Making sure Easter doesn't cost the oeuf
Over Easter, Britons generally consume about 80 million chocolate eggs, averaging one and a third for each person in the country. Up to 25% of the weight of any boxed Easter egg is pure packaging. Last year we generated somewhere in the region of 3,000 tonnes of waste from Easter eggs alone, and it is now sitting in landfill sites, gentling oozing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
This year, the offending industry is set to scythe through a series of 'green' measures, including reducing cardboard weight, removing plastic 'clam shells' and making packaging more recyclable.
According to an organisation that 'helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more', its Seasonal Confectionery Industry Working Group (yes, really) has brokered a voluntary agreement with manufacturers to make 'significant reductions' for 2009.
If you want to know who has the greenest eggs on the market, most major names are signed up to the Wrap scheme and many are proudly trumpeting their climate-friendly credentials. Alternatively, you can turn your back on packaged eggs entirely (some of which contain as little as 110g of chocolate, the equivalent of two small bars) and instead.
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