Green Planet Content Creation

Did you receive more Easter eggs than you wanted? Perhaps not if you can’t get enough chocolate, but each year many chocolate eggs go uneaten.

An estimated 3000 tonnes of Easter egg chocolate are wasted annually in the UK, with almost a quarter of households throwing away at least one chocolate Easter egg.

There’s no need to throw away surplus Easter chocolate though, as it can always be broken up or melted to use in cooking. These leftover Easter egg recipes might give you some inspiration – hot chocolate, traybakes and Mississippi mud pie are some of the suggestions.

It isn’t just the issue of food waste that is a problem with unwanted Easter eggs, but the packaging too. Chocolate eggs account for only around 40% of the box on average. While manufacturers are reducing plastic and cardboard packaging in Easter eggs and most of this packaging is recyclable, the resources and energy that go into their manufacturing is also wasted.

If you have unwanted Easter eggs, your local food bank might be able to use them. But perhaps we need to be more mindful of the number of Easter eggs we buy for ourselves and others?