With its plastic candy wrappers and single use costumes, Halloween isn’t exactly a green holiday. If you are creative, you can figure out ways to have a fun and sustainable Halloween for your family. By staying local and focusing on reusable items, your Halloween can reduce its environmental impact.
Good Idea: Buy an Organic or Local Pumpkin
Support small, local, and organic farmers. Instead of buying a pumpkin from hundreds of miles away, buy locally. You can find local pumpkins at farmers markets and health food stores. If you can’t find a local pumpkin, then buy an organic one.
Even Better Idea: Use All of the Pumpkin
Don’t add to the landfill by throwing your pumpkin away. Make roasted pumpkin seeds. Extract the pumpkin puree from your carved pumpkin after Halloween to make pumpkin bread. Or use a whole small pumpkin to make pumpkin seed crusted tofu. Compost any part of the pumpkin you have left.
Good Idea: Buy Reusable Decorations
Buy high quality decorations that you can use every year, preferably those made from wood and other eco-friendly materials. Avoid less expensive, disposable decorations like window decals and spiderwebs.
Even Better Idea: Craft Your Own Decorations
Look around to see what you can repurpose for decorations. Make a scarecrow with old clothes, a pillowcase, and a few sticks or rods. Hang old white bedsheets in trees as ghosts. Learn how to make bats out of old egg cartons.
Good Idea: Reuse and Refactor Old Costumes
Wear an old costume again or dig around your house to create a unique costume. Many old objects can be reused in a Halloween costume. For example, an umbrella can be turned into a bat costume.
Even Better Idea: Hold a Costume Swap
Get together with friends before Halloween to swap costumes, accessories, and props. Add to the festivities with a costume contest.
Good Idea: Buy Organic and Natural Treats
Give out earth friendly treats. Endangered Species makes single serve milk and dark chocolate. Annie’s Homegrown produces Halloween graham cracker packs for younger kids.
Even Better Idea: Create Your Own Treats
Melt down leftover crayons into halloween shapes to give out to trick-or-treaters. Bake cookie gravestone treats for the kids in your life. Both kids and adults will love organic carmel apples made completely from scratch.
Good Idea: Trick or Treat Close to Home
Stay close to home and trick-or-treat on foot or on bike. Lower your impact and strengthen your community by staying in your own neighborhood.
Even Better Idea: Throw a Neighborhood Party
Give everyone in your neighborhood a reason to drive less by hosting an informal party. You can keep things simple with a pot luck and a few classic games like bobbing for apples.
