White House Easter Egg Roll 'Goes Green’

By Penny Starr

The White House announced Monday that this year's Easter Egg Roll will be "more environmentally friendly," including eggs made with wood certified by an environmental activist organization and packaging "to minimize waste and environmental impact."

The press release issued by the White House states that the eggs will be produced in the United States from hardwood "certified" by the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-profit organization with a presence in 50 countries and a mission "to promote the responsible management of the world's forests."

The "greener" packaging for the eggs - available in purple, pink, green and yellow - is made from paperboard certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The paperboard "uses no wood fibers from controversial sources" and the printed carton the egg comes in can be recycled. The packaging is also decorated with vegetable oil-based inks and water-based coatings.

According to its Web site, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative dates back to 1994 "as one of the U.S. forest sector's contributions to the vision of sustainable development established by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development."