EGG ECOLOGY

With more people going green, natural egg dyes are making a comeback.

Before the invention of chemical dyes, clever moms might once have used barks, spices and berries to decorate eggs for the spring holiday.

Now, folks across the country are boiling cabbage, beets, blueberries and turmeric to create a range of colors and effects.

Some turn to natural dyes because they’re feeling crafty.

Sherry Johnson, co-owner of SheerLark Farm in Flat Rock, Ala., said natural dyes have become more popular in crafts. She uses them to dye her homegrown heritage wool for fiber art, for example.

She has explored natural egg dyes, she added, copying information from Web sites and trying out a few recipes when her children were young.

You can safely try beets, red and yellow onion skins, liquid chlorophyll, cabbage, coffee, green tea and chamomile, she said.

She cautioned against using toxic plant materials such as pokeweed (brand-new sprouts are safe but judging timing can be difficult) and hand-staining items such as black walnut hulls.

Health concerns have led others to explore nontoxic options.

Mrs. Johnson said she avoids synthetic dyes because she fears they may cause cancer or other health problems.

U.S. research on dyes and cancer seems inconclusive. The British government’s Food Standards Agency, however, banned six artificial food dyes last November when studies linked the colorings with increased hyperactivity, according to the BBC.

Blue 1, for example, already has been banned in Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Norway and Switzerland, and Green 3 was banned across Europe after it was linked to the development of bladder tumors.

“I tried natural dyes when I decided I didn’t want to put anything unnatural in and on my body,” said Wendy Abde, a 28-year-old Nutrition World saleswoman.

Last year, she helped a friend’s children dye eggs with beet powder and chlorophyll.

“It’s a lot of fun to do, especially with kids,” Ms. Abde said. “They can push down the boiling pieces of red cabbage and help get other things ready rather than joining in just for the dipping.”