4 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Halloween
Can Halloween be fun, spooky and sustainable? We think so! This year, consider the planet when planning how you’ll celebrate. It’s possible — and even more fun and creative! — to conjure up a delightful Halloween celebration everyone will love while minimizing your environmental footprint. Here are four tips to help get those pumpkin juices flowing:
Costumes
Instead of buying a new costume, consider a few planet-friendly alternatives. Get creative and build everyone’s costumes from upcycled items you already have in the house, head to a thrift store to shop for unique gently owned pieces for a costume, or get together with a few other families to have a costume swap.
Jack ‘O Lanterns
Carving pumpkins is a Halloween must, but there are easy ways to make this activity good for you and the environment. When carving, save the scraps for the compost pile, or scatter them in the garden and cover with mulch or leaves to help them decompose properly.
Clean, dry and roast the seeds for a delicious snack or salad topping. Seeds can also be washed, dried and planted — they’re surprisingly easy to grow!
After Halloween, cut up or smash the pumpkins and either add to your compost or place them in a safe spot where wildlife can enjoy eating it. Pumpkin is a natural dewormer and has a lot of nutrients wildlife need to thrive.
Decor
Forget single-use consumer items for fall decorations, nature has provided all you need to spruce up your home for the season. Some ideas include:
- Use dried leaves, pinecones and branches for a wreath or to decorate your fireplace mantle.
- Opt for fresh gourds and pumpkins for a festive front porch.
- Use dried flowers and grasses in vases for beautiful seasonal arrangements.
- String dried leaves in a garland to hang around your home.
It can be fun to head outside and find beautiful items in nature to decorate your home. Make it a scavenger hunt that everyone can enjoy, then go home and get creative!
Trick or Treating
When the sun starts to set on October 31, it’s time to head outside for trick-or-treating fun. Your sustainable Halloween can help here, too. Pick out a fun reusable basket or bag that your kids can use each year instead of plastic grocery bags. For a true trick-or-treat throwback, use pillowcases!
Candy wrappers can create a lot of waste, and if they’re plastic, can take many years to decompose. Choose candy and treats wrapped in foil, paper or cardboard that can be recycled. Some options include chocolate kisses (foil), jelly dots and chocolate-covered mints (boxes), and the classic black and orange Mary Janes, wrapped in wax paper.
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