Did you know that each year, 12 500 tons of Halloween costumes get sent to landfill, in the U.K. only?
As much as we love to celebrate Halloween, nothing can quite justify such massive waste. Here are a couple of tips to make sure your Halloween celebrations aren’t as wasteful!
1. The costume
What do you already have?
The biggest chunk of your Halloween costume is very likely to already be in your wardrobe! …or your partner’s. Or your parent’s. Or your son’s. Explore all the options that already exist around you, and be imaginative: whoever said that jumpers can only be worn on the upper body was wrong.
Go second-hand shopping
To your local second-hand store, or online! Make sure to checkout Shpock, Depop, eBay, Vinted, etc. You could also investigate (meaning, Googling it) to find a costume rental platform that delivers to where you live.
Wear a mask instead of painting your face
Face paint can be very wasteful in terms of packaging (and you can hardly reuse it the next year…) on top of potentially being a health hazard for the skin. Why don’t you go for a mask this year?
Here’s a nice selection of downloadable templates of spooky Halloween masks!
2. Decorations
Get creative!
There are tons of tutorials online on how to create your own Halloween decorations from cardboard, paper, fabric, etc. You can also simply go for a walk in your local park and pick up some autumn leaves. Don’t know where to start? Get your pins ready on Pinterest!
If you do buy new things, buy wisely
That means buying things that are made from eco-friendly materials, and making sure you only get things you know you’ll be happy to get out of the “Halloween box” for many years to come!
3. Carving a pumpkin ? Eat it, too!
An estimated 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin goes to waste over Halloween in the UK only. That’s liiiiiiiters of delicious pumpkin soup! Not to mention all the water and energy resource required to grow those pumpkins.
- the basics first! Creamy roasted pumkin soup;
- Vegan gluten-free pie;
- Pumpkin hummus;
- Pumpkin bread;
- Pumpkin curry with chickpeas;
- Pumpkin oatmeal anytime squares;
- Healthy flourless pumpkin muffins;
Minimalist Baker and Hubbub have lots of other ideas on how to use pumpkins, should you not be inspired by those already for some odd reason! 🙂
This post was kindly sponsored by Etsy. All opinions are my own.
Cover photo credit: Yulia Chinato—thank you!
Morgane is a London-based writer passionate about sustainable living, ethical fashion and social justice.