For the actual basket, it’s more eco-friendly if you use the same basket every year. It can serve as a traditional Easter basket, which will hold some childhood memories too. Also, instead of lining your basket with plastic grass, use natural wheatgrass. If you buy a flat of wheatgrass, your pets will love it or you can make juice out of it.

Now onto the best part…the delicious sweets and goodies. Fair-trade and/or organic chocolates are delectable, and you can also melt this chocolate down and make organic chocolate strawberries or kiwis too. During Easter it’s easy to stuff yourself and your children with junk food, but chocolate-covered fruit will make you feel less guilty. If you’re family prefers hard candy, look for YummyEarth’s organic lollipops and candy drops. These can be purchased online, but they are also carried in some large chain grocery stores like Giant Eagle.

When it comes to Easter toys, consider more practical gifts. Stuffed bunny rabbits are cute, but your children are most likely to forget about these presents by the next day. Lush makes handmade cosmetics that are completely vegetarian and not tested on animals. For Easter, they have limited edition egg bath bombs and other colorfully scented bath treatments. They even have a body lotion called the Charity Pot, and the proceeds from this product support animal rights, environmental protection and humanitarian concerns.

Having your children search for their Easter basket is a fun activity that doesn’t have to be given up because you’re living a sustainable lifestyle. Switching out the traditional basket decorations for eco-friendly ones will surprise your kids and show them that living green doesn’t have to be boring.

When dying your eggs, choose natural dyes as opposed to the ones that come in the egg coloring kits. For example, use items you already have in your house to create the colors. This includes purple grape juice/blueberries (lavender), spinach/grass clippings (green), pomegranate juice/cranberries (pink), paprika/chili powder (orange), red cabbage/blackberries (blue), lemon peels/ground cumin (yellow). All you need to do is boil your eggs in water and vinegar with one of your natural dyes for 15 minutes. Then your kids can use nontoxic crayons, markers or pens to add personalized details—when using crayons, it’s best to have them draw on the egg before boiling them.

Keeping the decorated eggs in the refrigerator enables you to eat them or transform them into egg salad or deviled eggs. By using natural dyes, you don’t have to worry about the colors contaminating the inside of the egg.

If you have a traditional Easter egg hunt for your children as well as the neighborhood, skip the plastic egg containers or make sure you reuse the ones from last year. An alternative to the plastic is cutting out the individual egg holders from egg cartons. These can be filled with candy, and you can use leftover holiday ribbon and wrapping paper to jazz it up. Instead of candy, fill a selected number of eggs with money or personalized coupons (“Redeemable for a movie night,” “Redeemable for a trip to the zoo”).

By thinking more creatively and using common household items, you can turn your Easter eggs and egg hunt into a unique experience that you friends, neighbors and children won’t forget.