The Environmental Consequences of April Fool’s Day & Easter
April Fool’s Day and Easter, holidays that millions of people around the world celebrate each and every year, can have significant impacts on our environment. From plastic pollution, to deforestation, to food waste, the celebrations that bring us happiness and joy can destroy ecosystems and ruin the lives of other organisms.
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Each spring as April approaches, families prepare for two distinct, yet intertwined, holidays: April Fool’s Day and Easter. While one involves playful pranks and shenanigans, and the other holds religious significance, an unfortunate truth lurks beneath the surface of all of the laughter and joy; these festivities have a great environmental cost.
Although it’s not frequently talked about, both April Fool’s Day and Easter contribute to environmental degradation, whether it comes from forgotten plastic eggs, discarded decorations, or wasted food. This blog will explore how even the smallest actions can have larger environmental consequences.
April Fool’s Day
Although the environmental impact of April Fool’s Day seems minimal compared to larger celebrations and festivities, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, we still must acknowledge that our actions, no matter the time of year, have the potential to wreak havoc on our environment. Hidden within light-hearted pranks are the issues of overconsumption and waste accumulation which threaten to topple environmental stability.
Waste Generation
Many pranks involve the use of disposable items such as balloons, plastic wraps, and unsustainable packaging. While they may be small individually, the collective disposal of these items contributes significantly to the excessive build-up of waste in landfills.
Social media is giving digital creators with hundreds of thousands of followers incentive to plan and share outrageous April Fool’s Day pranks with the hope of garnering online attention. Many of them try to outdo other influencers by pulling complex pranks that require hundreds of dollars worth of plastic materials, many of which are discarded immediately after use.
Positive Pranks
However, not all online pranks cause harm. Using social media, people can share pranks that actually benefit the environment. Years ago, a clean-water group, Heal the Bay, encouraged Americans to “trash their friends” on April Fool’s Day. This “trashing” had nothing to do with actually throwing trash, rather people trashed social media pages or webpages with images of plastic products.
This raised awareness of the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. People who participated in the trashing were encouraged to sign a letter to the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to support AB 1998, a state bill that would ban single-use plastic bags. Heal the Bay used April Fool’s Day to garner support for environmental advocacy and bring attention to the plastic pollution issue.
Easter
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Easter, a religious holiday celebrated in 95 countries throughout the world, is an incredibly significant day to Christians. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, a symbol of hope and renewal, has evolved beyond its religious significance.
Easter has become a cultural celebration characterized by various traditions including Easter egg hunts, family meals, and gatherings with loved ones. Despite this celebration being a part of Christian culture for hundreds of years, we must realize that this holiday has large environmental consequences. Modern-day observance of this event often involves practices that contribute greatly to environmental degradation.
Plastic Easter Eggs
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Easter eggs are an integral part of Easter celebrations. They’re used for both egg hunts and decorations, but their use brings about environmental concerns about plastic pollution. We’ve all seen bright plastic Easter eggs, but have you ever considered how they can impact our environment?
Plastic easter eggs are typically made out of polyethylene, one of the most commonly produced plastics. Polyethylene is used in various products ranging from plastic bags to automobile fuel tanks. It is also a major source of microplastics, which can greatly harm not only our environment, but humans as well. Many families choose to use these plastic eggs, but don’t know how to dispose of them safely. When discarded improperly, these colorful eggs can sit in landfills for hundreds of years and, like many other plastic products, they don’t ever fully degrade.
Additionally, the production of plastic requires the extraction of raw materials such as petroleum or natural gas, both of which are non-renewable energy sources. When produced on a large scale, significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas are consumed, contributing significantly to carbon emissions worldwide, considering 180 million Easter eggs are purchased per year by Americans alone. However, there are always some eggs that aren’t purchased and are disposed of by large companies, contributing to plastic waste.
To mitigate the environmental impacts of plastic Easter eggs, you can opt for more sustainable alternatives. This can include using biodegradable materials for egg decorations, choosing locally-sourced organic eggs, and even purchasing traditional non-plastic eggs. Next Easter, try purchasing wood or paper-based Easter eggs to reduce your carbon footprint and plastic pollution. By making environmentally conscious choices as a consumer, you can minimize your environmental impact and still keep your traditional egg hunts!
Easter Grass
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Easter grass is artificial, brightly colored grass that also has severe impacts on the environment. Polypropylene is a type of polyolefin that is slightly harder than polyethylene, the material Easter eggs are made of. Surprise, surprise, it’s not biodegradable!
Most children throw Easter grass away after unpacking their Easter baskets because it can’t be used for anything else. Unfortunately, the small, skinny nature of Easter grass makes it susceptible to being carried away by wind or water, spreading harmful plastics to waterways, parks, and gardens.
As an incredibly common, single-use item, Easter grass adds to the growing volume of plastic waste in landfills (if it makes it to a landfill). Again, similar to Easter eggs, plastic materials used to make Easter grass take hundreds of years to decompose into microplastics. However, microplastics are sometimes even more harmful to aquatic animals that normal-sized plastics because they are easily consumed.
However, there are plenty of alternatives to plastic Easter grass out there! Shredded paper, straw, and grass clippings can be used to create Easter grass, all of which are biodegradable materials that can be disposed of safely. But, if you can’t bear to part with plastic easter grass, try reusing it from year to year to help reduce the volume of plastic waste in landfills!
Easter Dinner
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Easter is a time for families to gather and enjoy time together. Like many other celebrations and holidays, it involves a large meal. While Easter dinner is one of religious celebration, it is still necessary to be mindful of food waste.
The production of food items for Easter dinner involves various processes that emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The process of getting even just five pounds of ham to the dinner table can emit 104 pounds of carbon dioxide because of emissions associated with cultivating and harvesting crops, raising livestock, transporting animals, and cooking food.
Easter dinner often involves larger quantities of food than are ever consumed, leading to excessive food waste if leftovers are thrown in the trash. Alternatively, families who give leftovers to their guests to take home usually package them in plastic containers or cardboard boxes. These items are single-use and non-biodegradable, adding to the volume of waste in landfills and contributing to deforestation and plastic pollution.
Recap
April Fool’s Day and Easter, holidays that millions of people around the world celebrate each and every year, can have significant impacts on our environment. From plastic pollution, to deforestation, to food waste, the celebrations that bring us happiness and joy can destroy ecosystems and ruin the lives of other organisms. It’s important to be conscious of the impact our actions can have on the environment and implement sustainable solutions such as buying biodegradable Easter eggs, reusing Easter grass from year to year, and only preparing as much food as you can consume for Easter dinner.