Halloween is quickly approaching so I thought now would be a good time to share tips on how to have a sustainable Halloween. I have never been into Halloween that much, but this year I’ll be going to a costume party! There are lots of ways that you can incorporate sustainability into the holiday and still have fun.
Decorations
Pumpkins
I couldn’t talk about Halloween decorations without mentioning pumpkins! Pumpkins are the decoration that everyone goes for, but there are a few things to remember. Try to buy a locally sourced one, maybe from a market or a greengrocer’s. If you are unable to, make sure it is from your country! When you come to adding a tealight in your carved pumpkin, make sure it is a soy or beeswax candle that’s paraffin-free.
Reuse previous years decorations
This is the same for any kind of holiday or occasion. Reusing is always better than buying new ones, so when you are buying them make sure that you can reuse them in the coming years.
Make your own decorations
Making your own decorations can be such a fun activity! Plus, you are more likely to take better care of them if you have made them. My mum and I made a cute pumpkin garland when I was younger, and we still have it now. Over on Lynn’s blog, you can find lots of Halloween DIY decor, here are some of my favourites:
Food
I feel like food is a key part of everyone’s night, whatever you are doing. If you are going trick-or-treating, you don’t have to buy a new plastic bucket every year, you could use a bowl you already own and maybe add a bat sticker etc. Bonus points if it is a spooky colour!
Pumpkin recipes
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the food waste aspect of carving pumpkins! A few days ago I tried to make a puree out of the stringy bits, it didn’t exactly work though. I don’t have a blender so maybe it would have been better blended. You don’t always use the entire part of a vegetable, so don’t feel too bad if you don’t make use of the entire thing.
Keep the pumpkin seeds back when you are scooping out the inside. You can roast them in the oven, and have them as a snack.
You can also take some of the hard pumpkin off the inside so that it isn’t so thick to cut. I didn’t realise this until my brother told me. But there are so many pumpkin recipes to make. I’m planning on making some pumpkin spiced cupcakes → look out for them on my Instagram!
A few pumpkin recipes you should try out:
- Pumpkin pie pancakes by The Grumpy Olive
- Pumpkin cheesecake bars by Abundance Of Flavour
- Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies by Elle Grace Deveson
If you don’t want to eat your pumpkin, you can leave it for the birds to eat or put it in your food waste/compost bin.
Plastic-free sweets
I have only really been trick-or-treating once so I’m not massively into this Halloween tradition. Although a lot of sweets and chocolate come in plastic packaging, there are some that are more sustainable. Here are some alternatives:
- Smarties
- Hersheys
- Kitkat
- Poppets
- Rolo
- Munchies
Clothing
Hire or rent a costume
I wrote about renting an outfit in my previous post, but I think for Halloween it is even more relevant! Most people want to go as something different each year so there really is a very tiny chance you will wear the costume again. There are plenty of costume stores around that I’m sure would be happy to rent out a costume.
Related post: How to have a sustainable wardrobe
Make your own costume
Another idea for having a sustainable Halloween is to make your own costume. I’m planning on going as a cat to a house party but I didn’t really want to spend a lot of money or buy anything I couldn’t wear again. I have some cat ears from when I was younger. I don’t have a tail, but I’m planning on using some tights. Then I will most likely wear all black and add some whiskers and a nose with eyeliner.
Buy your clothes second hand
If it wasn’t so close to Halloween, I would definitely have ordered something off Vinted. I’m thinking maybe a fluffy black jumper or a leopard print dress. If you type in ‘Halloween costume’ to Vinted, I think they would be more expensive than normal. You could visit your local charity shops to find some spooky clothes – I think I’ll see if I can find a black dress tomorrow!
What are you doing to have a sustainable Halloween?
Best wishes, Cx
Good tips! We also love this season. The leaves, the pumpkins, and pumpkin spice are so cozy. Since the fall started, we have been roasting one pumpkin a week and using it in many ways. Pumpkin soup is our favorite, of course, but pumpkin brownie cheesecake is incredible, too. Enjoy your costume party!
Oh, that sounds lovely!
Thank you for the mentions, my love! I absolutely love making my own decorations and costumes for Halloween! I would love to see more plastic-free candy options in the years to come for kids! xx
Lynn | https://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com/
No problem! xx
Great tips Caroline! I’ve seen a lot about this on Instagram this year, and it’s really made me think. While I don’t really celebrate Halloween, there are definitely a lot of ways that people can be a little more sustainable- and avoid waste. The same goes for Christmas 🙂 thanks for sharing! z
I have a ceramic pumpkin I’ll uses (was my moms and is over 25 years old) instead of carving pumpkins, but will be picking up a few pie pumpkins for decorations as well-then using the fruit for holiday baking. I’ve nver understood people buying new decorations every year-move the around to switch up if you want change, but to toss and buy cheap tat again is sad.
That sounds brilliant! I agree
Love this! Your advice is always environmentally sound.
Thank you 🙂
Some really great ideas here which I’ll defiantly be using myself! Love the idea of a sustainable Halloween, the decorations especially. Thank you so much for sharing lovely Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Thank you x
Great tips! I’ve got some decorations this year and I’m going to put them away for next year. I don’t really do loads for Halloween! I did plan on trying to grow some pumpkins myself with the seeds from my pumpkin but it started leaking out of the bottom and smelling. Plan for next year!
Corinne x
That’s so cool that you planted some seeds, even if they didn’t exactly work! x
Some great tips! This time of year can be so unsustainable with Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year all packed so closely together so any small thing we can do will help. I don’t celebrate Halloween (well, I just don’t do anything for it) so I’m pretty sustainable for it haha!
I agree! I don’t really celebrate either x
Great sustainability tips! I tend to buy new costumes every year, but I never thought about reusing them for something else. I will say that I didn’t know that KitKat packaging was eco friendly.
Yes, foil and paper!
Love these ideas! I always reuse my decorations, but I’ve struggles with real pumpkins so I have fake ones now that I reuse every year. Thanks for inspiring me though, since I’m not there yet!
I feel you x
Great tips! The pumpkin recipes look great too. I’m going to leave my pumpkin outside all chopped up after tomorrow as we live next to the woods for birds, hedgehogs etc to eat. Renting a costume is a good idea too!! x
Aw, that’s so lovely to hear! x