Sustainably Spooky

Halloween is the day of ghosts and goblins. A day about pumpkins, candy, trick or treating, and dressing up. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Picking out and dressing up in my Halloween outfit. My search for the perfect outfit begins at least a few months in advance. It is definitely not easy each year trying to think outside the box and be original. 

When I was younger it was Minnie Mouse and all of the Disney princesses. And as I got older it was a cat, a cavewoman and a gypsy, among other things. I think my favorite part of all of the outfits was picking out the accessories. There was something so exciting about trying to make my outfit as creative and realistic as possible. Everything from the hair pieces to the jewelry to the shoes. I remember one year I was a mermaid, and I even painted scales on my face. And then when the outfit is eventually complete and ready to go, there is nothing more exhilarating than the final product.  

Of course, that wasn’t where the fun ended. Then there was the best part, which was trick or treating and getting tons of my favorite snacks. I am a huge candy lover, so I made sure to never miss a house. I didn’t stop until my entire bag was filled with delicious treats. Gummy bears, peanut M and Ms, sour candy, the list could go on and on. I’d bring my candy home and my brother and I would lay all of our candy out on the floor and categorize it into groups. For example, all of the gummy items and all of the Kit Kats together. There were usually a ton of groups at the end and every family member grabbed their favorites. We had candy for weeks and even then, it would have been impossible to finish it all. Eventually my dad had to bring the remaining candy to work, or we would have all gotten pretty sick. 

The decorations are another one of my favorite parts of Halloween. When I was younger my mom decorated the entire house. I think she must have bought out half of Party City’s Halloween decorations. There was a pumpkin, a cobweb, a ghost or a witch in every corner of the first floor of our house and in each of our rooms. My favorites were the ones that tried to scare you when you walked past them. The outside of the house was less festive, however. Most of our decorating occurred inside. So, we loved to drive around the local communities to see the decorations people had put outside their homes. Some houses went all out, and they were amazing. But no matter how scary their houses tried to be, for some reason Halloween decorations never seemed to scare me even a little, not even when I was younger and didn’t know that they weren’t real. Thinking about that now, it seems strange to me especially in light of the fact that I am deathly afraid of the dark. 

As I have gotten older, I have gotten scared, but not of the Jack-o-lanterns or the ghosts or goblins. Now the most frightening part about Halloween to me is the waste. Did you know that in the U.S. consumers spend over 10 billion dollars on Halloween purchases?  For just one day! Luckily, I was sitting down when I heard that number. Of course, I say that fully knowing that I have completely contributed to that amount for more than half of my life. But that number got me thinking about exactly how much and what constitutes all of that Halloween waste.  

First, there are the costumes. A new Halloween costume requires manufacturing which causes the release of greenhouse gases and the use of natural resources and most likely eventually ends up as landfill waste. Think about how many people purchase new Halloween items each year and then think about how much this affects the environment.  The sheer amount is overwhelming just to think about. That definitely gives me the quivers the way a ghost or a goblin would. 

Then, there is the candy. Let’s forget about the fact that having that much chocolate or sugar is not good for anyone. And believe me I don’t judge, because nobody partook in that custom more than I did. But the quantity of candy that is produced each year for Halloween and then discarded as waste causes my stomach to become queasy. All of those plastic wrappers! I know I don’t need to remind you of how bad plastic is for our environment and the future of our planet. And we can’t forget about all of the plastic decorations and the pumpkins. Thinking about all of that waste makes me more scared than a haunted house would. 

So, now I have a completely different perspective on Halloween. Although it is still fun to dress up and have a good time, I have learned to do it in a more environmentally conscious way. I reuse and recycle my outfits, and yes, I know I am only one person and me refraining from purchasing my annual Halloween costume and décor is not necessarily going to make a huge dent in that billion-dollar number; however, if we all did, then we could have a significantly positive impact on the planet. So, I thought I would put together a few tips on what we could all do to have a Sustainably Spooky Halloween.  

1. Let’s start with the costumes. Most store-bought costumes are made of oil-based plastic and synthetic materials that take hundreds of years to break down and most get discarded after a single use! So, what can be done? Well, you can recycle your costumes from prior years and add different accessories to create a new spin on the costume. Or you could take something in your closet and turn it into a costume. Now that leopard has become so trendy, I definitely have a few outfits that could turn me into a cheetah for the night. And who doesn’t have a black outfit that they couldn’t make a pair of ears and turn into a cat costume. Or a pink outfit and you can become a bunny rabbit.  All you would need is to add a cotton tail and some ears. You could even go into your parents closet and become a groovy 70s hippie! And when the holiday is over, you can either repurpose your costume or donate it and pay it forward to someone else. By doing this, we can help reduce the 13,000 tons of Halloween gear that gets dumped into landfills each year. 
2. Then, there are the decorations. Is it really necessary to purchase brand new Halloween decorations each year? Especially when it is so easy to save and reuse your decorations from the prior year. You can put your decorations in a large bin, label it and bring it out from year to year. How easy is that?!  Or rather than purchase decorations, you can make them yourself. I am sure that there are some forms of crafts and paper that you could locate in your home to construct a ghastly ghost. Even if you are not the most creative, there are plenty of You Tube videos that can assist. 
3. Next are our little orange friends – the pumpkins. One of my favorite things to do when I was little was to go with my family to pick out our pumpkins each year at the local farm. It was so exciting sorting through the rows of orange shapes to find the perfect pumpkin to bring home and decorate. Little did I know all of the harm that my tiny pumpkin could produce. I recently learned that there is 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkin waste created every Halloween season contributing to massive amounts of global warming greenhouse gas emissions being released into the air!  So how can we help this problem? Well, there are a few solutions. You can choose not to purchase a pumpkin and if you do, then you can purchase it from an organic farm instead of the local supermarket where the pumpkins are generally grown with toxic fertilizer. Or you could even plant and grow your own pumpkin. That could be a fun family project! When Halloween ends you can sustainably dispose of your pumpkin by turning your pumpkin waste into nutrient-rich compost for your garden and plants or you can bake its seeds into a delicious snack or make a scrumptious pumpkin pie which is a fan favorite in our home.
4. Last and certainly not least, are the treats. Did you know that nearly 600 million pounds of Halloween candy is bought each year in the United States?! That is a lot of candy and a lot of candy wrappers and if not properly disposed of, end up in our landfills or even worse our oceans!! So, what can you do so that you can still enjoy this favorite Halloween tradition without causing complete havoc on the environment?  Well, for starters you can purchase organic treats from sustainable companies with minimal packaging and recyclable materials. You can buy candy in bulk to cut down on the individual wrappers or you could purchase candy that is wrapped in recyclable aluminum like Hershey’s kisses. Go Hershey!  Very impressive! You can also opt for boxed candy like nerds, dots or Swedish fish or my personal favorite M and Ms. Don’t forget to not litter! Do not throw your candy wrappers on the floor. The litter will eventually end up in a storm drain and pollute the nearest bodies of water. Also, instead of purchasing and using a plastic disposable trick or treat bag, you can use a pillowcase, a tote bag or a draw string bag that you already have at home as a trick or treat bag. 

These are just a few ways to cut down on your Halloween waste. Think about how easy they are to do and how you can make a meaningful impact in helping protect our planet! So next year when Halloween comes around, remember it’s okay to trick but don’t mistreat our planet!