As a nation, we love Easter and all the chocolate eggs that come with it, but did you know it is far easier to have an eco-friendly Easter than you might think? Holidays and the production of chocolate in the UK have a surprising impact on the number of greenhouse gases we produce and use an incredible amount of resources for farm animals to produce milk and eggs.
As a forward-thinking and environmentally conscious nation, there are lots we can do to reduce our impact on the environment. Considering what products and brands we invest in when buying our chocolate Easter egg this holiday, is a fantastic place to start.
Why Buy Eco-Friendly Easter Egg Chocolate This Year?
Everything we buy has an impact on our carbon footprint and these increase considerably when buying for holidays and special occasions. Traditionally, Easter has been a time to exchange chocolate eggs and enjoy sweet treats and as we become more environmentally conscious as a nation, we now understand the impact this causes.
Chocolate is grown from the cocoa plant which grows in warmer parts of the world and as well as the production of milk from dairy cows and eggs from UK farms, a lot goes into chocolate eggs. All of these products add up, not to mention packaging and transportation, giving Easter chocolate a large impact on our carbon footprint and the natural world, as the UK chocolate industry produces about 2.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in a year.
If you want to make a difference this Easter, then there is plenty you can do to reduce or completely eradicate your carbon output and environmental impact, with eco-friendly products or an eco-friendly Easter day out for the whole family.
Enjoy Vegan and Fairtrade Products this Easter
Buying vegan products immediately cuts out a part of your carbon footprint and vegan chocolate still tastes great, making it a win-win for everyone. Much of our chocolate in the UK is made with cow’s milk and even eggs which increases the product’s environmental impact. Cows produce methane and each of these animals requires resources to stay alive, particularly water.
Vegan chocolate is made straight from plants, which cuts out a large part of this carbon-heavy part of producing chocolate. This means that enjoying vegan chocolate this Easter is not only more friendly towards animals, but also more eco-friendly gifts than vegetarian options.
Fairtrade chocolate is also much more ethical, offering not only sustainability but better and fairer prices to cocoa farmers. Anything that has the fairtrade stamp means that you can be assured that the product offers local farmers a good deal, helping to tackle injustices and exploitation in the cocoa trade.
So, when you send a friend a gift or spend time with loved ones in their garden or outdoors, vegan chocolate is always an eco and delicious option for everyone.
Opt for Less Packaging for an Eco-Friendly Easter
Easter, like many holidays, involves buying presents and products and almost 100% of these come in some sort of packaging. Because of the increase in buying around this time of year, our waste and carbon footprint increases because of the packaging we use. Plastic is especially detrimental because it takes a long time to decompose and disrupts marine life, for example, if it gets into the ocean.
Being conscious of the type of packaging your Easter chocolate comes in, will dramatically reduce your impact on the environment. Look for a product that uses recycled packaging and is itself recyclable such as cardboard, or even something that is reusable and avoids plastic packaging. There are plenty of sellers and products which use environmentally friendly packaging, so you won’t have a problem finding presents and chocolate eggs that are eco-friendly this Easter.
The Best Eco Easter Eggs
Most Easter eggs sold in the supermarket are housed in a myriad of plastics and foils, which are often un-recyclable. It is estimated that between 80 and 90 million chocolate eggs are eaten each year in Britain, an eye-watering amount of waste. The alternative? An eco-friendly egg!
Traidcraft Organic Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Easter Egg
Made with mouth-wateringly delicious, Organic and Fairtrade chocolate, this thick-shelled, dark chocolate Easter egg is a cut above the rest. To find your fair trade surprise, crack open your Easter egg. These delights are provided by skilled craftspeople from around the world, whose communities and economies are bolstered by ongoing projects. Two bookmarks, a notebook, and a pencil topper are among the four handcrafted goodies.
This Easter, choose Organic, Fairtrade, and Future-Proof chocolate to support not only farmers and workers throughout the world but also the environment and your future.
Moo Free Dairy Free & Vegan Honeycomb Easter Egg
This Easter egg has honeycomb (but no honey!) within it. includes a 15g bag of chocolate buttons.
Each of these Easter Eggs is created in Moo Free’s specialised, free-from UK factories, ensuring that they are dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and ideal for vegetarians and vegans alike. Moo Free is an ethical business whose team includes several amazing people with Autism. To help farmers and sustainable farming, they purchase Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa for this product.
Plamil No Added Sugar Chocolate Gluten Free Easter Eggs
Dark chocolate hollow of the highest quality Easter egg with a sharing bag – dark chocolate with 72% cocoa and no added sugar.
Plamil’s own factory uses no dairy or gluten in its production. Suitable for vegans and coeliacs. No milk and gluten free. Sugarwise chocolate. Low in free Available individually or in a case of three eggs.
Seed & Bean Just Ginger Fine Dark Chocolate 85g Bar
If Easter eggs aren’t really your thing, then grab yourself a Seed & Bean chocolate bar. They’ve captured that warm, familiar holiday season feeling in a bar of chocolate made from genuine Sri Lankan ginger oils. The mix of delicious ginger flavours with our classic chocolate is a true delight for the taste buds, and it’s not just for the holidays.
Buy Seed & Bean, and much more on the GoEthical website.
Choose an Easter Family Day Out
If you want to do something entirely different this Easter with friends, family or your partner, there are loads of fun options for you. There will always be some sort of carbon footprint involved in many products and cocoa is no different. The cocoa plant grows near the equator in warmer climates in Africa and South America, so the product needs to be shipped a long way in order to become the Easter chocolate we know and love in the UK.
When cocoa is shipped, planes, ships and vehicles will burn greenhouse gasses, giving cocoa, like many imported food products, a larger carbon footprint. If you don’t want to buy chocolate this year to reduce your carbon footprint, there are still plenty of activities you can enjoy and an Easter family day out is a great alternative.
Bring locally produced sweet treats and food to the park for a picnic, or enjoy visiting nature reserves, national trust gardens and national parks with loved ones. There are plenty of wonderful outdoor places you can visit and savour now lockdown rules have changed here in the UK and there are countless areas of natural beauty you can appreciate this Easter.
If you want to find eco-friendly Easter products for your day out with loved ones, then download the GoEthical for IOS or Google Play, to take a look at our GoEthical marketplace. You can also read more on our blog, for ideas, inspiration and news.