Eco-Easter series: baskets and grass
Easter is still weeks away but if you wait until the last minute, you just might find yourself standing in line at your local craft store with an armful of items that aren’t, well, too green.
No time to plan ahead?
No problem. We’re breaking it down for you in our Eco-Easter series.
Let’s begin with an Easter basic – the basket.
All of the baskets suggested below are sustainably sourced and/or ethically made, not to mention beautiful, but you can certainly find low or no-cost versions at thrift stores and garage sales. Or, if you’re like me, you may already have a few sitting around your house. Check there first. Don’t worry, with some “grass” (see below) and goodies, your kids won’t care (or even notice) that the same basket recently held extra rolls of T.P.
When buying baskets, look for ones that will hold up over time and then turn using them into an Easter tradition by reusing year after year. Or, find ways to use them everyday…
Fair trade, artisan-made basket from Ten Thousand Villages
Metal Easter pails from Magic Cabin
Fair Trade, handmade bolga basket from A Toy Garden
Want to make a basket yourself? Try this crocheted Easter basket kit from Nova Natural or use this free pattern found here.
Here is the free pattern link for an even larger basket.
Don’t know how to crochet? No worries! You can still make this cool basket from fabric scraps.
Now, what to line the basket with?
Make your grass truly green by steering clear of the plastic junk and considering the following:
Wheat grass kit from Nova Natural (or grow your own from wheat berries)
Use wool or mohair fleece in shades of green. Find it at your local craft store or at Nova Natural (pictured here).
Cotton or silk playcloths from Nova Natural, or hand-dyed by you are a perfect stand-in for grass and will be played with for years. (My girls use them for dress-up, decorating, dancing, you name it!)
Other ideas:
- Yarn (wool or organic cotton)
- Strips of recycled paper
- Strips of nori (seaweed, found in the Asian food section)
- Strips of fabric remnants
Stay tuned on greening up Easter treats, activities and even post-holiday clean-up.
I have always purchased buckets for Easter that could be reused for summer play and this year picked up a few more baskets at a local thrift store. Instead of that plastic grass, I always used green tissue paper that we could reuse as gift wrap – but I love the play cloth idea – I will definitely use that for my 1 and 4 yo this year! Thanks for the great ideas!
[...] For all of the above – save everything for use next year, or find ways to use and re-use (i.e. baskets for storing toys, wool fleece “grass” and plastic eggs for craft projects, etc.) For more on green baskets and grass, click here. [...]