By Sarah Currie-Halpern, Co-Founder and Partner
Halloween has been big business for years, and it’s come raging back in the post-pandemic world. Consumer spending for the holiday hit a record high of $12.2 billion last year, and the National Retail Federation predicts this year’s spending will be only slightly lower at $11.6 billion. $7.6 billion of that $11.6 billion will be spent on costumes and decor, both of which have turned the holiday into a waste-generating nightmare.
Wherever you look on Halloween, there’s plastic destined for the dumpster: scratchy costumes made of polyester, crumpled wrappers for candies and chocolates, and poor-quality decorations like skeletons and zombie hands hanging off balconies and poking out of lawns. With the waste situation becoming as spooky as the holiday itself, every little effort helps. So if you’re trying to make this year’s Halloween scary for everyone but the planet, here are five places to start.
Thrift, make, or rent your costume
Since they’re meant to be worn once and tossed, Halloween costumes tend to be made of cheap, synthetic materials. One study found that 83% of the material in Halloween costumes sold in the UK in 2019 was plastic. In other words, there’s no use looking for something eco-friendly in your nearest Spirit store or Amazon’s Halloween section. Instead, get thrifting or ask the internet for funny and creative combinations that can be found simply by raiding your own closet. Rather than buying a mask, use Pinterest to find countless Halloween makeup ideas and do your own makeup, or enlist a friend who's good at makeup to do yours.
Chow down on your pumpkin guts
Chock-full of beta-carotene and vitamin C, pumpkins are far more than just jack-o-lantern canvases. Even with pumpkin pie season just weeks away, people forget this and toss their pumpkins in the bin come November 1. Once these autumnal gourds hit the landfill, they emit methane by the ton. Find a pumpkin recipe and eat it instead. Granted, if its toothy grin has sunk a little too much, consider composting or an alternative disposal system in your community, such as this Minnesota-based initiative that uses leftover pumpkins to feed farm animals.
Ditch the plastic-wrapped treats
Most candies and chocolates come not just in plastic wrapping but in mixed-material wrapping, which (together with its small size) makes it incredibly difficult to recycle. Foil-wrapped candies can be a slightly better alternative, and paper-wrapped candies are an even better one than that. Still, going wrapper-free is best. Try giving out small baked treats like mini brownies or cookies, or fruits like clementines and apples.
If you’re hosting, don’t invite plastic
Hosting a party is lots of work, but it also means you call the shots on everything from the guest list to the party favors. Serve food and drinks with reusable and recyclable dishes, cups, and cutlery instead of single-use ones. Choose plastic-free party favors and paint your own gravestone decorations on cardboard and wood. You can even take it one step further with a buy-nothing-new costume contest.
Buy decor that will last
Unless you have loads of time and a particularly steady hand with a paintbrush, you don’t have to hand-make all your decor from cardboard in your recycling bin. A key element of individual waste reduction is investing in things like high-quality Halloween decor that you know you’ll use autumn after autumn. Consider buying high quality second hand decorations on your local Facebook Marketplace. As such, avoid fake cobwebs that disintegrate (and pose a serious risk to migrating birds) and lawn inflatables that become useless the moment they tear. Get something well-made that you love. That’s the best bulwark against the landfill you can find.
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