If you’ve got children or if you just love embracing the seasons, chances are you’ve already been preparing for Halloween. As with any major celebration, there can be excess, loads of gross plastic and waste galore. Here’s a look at three simple ways you can have an eco-friendly Halloween, enjoy all the joys of the season whilst still being kind to the planet.
Eco-Friendly Halloween Ideas:
Forage For Decorations
Now is the perfect time to experience the glorious colours of nature, the leaves are changing to all the shades of autumn, the berries are on the bushes and the chestnut trees are dropping conkers everywhere. A great way to enjoy an eco-friendly Halloween is by heading out into nature and foraging for your decorations! You can furnish your dining table with a decorative bowl of pine cones or conkers, or make a DIY wreath from branches and berries.
Make Your Costume
Of course, for many families the traditional ‘trick or treating’ escapades will be on hold due to the pandemic. However, you can still enjoy dressing up and heading out for a spooky walk. Making your own costume from things you have around the house or can borrow is a great way to get creative and reduce waste. Plastic store-bought costumes are inevitably going to end up on a landfill and pollute the planet, so are best avoided.
Don’t Let Your Pumpkin Go To Waste
If you carve a pumpkin to display in your home or on your porch, save the inside of the pumpkin! Pumpkin is food after all, so it makes no sense to throw away parts that are perfectly edible. You can actually roast the pumpkin seeds and have them as a snack or on a salad, maybe you could even keep yours and grow your own pumpkins for next year?
You can also compost pumpkins, so be sure to do that when you’re finished with yours. Lastly, try to purchase an organic pumpkin from a local farmer, this will mean your pumpkin hasn’t travelled thousands of miles to be put in a supermarket, plus you’re supporting a local business.
Whatever spooky shenanigans you decide to partake in this Halloween, I hope you get chance to get out into nature, skip along with friends and enjoy all the glorious colours of the season.
Magic is really very simple, all you’ve got to do is want something and then let yourself have it.
– Aggie Cromwell, “Halloweentown”
Christine
Photography by Sarah Gualtieri.
