It’s around that time when thoughts turn to rainbow colored eggs and life sized chocolate rabbits. What we don’t think about is how our celebrating can have such a detrimental impact on the environment, but we don’t have to stop our traditions all together. Here are a few ideas to making this Easter your greenest yet.

Next to the multi-colored eggs, the basket is one of the cornerstone images of Easter. It is also something that gets used on Easter Sunday and then shoved into the closet to be forgotten about until a week before next Easter. This year, maybe reinvent the basket by placing your goodies in a renewable cloth bag that can be used throughout the year. Not only is this helpful later, but it raises the idea of sustainability in your house.

The next step is filling the bag. A green (literally) alternative to the plastic basket filler is to get the real thing. Take a small amount of grass from your lawn and use that as the as the base for your bag. If the idea of getting on your knees and cutting grass isn’t too appealing, you could always shred old newspaper or magazines and use that.

Now that we have a green basket, it is time to move on to the eggs. The first step is to buy USDA organic eggs, not free range. Not only are the eggs free of chemicals to make the shells look whiter, but the chickens are treated better. You can also use natural materials to dye the eggs, a nice step by step guide can be found here.

Another product synonymous with Easter is chocolate.  It is known that some chocolate farms employ children who are then exposed to the harmful chemicals that are used for very little pay. In order to avoid this terrible problem, only buy organic or chocolate that is Fair Trade certified. There will be a notice on the package informing you if the chocolate is indeed certified.

These are just a few steps that you can take to make this Easter one of your greenest.  And please, don’t bring a live rabbit home for your children.  Animal shelters see a rise after Easter from people who decide not to keep their Easter bunny. Do Peter Cottontail a favor and let him hop free in the environment that you helped save this Easter.

Those of you who have given up chocolate, television or cursing for lent, good for you. However, many US Christians have been asked to do doing something more effective this year, something that will impact the environment rather than them personally.

Now Christians in the US who annually sacrifice something they love in the name of lent, are being asked to make sacrifices that will benefit the environment.

“It’s an insult to God, it’s a sin to spoil the environment, to hurt creation,” said Episcopalian pastor Reverend Sally Bingham, who is coordinating “The Regeneration Project,” an interfaith group of some 4,000 congregations looking for a religious response to global warming.

Christians are being called on to help reduce global warming also cut down on their Internet usage during Lent to pay tribute to the sacrifices Jesus made when he wandered the desert fro 40 days and 40 nights, beginning February 25 and ending on April 11 the day before Easter.

Green Lent was launched last year by two British Anglican bishops, who called for a “carbon fast” and asked people to either give up driving, turn down the heat or buy local.

Reverend Sally Bingham said, “We sent an email to the 30,000 people on our mailing list and we suggested tips to try to be as environmentally friendly as you can be.”

Another Catholic group, the St Paul Newman Center in Fresno, California, is organizing a “Lent program on global warming.”

“Lent is a time we focus on how we can really connect to God’s presence in our life and do something that is sacrificial. For us, it’s a look at how we care for the environment while sacrificing some comforts for ourselves,” said Mary Hetherington, who helps teach the program.