Kristine
“When we think about Halloween, ethical and sustainable practice doesn’t exactly spring to mind,” says Lara Robertson of Good On You, an organization that recognizes and rates ethical brands from around the world. Robertson further states that the “scariest thing about Halloween” is the sheer amount of waste we produce in the US alone. From cheap, mass-produced costumes to individually-wrapped candies to plastic buckets for trick-or-treating, Halloween can be a serious nightmare for people trying to go green.
However, the fear of being wasteful shouldn’t stop you from having a great Halloween celebration or wearing a killer costume! With the tips listed below, you can make your Halloween more sustainable without sacrificing your enjoyment of the season.
1. Have fun crafting DIY Halloween decor.
“Decorating is one of the best parts of Halloween but also the most wasteful,” says Ines Lopes, a faculty assistant at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “As the second biggest decorating holiday of the year, many of the decorations are made from non-recyclable plastics.”
Instead of buying flimsy plastic decorations or purchasing extra materials to make decorations, you can get creative by repurposing things you already have in your home. Here are a few sustainable decorating ideas suggested by the World Wildlife Fund:
- Have a pair of old stockings with a run or tear? Make a few extra cuts in the fabric and stretch out the material to make DIY spider webs for a spooky entryway!
- Transform old cardboard boxes into tombstone decorations.
- Go on a nature walk to collect colorful leaves, twigs, rocks, and other materials to complement a rustic centerpiece.
- Use clean styrofoam to make Halloween masks.
- Save your decorations to reuse again next year.
2. Buy locally-grown pumpkins.
By purchasing locally-grown pumpkins and other produce, you can help members of your community and reduce your carbon footprint. If you want to carve pumpkins, don’t just throw away the insides! Save the seeds to roast them later, and use the insides to make homemade pumpkin bread, pie, soup, or other pumpkin treats. Later in November, when your jack-o-lanterns start to look sad and mushy, remember to compost them to avoid producing waste.
3. Get creative with costumes.
Those cheap costumes from big-box stores might be convenient, but they’re both flimsy and terrible for the environment. Almost 85% of these ill-fitting, poorly-constructed costumes are thrown out after being worn just once, which generates over 12,500 tons of waste each year. You can DIY a better costume using items you have in your own home or by sifting through your local thrift stores and yard sales.
When you’re planning your costume, try to think of pieces that you can continue to regularly use and wear. For instance, buying a collared black dress can turn you into Wednesday Addams on Halloween, but transform into a chic work outfit for Monday morning. A sturdy leather jacket can be great for a biker costume, and it can become a staple item for your autumn wardrobe. Of course, if you’re short on time and can’t think of anything else, a plain white bed sheet can always be used as a ghost costume!
