HOW TO HAVE A SUSTAINABLE(ISH) HALLOWEEN

COSTUMES

Halloween costumes are around 80% plastic, so if you've been diligently using your resusable water bottle and coffee cup, all of your good work could be undone with one single Halloween costume! Just think of all the fossil fuels that have gone into making and transporting all of those costumes - set yourself a challenge this year to kit out the family without buying new. 

• Use what you've already got - if your kids have an outfit from last year and it still fits, wear it again!
• Swap - have a simple swap with friends with kids of a similar age, or see if your school will host one. 
• Rent - I'm going to put this in as it feels like it should be an option, however a quick Ecosia (planet friendly search engine - more info here) search didn't find much
  If you know of any good sources, do let us know in the comments!
• Buy secondhand - at this time of year the charity shops are bulging with Halloween costumes. Save the planet's resources, as well as yourself some money and have a little Halloween hunt around your local charity shops
• Make one - you don't have to be an evil Halloween genius, or a whiz with a sewing machine - whatever happened to the good old 'sheet over the head ghost'?

DECORATIONS

Again, most of these are made of plastic and designed to be effectively single use and consigned to landfill as we hit November. Engage in your own little act of planet friendly rebellion this year:

• If you know anyone with an allotment they might have a selection of pumpkins and squashes going spare that make very tasteful table decorations - you can couple them up with some colourful autumn leaves for the full effect
• If your kids aren't really into tasteful (and whose are?) then the charity shop is your friend - have a scout for anything ghoulish you can rehome
• Get crafty with the kids - it's half-term for many of us, so kill two birds with one stone, and stop the kids whinging that they're bored by putting them work getting creative. Red Ted Art is my go-to site for anything crafty with the kids, and has loads of great Halloween ideas

PUMPKINS

Mostly grown and bought for decoration, and dumped in the bin once the fun is over. Where sadly, the scary stuff really starts - once in landfill, they will ferment and release methane, a greenhouse gas around 30x more potent than carbon dioxide. Don't bin it! 

• Save the scooped out flesh and make soup - it's 'souper' easy (see what I did there..) and a sneaky way to get some veg into the kids
• Or get more creative - BBC Good Food has loads of ideas, including pumpkin hummous and a pumpkin and caramel cake
• If you're feeling uber keen, you can also save the pumpkin seeds, dry them and roast them
• Please please please don't send them to landfill once you're done. If you have a food waste collection, pop it in there. If you have a compost heap, pop it in there. If you have chickens, they will love it. Failing all of that, maybe contact your local allotments to see if you can add it to their compost heap?
• Hubbb are in the 5th year of their amazing #pumpkinrescue campaign - check out their page here for more ideas, and for events near you

TRICK OR TREAT

From the pumpkin shaped plastic buckets to collect their swag, through to the plastic wrapped 'fun sized' sweets we hand into clamouring hands at the front door, for the planet it feels like more 'trick' than 'treat'.

• Use last years special plastic bucket!
• Find yourself a special bucket in the charity shop
• Make yourself one from a milk bottle (could be decorated to make a great ghost's head) or a cereal box with string handles
• Don't bother with a special bucket...
• For treats to hand out, I'm not sure there is an easy quick win - the idea of unwrapped pick and mix might save on waste but does make me feel slightly nauseous at the thought of all those delightful sticky hands delving around in there.
  Homemade mini cupcakes or biscuits work well if you can be arsed have the time. I've seen some suggestions of fruit, which might actually be a win, win if you don't really want many visitors next year 😉

PARTY...!

If you're planning a party for your little darlings, don't rush out and buy disposable Halloween themed plates and tableware, see if you have a Reusable Party Kit near you - check out the Party Kit Network to see if you have one near you, and hire reusable plates, cups and bowls.