Our community easter egg hunt had four big boxes set out so that plastic eggs could be (emptied first into the kids’ baskets) reused for next year’s hunt. Out of 1700+ eggs, almost all were returned. Great idea, eh?

Wow! That is wonderful. They should be commended for conserving.

FYI on the plastic eggs…

Plastic Easter Eggs Linked to Lead Paint
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN

CLEVELAND (AP) — A chemistry professor who raised an earlier warning flag about toxic lead levels in toy jewelry didn’t have to look far for evidence of similar risks in Easter items such as plastic eggs.

Thirteen of 45 items purchased off store shelves and tested by Ashland University chemistry students had paint made with lead, according to Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer, who has made the toy testing an annual spring rite for his students.

Lead, a highly toxic element, can cause severe nerve damage, especially in children.

Two years ago Weidenhamer and his students produced a low-profile study showing many common toys and trinkets, most made in China, had hazardous lead levels. The next round of testing last year got more attention as the issue of tainted Chinese products including toys, pet food and toothpaste made headlines.

“It certainly demonstrates that the problem is still there,” Weidenhamer said.

At Ashland, the biggest lead hazards were found in Easter egg spinning tops, plastic Easter eggs that typically are filled at home with treats, bunny hair clips and chick-style sipper cups — all exceeding the government paint standard of 0.06 percent lead content.

The Easter egg containers and tops were sold at a Hobby Lobby outlet in Mansfield.

Hobby Lobby has directed stores to pull the items from shelves, said Vince Parker, director of training and customer service for the Oklahoma City-based chain. It also is doing additional testing on the products and cooperating with the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission to initiate a recall.

Thanks for the info Jen! A wreath would be pretty much the only option of the bunch if you suspect lead.

Speaking of recycling, I was glad to see that the US Postal Service is now in the recycling business. Don’t know what to do with all your old cell phones, IPods, and printer cartridges? The U.S. Postal Service has just announced a vital new service that lets you recycle cell phones, iPods and other electronics — as well as printer inkjet cartridges — via mail.
For free!
To use the “Mail Back” program, find one of the 1,500 post offices that offers special free envelopes. Drop in your recyclable electronics item, and mail it without postage. It goes to Clover Technologies Group, which recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics. Check it outhere

Steve Lavey’s last blog post..Recycling the US Postal Way

Love your blog, by the way.
:)

Also, plastic Easter eggs can be used as molds for making homemade sidewalk chalk. (A hole drilled in the top works best for filling!)

This will be our 7th year for our Annual Community Easter Egg Hunt that is put on by my church Columbus First Assembly in Columbus, Indiana. Each year, I contact the are businesses for assistance with prizes. Wonderful turnout. Last year I had 50 businesses participate including both Walmarts and Sam’s Club. I had 8400 eggs with candy and prizes (over 3000 prizes were put in eggs). Prizes included 6 bikes that were given away as well as 4 free Indiana Beach tickets by local radio station QMix. After Easter, I always take money that I have left over and purchase items at drastically reduced prices for the following year. Boy wish I could have forecasted what was about to happen in June of 2008. Columbus, Indiana was hit with a 100 year flood. Our church was hit very very hard. Therefore, everything that was in the basement, including my Easter items, was lost. 16,000 plastic eggs, 30+ pre-made Easter baskets, 40+ stuffed toys, left over coupons from area restaurants that were to be used this year. And the list goes on and on. We have always put out “recycle bins” for our eggs. This was one way to have the community open their eggs up to see if they had any prizes they needed to redeem. Good thinking huh. Out of the 8400 eggs from last year. We had over 7000 returned back to us. Very good odds I think. If anyone has any eggs they are willing to “donate” to our cause, this would be greatly appreciated. You can get on our church website: http://www.columbusfirstassembly.org and get the address, phone number, etc. The church can even put you in touch with me. Many thanks and God Bless.

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