Waste less, save money at Easter
In the UK, we spend around £300 million on chocolate at Easter every year, with around 80 million Easter eggs purchased annually.
However, Easter also results in tonnes of waste from food and packaging, with more than 9,600 tonnes of cardboard waste, over 4,000 tonnes of plastic waste and 8,500 tonnes of food waste, including 8 million hot cross buns wasted, 19 million leftover potatoes and 8 million Easter eggs uneaten and discarded!
But the good news is that there’s plenty you can do to save waste while having fun and saving money at Easter time. Here are a few tips, if you can do just one, it helps.
Help to fight food waste
One of the main reasons for waste at Easter is – that like at Christmas – that we overestimate how much food we need and buy too much. Try to only buy and cook what you know will be eaten. If do have leftovers, don’t throw them away, store them in the fridge or freezer, or use them to create an entirely new meal or treat.
There are lots of recipes to make the most of leftovers, such as hot cross buns, tray bakes and more. Savoury items like meat and veg can be added into casseroles, stews, and soups, while you can use bones to make stock. Consider freezing some food items too.
To find out more, check out our page on fighting food waste, or check out the Love Food Hate Waste website for some recipe ideas.
Easter recycling tips
There are some very simple ways to ensure you waste less this Easter:
- Clear food from recycling – reduce the risk of contamination by clearing off all bits of chocolate, sugar, and other foodstuffs from any Easter packaging – these should all go in your food waste bin.
- Check Easter egg packaging before you chuck it – cardboard, paper and foil from your Easter egg packaging should go in your green recycling bin – just make sure it’s clean and dry first. But please,….
- Try to avoid plastic packaging – so many Easter egg manufacturers now just use cardboard. We also can’t recycle soft plastic egg holders and film windows that often come with Easter eggs and treats, so please try to buy eggs without them. If you do end up with a piece of plastic and/or film window, please remove and separate it from the cardboard, and either put it in your general rubbish bin or take it to your local supermarket’s plastic collection point.
Find ways to reuse materials – cut out designs from Easter cards and wrapping for arts and crafts activities, save decorations to use next year, and reuse any big boxes for storage. Consider any other ways to reuse such materials to reduce waste.
Enjoy an Eco egg hunt
Many Easter eggs come with lots of packaging that’s not always 100% recyclable. If you are planning an Easter egg hunt, why not opt for reusable wooden eggs or home-painted pebbles for the hunt, with a chocolate prize at the end. If you do want to go with chocolate eggs for your hunt, try to make sure the only packaging is a recyclable foil wrapper.
Make your own Easter treats
An easy way to save money and cut down on food packaging waste is to make or bake your own treats. There are lots of recipes available online for hot cross buns, Easter eggs, chocolate nests and more. Store them in reusable containers or recyclable foil and you’ll also avoid the need for wrapping.
Create homemade Easter cards and decorations
Homemade Easter cards and decorations are a great way to use up leftover paper, card and other materials, such as flowers and plants you may have around your house or garden. They’ll be a lot cheaper than buying new ones and you can also ensure you only use reusable, recyclable or compostable material.
Contact us - Biffa
03000 610610
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c/o Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE
