Reasons to Consider Having a Dairy-free Easter

Ditching dairy for your health, for animal welfare or to reduce your environmental impact is all the rage these days. Before we get into the reasons one might consider giving up dairy for the sake of the climate this Easter, we wanted to share our cute, new Easter Egg Bomb Surprise with you. Easter has a healthy, sugar free option this year…

Easter eggs for stewards of the Earth

Get your little “Earth stewards” a healthier option of Easter eggs. Eggs you can plant! These little eggs are made of previously used paper and have mixed herbs and marigold seeds inside. Soak the eggs in water, keep wet above or below the soil until you see some sprouts. Cover with shallow soil and water daily. The marigold seeds attract pollinators to your garden and with the rapid decline of bee populations, attracting pollinators to your garden is a great way to help save the bees! Purchase our Easter Egg Bomb Surprise here.

We believe planting these little eggs and being able to engage in conversation with your child about climate change, might help mitigate it. Gardening also prepares young people for climate change and opens up an array of opportunities to explore nature. This Easter, take your children outside to see butterflies, bees, snails, birds, caterpillars and ladybirds and make use of this time to teach them about the species when they spot them, as well as supporting ecological balance. Gardening also encourages your child to eat healthier! By growing and engaging with food, children are more likely to try different veggies and fruit. Take a look at our My Eco Sprout growing kits and teach your child a new skill that will benefit your entire family and your child’s health for the rest of their lives.  

The problem with traditional Easter eggs

Marshmallow egg wrappers and plastic Easter egg molds are not recyclable. The good news is that Easter egg foil is recyclable! The best way to recycle Easter egg foil, is to scrape off the chocolate and scrunch the foil up into a fist-sized ball before placing it in the recycling bin. This ensures the small bits of foil don’t get lost in the recycling process. Although the foil is recyclable, we suggest staying away from sugary, dairy products that cause inflammation and will have your kids bouncing off the wall. Take a look at our delicious child-friendly recipe and make these wrapper-free, plant-based peanut butter and choc Easter eggs. 

Megan Gilmore’s healthier peanut butter eggs are also less trashy. This photo and easy recipe belong to her. Take a look at the recipe here.

 

Reduce your impact on Earth by avoiding dairy

Cutting back on dairy (and meat) consumption is an easy, small thing we can all do to help the situation and resolve some of the issues our world faces.

• The methane emissions that dairy (and meat) cattle produce, contribute to climate change. A 2018 study by researchers at the University of Oxford found that the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of cow’s milk are almost three times more than any plant-based milk.
• A staggering source of agricultural pollution in the USA is the animal waste produced by livestock and poultry in factory farms. With almost 13 times more waste than that produced by the entire US population, one has to ask where all of this waste ends up.
• Fertilisers, pesticides, hormones given to dairy cows to increase milk production and antibiotic use in farm animals end up in our waterways and oceans. If treatment systems to handle waste produced by livestock is done incorrectly, fertiliser, pesticides and manure runoff create ocean “dead zones.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 335 million tons of extra nutrients from livestock’s manure flow into American lakes and the ocean each year.
• The UK imports 1.83 million tons of soya every single year from the Amazon rainforest, which is equal to about 900 000 hectares of the Amazon, to produce soya just for animal feed in the UK alone!
• Agriculture, which accounts for 70% of water withdrawals worldwide, plays a major role in water pollution. Farmers are the leading direct users of water in South Africa, consuming 66% of all water. This water usage is due to the animals’ hydration needs and the amount of water needed for crops grown to feed the livestock.
• Two-thirds of the world’s chameleon species live in Madagascar, but three of those species on the island are at critical risk, losing their habitat to slash-and-burn agricultural practices, logging for construction or charcoal, and cattle grazing.

Photo taken by Rick Dove, one of the founding members of the Waterkeeper Alliance.

 

We hold an immense amount of power to create a better world

The above facts are all scary and there are also shocking photos and videos about animal abuse that have gone viral on social media. That is a topic for another day… Let us not be scared or angry, but let us be motivated to fix this. We are not asking you to go vegan, but we are asking you to start being conscious of what you eat. Try to be moderate with your meat and dairy intake. See it as a treat. Not as a necessity. Educate and empower yourself. You do not have to do it perfectly and it does not need to be overwhelming. Take a look at these amazing people on Instagram. We hope you will find some cooking inspiration from following them!

• @24karrotsonline
• @africanveganonabudget
• @cape_town_vegan
• @clairesharrynroberto
• @drgarthdavis
• @greenveganchick
• @miraweiner
• @shaun_the_vegan
• @the_green_dietitian
• @the_leaf_eaters

If you would like to learn a little bit more, please watch the documentaries Cowspiracy as well as Seaspiracy. And if you would like to consider going vegan, perhaps join thousands of participants for a 22-day vegan experience on www.challenge22.com. You’ll receive fabulous recipes and personal guidance from their mentors and clinical dieticians for free!

Let’s get more people to ditch dairy this Easter

Let us know by leaving a reply below if you have ditched dairy and how it’s going for you. Have you discovered any amazing health benefits? Please share this post and let’s help our climate (and animals) by reducing our dairy consumption.