With fall fully submerging us, the festivities are creeping up – including all the tricks and treats of Halloween. Spooky season is upon us, but this is also a period that produces a lot of waste. Thus, if you’re working towards a zero-waste lifestyle, there are some approaches you can take to reduce Halloween waste. After all, just because it is a holiday doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care for our environment! Read on to find some zero-waste Halloween tips below!
Zero waste practices
To follow a zero-waste lifestyle, you must stick to a few different approaches.
Reducing: this involves reducing your intake by considering if you really need items before buying them.
Refusing: this involves saying no to plastic and other single-use disposables.
Recycling: as probably the most famous sustainable approach, recycling involves putting recyclable trash in the recycling bin when you do have to throw things away.
Reusing: think about other ways to use the products you would have otherwise thrown in the trash.
Rot: consider composting your waste – such as pumpkins – when you no longer have a use for it.
If you follow these practices this Halloween, you’ll be on the best path to producing as little waste as possible. However, if you’re still struggling with ideas, look below for more details!
Utilize reusable bags
When sending out your child to take part in trick-or-treating, ensure you give them a reusable eco-friendly bag to collect their sweets in. Plastic bags are typically single-use and stick around in landfill sites for a gobsmacking number of years. So, it’s time to say no to plastic and start reusing items that can easily replace plastic materials!
Eco-friendly Halloween treats
Try to avoid harmful single-use plastic-wrapped treats – many options are kinder to our environment. For example, fruit is a brilliant zero-waste treat since it doesn’t require plastic wrapping, and its skin can be composted. However, if you’re searching for something a little more exciting, sustainable brands like YumEarth and Glee Gum are fantastic alternatives that really consider the implications of what they produce.
Using pumpkins
Halloween isn’t complete without a pumpkin, but it’s vital to approach your jack-o’-lantern in the right way. After purchasing your pumpkin from a local farmer’s market, use up the leftovers in tasty dishes. Pumpkin pie is usually the most popular offering, and there are many recipes you can find online. However, if you can’t avoid throwing parts of the pumpkin away, ensure you don’t paint or decorate it with excess products since these may stop your pumpkin from being able to be disposed of in the food waste caddy.
Sustainable decorations
Again, it’s time to say no to plastic. Stop buying unnecessary plastic decorations and start using reusable materials if you’d like to decorate your house. This may include recyclable paper and cardboard, which can be reused repeatedly. You can positively impact our planet if you only search for long-lasting decorations that can be disposed of kindly or reused the following year.
Reuse your costumes
Instead of taking up resources by purchasing a new Halloween outfit, you could reuse an old costume to extend product lifespans and reduce the demand for new materials. You can easily make a costume at home – especially if you own a lot of black clothing! Moreover, it’s always worth donating your old outfits to charity or someone you know if you’re never going to wear them again – this way, the clothing can access a second home and doesn’t have to end up in the trash. As a final tip, you could also swap your costumes with your friends each year, ensuring that everyone gets to wear an outfit they’ve never worn before without having to buy one.
Key Takeaways
We can learn here that there are some fantastic ways to start celebrating Halloween in the right way. You might not have thought all that much about how you can start reducing your waste, but by following these offerings, you can take a step in the right direction.
Moreover, businesses may be able to profit from eco-conscious consumers by offering zero-waste alternatives to harmful plastic products. As consumers start to take steps towards zero waste, there has been a growing demand for kinder products.
All in all, every individual can considerably impact our environment – and it’s their decision whether this is a positive or negative impact.