A happy Easter for all

With Easter just around the corner, many of us will be spending time with friends or family and probably indulging in a few treats as well. We thought we’d share a couple of tips for things you might like to do this Easter which will help animals and our planet.

Easter Eggs

If you are thinking of painting some Easter eggs, then make certain that the eggs you buy are truly free range. Sadly, Australian standards are very low which means that some eggs can be called free-range when hens are still overcrowded. Look for the Humane Choice label if possible and always check stocking densities which must be printed on the packaging. If it says more than 1,500 hens per hectare then don’t buy them.

Better Chocolate

For those who will be buying chocolate eggs, try to purchase Fair Trade chocolate or support the Save the Bilby Fund by buying chocolate bilbies instead of bunnies or eggs. Our partners at The Orangutan Project also have a helpful fact sheet to help you avoid palm oil products: https://www.orangutan.org.au/static/media/uploads/pdf/palm+oil+free+easter+guide+2013.pdf. My personal favourite, the Lindt chocolate bunny, is happily palm-oil free and the dark chocolate is vegan!

Also if you are lucky enough to share your home with a dog, don’t forget to keep all chocolates far out of reach as chocolate is toxic to dogs (and cats).

Extra tip: Did you know you can recycle the foil from your Easter chocolates? You can! Just gather it all up and roll it into a ball and then pop it into your recycling bin.

A vegetarian Easter meal

And finally, you could consider leaving meat out of any celebration meals this year. Try making pumpkin or cauliflower the hero of the meal, or any other wonderful veggies. If that is a step too far, then again you can look for the Humane Choice label, which is the gold standard, or look for pasture-raised, certified organic, free-range products.

However you celebrate, I hope you have a lovely Easter with your human and animal friends and family.