Published on 1 April 2020

Easter egg foil wrapper recycling service 2021

For Easter 2021, we’re offering a one-off service where you can drop-off your clean easter egg foil wrappers off to us.

That’s right, drop them off to us at 2 Forresters Lane before 4 pm on Saturday, 17 April and we make sure they get recycled.

Happy Sustainable Easter

We love chocolate as much as the next person, but that little calorie coated chocolate treat has the potential to destroy much more than our diets.

Don't get us wrong, we would never expect anyone to give up chocolate, (that's just silly) but we think we should ask ourselves: What would Mother Nature Papatūānuku think?

Here are some things to keep in mind when gearing up for Easter:

• Anything wrapped in soft plastic or tinfoil will end up in a landfill :(

• Steer clear of novelty eggs with toys in them. Those toys have a shorter shelf lifespan than the terrible jokes you find inside Christmas crackers. Oh AND they're made out of tiny bits of plastic that are most likely not recyclable.

• Always check the label and choose Fair Trade and locally made where possible.

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. 

Definitely should buy: 

Schoc Chocolates - in 2002 Murray Langham, a chocologist, opened the doors to his little chocolate therapy studio in Greytown. His vision, to combine the joy and health benefits of consuming chocolate with a deeper understanding of one's inner self. Of course, you can not feel good at the expense of someone else, that's why all of his ingredients come from growers that are treated with fairness and respect.

The Chocolate Bar - chocolate aficionado Luke Owen curates monthly boxes of quality craft chocolate bars for his subscribers. The chocolates change from month to month, but one thing remains the same - everything is Fairtrade. Luke is part of a Bean to Bar movement where chocolate makers deal directly with cocoa farmer cooperative.

Wellington Chocolate Factory - where do we even begin? If the Bean to Bar movement had a mafia WCF would be Michael Corleone. WCF actually meet with the farmers and brings the best single-origin beans back to their factory where they turn them into mouthwatering, ethical, sustainably sourced deliciousness. 

Whittakers - are a Porirua based family-owned company that have been employing local people since 1896.  They have a Fairtrade bar and they have adorable kiwis with eggs for sale this Easter with 20c from each bar sold going to Kiwis for kiwi.

Perhaps you should think before you buy from these brands: 

Nestle - claim to be the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company. Not sure about you, be we certainly don't associate them with health and wellness. Or nutrition. if you want to know more you can read the article here.

Cadbury - If you're a chocolate fiend, there's a good chance you've had a Cadbury product. Over the years, they've had some great successes and also some pretty big PR disasters. Check out this story on how Cadbury swapped out Fair Trade for Cocoa Life - read the story here + this one on how they lost their title as  NZ's most trusted brand - read the story here

Ok - enough of that. Next up, Easter Egg Hunts  

Think Easter hunt, not Easter egg hunt. Why? Well because we can agree that it's not all about the prize.. It's the thrill of the hunt. By dropping 'egg' from the Easter Egg hunt you're opening yourself up to a whole other world of new traditions.

Try this - hide unpainted wooden eggs, paint, brushes ribbons in and around the house. Once everything has been found, you will have everything for a fun afternoon of arts and crafts. 

Or this - Fill jars with dry ingredients needed for hot cross buns and hide them. Pre-heat the oven and standby with the wet ingredients ready to get baking.  You could also apply the same method to DIY chocolate. 

If you're dealing with a foodie crowd you could hide jars of locally made condiments. 

You get the idea. 

If none of those ideas get you eggcited, try cracking a joke that's so bad it's good. 

Here's some we found earlier:

• Why did the Easter egg hide? - Coz it was a little chicken!

• What’s the worst crime as far as an egg is concerned? -Poaching!

• What kind of jewellery does the Easter Bunny wear? -14 carrot gold

• Why was the Easter Bunny in such a bad mood? - Cos, he was having a bad hare day.

On that note, we are signing off.

Happy Easter! From all of us at Sustainability Trust.