As we prepare for Halloween festivities and trick or treating activities, let this be a reminder that you can still do all those (and more) while making more sustainable and earth-friendly choices and swaps at the same time 🎃👻, take a look at these ideas we found:

Halloween Waste (creepy… but true)

We love a good Halloween themed party and decors but did you know that conventional materials (PLASTIC!) takes thousands of years to decompose? Human bones decompose faster … morbid but true ☠️

How long until it’s gone:

• Plastic Decors → 1000 years
• White Cloth → 200 years
• Fake Cobwebs → 20-200 years
• Candy Wrappers → 10-20 years
• Latex Balloons → 4 years
• Real Pumpkins → 5 months
• Dried Leaves → 3-6 months
• Paper Bags → 4-6 weeks

So let’s all make wiser and more environmentally-friendly choices this season. Whether it’s swapping out traditional baggies to biodegradable and upcycled ones (they exist!!) or opting to completely refuse plastic – paper and cardboard alternatives, know that there are better options out there:

Low Waste Halloween Ideas

One of the scariest things about Halloween is the waste. From candy wrappers to costumes worn only once, millions of items end up in the trash the next day. Here are some tricks (and treats!) to help you ghost the garbage can this Halloween!

🍭 Bulk treats
Shop for exactly how much you need in your own containers. There are so many options, including school safe and nut-free! Look for wrapper recycling boxes in your local area or purchase a “take back” box with friends or neighbours.
🍬 look for a wrapper recycling program locally or through Terracycle
🧙 Costumes
Try secondhand first! Thrift stores have lots of preloved costumes or build your own from donated items. Check out your local Buy Nothing group, trade with friends, or host a costume swap!
🎃 Choose natural decor
Decorate your porch with pumpkins and gourds in all shapes and sizes, dried corn cobs and stalks, straw bales, leaves, sticks, and string from natural fibres.
😋 eat your pumpkin!
They are food after all! Pumpkin purée is so versatile and works well in soups, smoothies, pasta, pies, muffins, cakes, and breads. And don’t forget to roast the seeds!

Source: sarah.robertson.barnes

Upcycled Halloween Decorations Ideas

With Halloween right around the corner, start utilizing your trash now. From to toilet paper rolls to used jars, start creating your spooky home with these fun DIY Halloween decorations:

Source: brightly

Halloween Costumes

1. Start with what you have
   Looking at what you have in your closet with a specific Halloween lens helps inspiration to strike. Are any of your items things a character from cartoons, movies, or TV shows would wear? browsing DIY costumes lists help with inspiration too!
2. Borrow what you don’t
   Ask neighbors, friends, or in your local Buy Nothing group for wigs, costumes, and accessories to complete your costume!
3. Make from items you have
   Can you refashion a cardboard box, use some felt or fabric scraps to make a headband, or alter a garment you already own to fit your costume needs?
4. Buy items second hand
   Thrift stores are great places to find costume components! If you’re looking for very specific items, resale sites such as eBay, Poshmark, and ThredUp are great options with easier search options. It may take a bit more digging that buying a new costume, but that’s part of the fun!
5. Avoid it, but if you need to, buy new
   If and only if you’ve exhausted every other option, or if there’s a hygienic reason, then buy anything new that you need.

Low-Waste Alternatives for Trick or Treating Ideas

1. Foil-Wrapped Chocolates
   If you’re able to shop skull, pumpkins or eyeballs chocolates in bulk you can also grab only as many as you think you’d use.
2. Paper boxed candies like ners, dots, milk dud and junior mints
   These boxes can be recycled and at the very least will break down faster than any traditional plastic candy wrapper.
3. Alter-Eco Truffles are sustainably made (with the certifications to prove it!)
   and their packaging is home compostable! A more expensive option, but if you only expect a small crew they are perfect. Plus, any leftovers are delicious for adults!
4. Equal Exchange Chocolate Bites are tiny fair-trade chocolate bars wrapped in paper
   Very cute and packaging thats’s easily recyclable.
5. Mini Pumpkins double duty decor
   If you don’t have many people come through, these pumpkins can be festive fall decor and double as a treat for any kids that come a-knocking!
6. Coins or Cash (old school practicality)
   Give the kids something to put in their piggy-bank!
7. Pencils and Erasers may not be the most thrilling, but they are useful
   …especially for school age children! They’re easy to find themed as well.

Use up the Pumpkins

Over 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are tossed into the landfill each and every year in the United States. Pumpkins that could have been used for food and compost. Pumpkins that could have fed so many hungry people and also worked as a natural fertilizer for the Earth.

Pumpkins can be used for vegetable broth, soups, smoothies, seeds, planters, compost, homemade candies, homemade butters, pies, and so much more. Let’s normalize the full use of Pumpkins and reduce the amount of food waste sent to our landfills.

So many amazing companies out there have programs where they collect as many used and unused pumpkins the day after Halloween to donate to those in need or to compost correctly. Some even have super fun pumpkin smash parties where they sling shot and crush pumpkins together and compost all of the remains when the party is done!!

Please see what you have local to your state/city and let’s keep the 🎃 out of the 🗑.

*for composting in the ground: you can dig a hole, place the smashed pumpkin inside, and cover with dirt. You can also place the pumpkin over the soil and cover with leaves. If you have hedgehogs in your area, keep the pumpkin lifted on a tree trunk.

We recommend you to read these posts as well:

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