How to Halloween Sustainably

What’s there not to love about Halloween? You get to wear costumes, carve pumpkins, indulge in candy and chocolate, and spook as many people as possible. Every year in Canada 80,000 metric tonnes of pumpkins are produced and some 355 million dollars worth of candy sold for this occasion. The trick here is to see how much food waste is produced by this singular event. Most pumpkins end up in landfills, where they cannot properly decompose and the candy that is sold contributes to non-recyclable trash. However, Halloween does not have to be all gloom and doom if you follow these simple tips to make it more-eco-friendly.

1. Mind the package.

Most candy is sold in plastic wrappers that are not recyclable but there are options where candy is in cardboard boxes. Examples are: skittles, M&Ms, Nerds and milk duds.

2. Go for bulk

You can save considerable amount of money by purchasing bulk candy. Then with a little time on your hands, you can add those candy in individual cardboard boxes or paper bags. This is a great option for close family and friends as not many will welcome “unpackaged” candy from strangers.

3. Why candy anyway?

Although sugar candy is the classic, you can give away sugar in different forms, such as pop. It comes in aluminum cans and smaller sizes, which means no waste as aluminum is recyclable infinitely.

4. Be the costume maker.

Americans spent 3.2 billion dollars on costumes last year and considering that Halloween does not tend to be a repeat outfit event, we bet those costumes will crawl their way into landfills in no time. Why not just make your own costume from clothes you already have? If you need inspiration, Pinterest in a great place to get some DIY costume ideas that will not chew your wallet away.

5. Go for the natural spook.

Sure, plastic skeletons and fake spider web can be reused every year, but inflatable décor is not forever as punctures and rips can render them useless. How about skipping the plastic party altogether and opting for cardboard decorations, such as paper lanterns and cardboard props?

6. Mining for candy accessories

When trick or treating, you see kiddies and adults haul their candy in plastic buckets or bags. Let’s upgrade that to some cool orange cotton bags. They are less likely to rip during the candy hunt and always make a great comeback year after year.