Halloween celebrations are set to return to pre-pandemic levels this year but the scariest part will be the amount of waste it creates. It is estimated that in the US alone, $10.6bn will be spent in 2022 on Halloween costumes, candy, decorations and greeting cards*. With an estimated 7 million Halloween outfits annually ending up in landfill in the UK, of which 85% are made from non-renewable oil based polyester, that is a significant amount of waste we are creating for just one day of celebrations*.
Before we however fill you with eco-anxiety over your party plans, there are many quick and easy changes we can adopt at home to ensure our celebrations are more eco-friendly. Here are our top recommendations on how to have maximum fun but have a minimum environmental impact this Hallows Eve.
DIY or Secondhand Costumes
The first and easiest way to start reducing your halloween carbon footprint is by creating, reusing or swapping costumes or using pieces of your own clothing. Start by raiding your wardrobe to see what items you may have that can be crafted into something. Witches, zombies, black cats are simple looks to throw together and combined with the right accessories can be spook-tacular. Don’t be afraid to use face paint or make-up to elevate your look. Black eye-liner rubbed under the eyes can give any outfit a ghoulish dead feel.
You can then DIY any accessories at home such as a broom, cats ears, space antennas or create your whole outfit from scratch using recycling scraps. Old cardboard can be turned into robots, bubble wrap into space age looks, old black tights into a spider or cat’s tail – the list is endless!
Last but not least you can borrow or swap an old costume with a friend or family member. For children, Retykle is running their annual Halloween costume swap that allows parents to trade in their kids outgrown costumes for a new secondhand one. Find out more details here: https://retykle.com/pages/halloween-costume-swap
Treat Bags
If you are needing a new treat bag this year don’t just resort to buying a plastic pumpkin or ghost bucket. You can search for ideas around the home instead. An old pillowcase or canvas bag makes a great sack for collecting treats (kids will love how much room there is to fill with candy!). If you have old paper bags lying around you can paint them or draw a scary face on the sides to upcycle it into something more frightful.
Home-made treats
All that individually wrapped plastic candy is enough to make your hair stand on end. Swap out store bought sweets for your own homemade creations. Not only will it probably be much healthier but it will also minimise waste and plastic usage. You can buy small paper bags at the supermarket or local store to wrap up individual portions making them easy to hand out.
Some of our favourite treats baked at home include Pop-corn, Iced Halloween Cookies and Fruit roll-ups. You could also pick up some Mandarin’s and draw scary faces on them to hand out. These would also make great decorative items for the home. Alternatively if your kids receive too much candy throughout the year with all the birthday parties they attend, start saving the excess candy in a separate container (maybe away from where prying children might look!). By Halloween you will probably have enough to start handing out to trick or treaters saving your children’s teeth and your wallet!
Decorations
For decorations, it is time to start getting crafty. Start saving old delivery boxes, milk bottles, tin cans, egg boxes etc in the run up to Halloween as they can be turned into any creepy decoration. You can write scary messages onto old cardboard, cereal packets can become tombstones, old loo rolls morphed into bats and old sheets or tissue paper into ghosts or ghouls. Search on Pinterest for ideas or take a look at our upcycled Halloween house and then save a day at the weekend for the whole family to get involved. Make sure you have stocked up on black, purple, green, red and white paint!
Another approach could be incorporating more natural elements into your decorations. Collect dried leaves and twigs on your next walk which can then form an eerie bouquet to put on display.
Dried flowers can also have the same effect or choose live ones with orange or black flowers. For a more Fall feel that will last longer than just Halloween, pick up wheat and grass, dried corn, pine cones, acorns and nuts to decorate throughout the home. Lastly for lighting you can use old jars or tin cans to create upcycled lanterns.
Pumpkin
An estimated 8 million pumpkins are tossed out into the bin in the UK every year. That is a scary amount of waste*! Keep the seeds and flesh when carving your pumpkin and turn them into a delicious snack. Seeds can be roasted and the flesh used to make muffins, bread or soup! You can find some recipe inspiration here. Once you are done with your pumpkins, try composting them rather than throwing them out. Not only does it reduce pressure on landfills but also reduces the amount of toxic methane gas that is released into the atmosphere. You can even create a compost bin from items at home and start a new eco-habit that lasts longer than Halloween.
Written by Sarah Garner
Sarah Garner started Retykle (www.retykle.com) in 2016 after having her first child. She saw first-hand how quickly kids grow out of their clothes leaving behind closets bursting with smaller sizes, most of the items barely worn. She wanted to create a sustainable fashion loop and be on the side of fashion that was part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
Having worked for over 10 years in senior management roles for key luxury fashion companies including Shanghai Tang (Richemont), Lane Crawford, Holt Renfrew and LVMH, Sarah diverted her experience towards building a fashion company that positively impacts the environment, parents lives and the community.
