by Ben Winsor

Created on: February 16, 2008   Last Updated: March 24, 2011

In Australia, where rabbits were introduced during early settlement and now run rampant in the outback, they have found a popular alternative. Australians get their chocolate from the Easter Bilby. The Easter Bilby is an ambassador for a small big-eared marsupial that, thanks to feral rabbits, is on the brink of extinction. In many cases the profits from chocolate Easter Bilbies go into wildlife conservation.

We could all follow the lead of our friends down under and make our Easter celebrations a little more environmentally friendly.

It's difficult to find free range chocolate eggs, but it's easy to find fair-trade ones. So hunt down some fair-trade eggs, not just because you'll be helping those less fortunate, but because they taste better too. If you can't find any fair-trade eggs, looks for some that were produced locally and didn't have to be hauled halfway across the world to get to you.

If your family paints or dyes eggshells, then firstly make sure they are free-range eggs. Then, remember that there are natural alternatives to synthetic store-bought dyes.

Purple, a small amount of purple grape juice

Blue, canned blueberries
Red, cabbage leaves
A little more purple grape juice

Green, spinach, apple peel

Yellow, orange or lemon peel, carrot tops

Brown, strong instant coffee
Black walnut shells

Orange, yellow onion skins

Pink, beets, cranberries or juice

Red, red onion skins

Directions: add the ingredients to a saucepan full of your eggs, water and a teaspoon of vinegar. If you want a more intense color then strain the dye and leave the eggs with the more concentrated mixture overnight. This fun activity is a sure fire boredom-buster for the kids.

If you're going to church, share the car with other members of the congregation, it'll cut down emissions and get you inter the spirit of Easter. Have dinner by candlelight for a change, you'll have ambiance and a slightly lower power bill.

Easter hasn't always been a celebration of Christ's resurrection. It began as a pagan festival to celebrate the Great Mother Goddess Eastre and the arrival of spring. It later evolved into a Jewish feast and then into the Easter we recognize today, an increasingly secular Christian celebration. Elements of the original ceremony remain, the notions of rebirth and revival, as well as the lunar-based timing of the festivities.

So, in the spirit of the natural roots of the festival, lets have an environmentally friendly Easter this year.

Learn more about this author, Ben Winsor.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.