Color Me Mine is a great alternative to dying eggs at home. No real eggs and no mess! Put them out later for your egg hunt and use them year after year.
• Buy vegan, local and fair trade candies to build the healthiest and most eco-friendly Easter basket ever!
• Look for paper basket grass as opposed to the plastic kind. This “green” paper kind can be used year round for other gifts, packing materials, etc.
• Bake vegan easter cakes in egg and bunny shaped molds. These are great in gift baskets, are healthier and cheaper than ordering stuff online that requires shipping.
• Give children great illustration heavy books like pop-ups instead of toys they will grow out of an create more waste. Books nourish their minds and create wonderful memories.
• Skip the candy and give creative gifts this year. Re-use a basket by covering it in left over, festive fabric. Fill basket with paints and crayons, small sketch books, stickers and blank t-shirts or socks to personalize. Add some seed packets and celebrate spring with a new garden!

Check out some of my faves for kids and adults alike!

Chocolate, Candies and Treats

• Allison’s Gourmet – Vegan chocolate bunnies and eggs and candy galore! The best around!
• Vegan Essentials – Always stocked with vegan sweets fit for kids and adults.
• Chocolate Inspirations – Another one of my all time faves for chocolates and divine morsels
• Surf Sweets – All natural, vegan gummies, jelly beans and candies

Baskets and Fillers

• Etsy – For handmade, unique Easter gifts, this is THE place! From crochet eggs to sweet soaps, you can fill up a basket with tons of eco, vegan goodies!
• Fair Trade USA – Find beautiful, one-of-a-kind, handmade gifts and baskets that are green and help people around the world
• Heart of Haiti – A great product line of handmade, artisan gifts and crafts (gorgeous handmade baskets!) that help families and micro-preneurs in Haiti
• Easter bunny crayons – So cute!
• Eco Art Card Set – Eco and creative, the best combo for young minds!
• Rabbit Needle felting Kit – Keep your kids happy and busy by gifting them a kit to create their own eco doll!
• Eco Sidewalk chalk – Green fun!

Passover

Let’s Start With The Matzah – There are a bunch of options for organic spelt and organic whole-wheat matzah. Like the following:

• Handmade Shmurah Matzah made with 100% certified organic spelt from Matzahonline.com.
• Haddar 18-Minute Organic Spelt Matzah and Matzah Meal from KCKosherCoop.com
• Chicago’s Original Organic Matzah. It’s made in the U.S. and it’s certified organic and free of any GMOs.
• Organic Spelt Matzah from Chabad of greater Dayton

And be sure to keep it green by wrapping your organic matzah in an organic cotton napkin when you hide the afikomen.

Don’t Forget The Wine – Go organic as well as kosher!  Organic Kosher wines exist and here’s the list:

• Yarden Chardonnay Odem Organic
• Odem Vineyard in the northern Golan in Israel has been farmed organically since 1998. You can buy it online at Kosherwine.com for $16.99 a bottle.
• Four Gates Winery. Four Gates, located in the Santa Cruz Mountins in California, produces organic and Kosher chardonnay, merlot, pinot noir, and cabernet franc.  The grapes are certified organic by the CCOF and the vines are not irrigated.
• Baron Herzog Wine Cellars. Ranging from cabernet sauvignon to brut champagne, Herzog Wine Cellars produces Kosher and Mevushal wines.  While not certified organic, many of the wines use grapes that have been sustainably grown.

The Quintessentially Eco Seder Plate

Horseradish for Maror – Check out Silver Spring Organic Prepared Horseradish.  It’s certified organic by Oregon Tilth as well as kosher. Or make your won with all organic, natural ingredients.

Parsley for Karpas – Opt for local as well as organic.

Charoset – Use your favorite charoset recipe and be sure to make it with organic and locally sourced ingredients!

Eggs for Baytzah – For vegans, go for an organic chunk of pan fried or baked tofu instead of the hard boiled egg.

The Meal – There are all sorts of great Kosher recipes for Passover.  From matzo ball soup to vegan gefilte fish, there are lots of ways to green your Passover menu.  But the best rule of thumb is simply to get as many organic and local ingredients as possible, regardless of where you get your recipes. Beyond that, if you’re looking to lower your impact, try serving a vegetarian or better yet, vegan meal! Check out this week’s recipes!

The Service – If you can, try to use reusable cups, wine glasses, plates, and silverware. This way, you’ll have the least amount of disposable waste — and of course, make sure you put your dishes in the dish washer!  It’s far more water efficient than washing by hand.

If you are looking to pick up something new for the occasion, check out eco-friendly tableware like glassware made from recycled glass such as trycycle or plates made from bamboo. If you do go with something disposable, look into biodegradable and compostable plates, cups, and utensils.  For something a little less formal, check out the offerings from WorldCentric or the compostable cups from Greenware or even the fun one handed plates by Party Green. For something with some eco-chic to it, check out VerTerra’s plates, bowls, and platters made from nothing but fallen leaves and water.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, make it a healthy, happy and green one!