All the waste created during Halloween can be super scary, so we came up with a few not-so-scary ways to make your Halloween more Earth-friendly. After all, who doesn’t love Halloween AND the Earth? Even during a pandemic, there are creative ways to enjoy this time of the year.
We don’t want to think about all the waste generated as it might start putting a dent on our Halloween fun. We are not about the guilt – we are all for solutions: Live your best life (without taking the next generation’s ability to live theirs). Stand for what matters. So, here we go, we researched everywhere on how can we have the best Halloween while at the same time make not so scary changes to be more conscious and reduce the amount of waste produced this one day!
Here we go, yo! A few tips for an Earth-friendly Halloween! We even added a few tips on how to enjoy Halloween in times of the COVID-19 pandemic!
Small and not scary at all!
- Reuse supplies and crafts from last Halloween. Encourage your kids to do the same. We don’t need new things every year, do we?
- Pass on the glitter – just saying no to glitter can be a small step towards reducing plastic pollution. Glitter is made from plastic sheets and “When washed down the drain, glitter becomes a subset of marine plastic litter known as microplastic.” Remember when we talked about microplastics on our last post?
- Costume Swap: exchange costumes with friends, maybe create a rotation system between a group of friends so everyone has a “new” costume. Or, we are always looking for a reason to host a party, – everyone brings a costume and randomly picks a costume for this year. Make it an annual tradition!
- Having a party with your close circle? Ditch the single-use plastic utensils. No need to scare the Earth with all that needless plastic waste! Additionally, consider virtual costume parties and parades. Use video chats for an online party with friends and family and show off costumes and play games.
- Cut down on balloons (or eliminate them) and definitely do not release them. What comes up must come down… and they end up in oceans and/or in wildlife habitat.
- Create fun, healthy, zero-waste treats with fruits. A few ideas we have tried and that are super fun for the kids.
- Trick-or-treating may be discouraged or even canceled in some areas this year. A family scavenger hunt for treats in your home or yard can be a fun alternative.
A bit on the scarier side
- Pumpkin waste: ok, ok… nobody wants to hear about all the pumpkin waste that goes on every Halloween, that only one-fifth of the 1.91 billion pumpkins grown every year are eaten and the rest are wasted and sent to landfills. I promise I will not talk about it! 🙂
A few ideas to cut down on that scary waste:
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- Roast the seeds: We scoop all those delicious pumpkin seeds and roast them to eat later. Love this easy recipe.
- Carving left-overs: you can roast them and use them for soup or pumpkin pie.
- Jack-o-lantern day after Halloween: cut it up and compost. Promise it’s not hard. Even I can compost, but my composting journey is for another post.
- Recycle candy wrappers: at home, at school, or in your business, collect candy wrappers to be recycled. They can’t be recycled in your normal recycling bin but you can with a zero-waste box from Terracycle. According to Loggerhead MarineLife Center, wrappers are among the top 10 items found each year in the International Coastal Clean-up. Schools like Summit-Questa Montessori spearhead a program with the middle-school students responsible for all collection.
Now, let’s go enjoy an Earth-friendly Halloween! We can do both – have fun and save the planet. Happy Halloween!
Help us spread the message. Share with your friends – sharing is caring! Rebel for Change!
Rebel Buda, Inc. is a public benefit corporation and member of 1% for the Planet. We offer 100% certified organic tees and tanks for the whole family to rebel for change together.