Earth-Friendly Easter Grass: A super simple project for dressing up baskets, gifts, and more.
When it comes to parties and holidays it is so easy to get carried away with cute colored packaging and glittery decorations. The kid in me wants to throw caution to the wind and fill my cart with festive goodies, but often those very same treats make my inner environmentalist cringe.
Take Easter grass, for example. I grew up enjoying baskets stuffed with piles of shiny shredded plastic. It was cheap. It was pretty. But it was also pretty much the embodiment of disposable culture. This stuff is designed to be enjoyed for a few fleeting moments, then tossed into the trash without a second thought.
Besides being a waste of money, classic plastic Easter grass is rotten for the environment. Like any plastic product, it will be here poisoning our planet for an eternity. It’s just not the nicest way to celebrate the Easter holiday, Ostara, or the spring season. Also, you are just asking for your cat to make himself sick by devouring the stuff when you aren’t looking. (Ask me how I know.)
But enough doom and gloom. I have good news! Making your own earth-friendly Easter grass is super easy and practically free! All you need is a paper grocery bag and some scissors. I’ll show you how.
Earth-Friendly Easter Grass
You’ll need:
- Paper shopping bags (1 for a small basket or 2 for a large one)
- Scissors
Step One: Remove handles and bottom from the paper bag and set aside for recycling. Slit the bag open down one side to make one long sheet of paper. If you are using a full sized bag, I recommend cutting the sheet in half.
Step Two: Roll the sheet up into a tube.
Step Three: Use a pair of scissors to cut the tube into 1/8 to 1/4 inch strips. Drop the strips into the basket and stop every once in a while to fluff them up.
Step Four: Fluff up the paper strips, then stuff your basket with goodies!!
Tip: Your Earth-friendly Easter grass will look even better if you use cute colored grocery bags. I have been loving the colors of the bags at Whole Foods. Red printed Target bags are great too!
If making your own still ends up being too much of a chore, consider the following store-bought Easter grass alternatives. These days you can buy pretty much anything under the sun.
Looking for more Easter ideas? Check out my recipe for Healthy Bunny Cake and my Shopping Guide to Candy-Free Easter Treats.