How to Have a Spooktacularly Eco-Friendly Halloween
🎃 Green Your Halloween Without Losing the Fun
Halloween is one of the most festive times of year, but also one of the most wasteful. From plastic-wrapped sweets to fast-fashion costumes and disposable decorations, the spooky season often leaves a scary environmental footprint.
The good news? You can still have all the fun without the waste. With a little creativity, your Halloween can be both creepy-cool and planet-kind.
Here’s how to make your decorations, costumes, food, and treats more sustainable this year.
👻 Eco-Friendly Halloween Decorations
1. DIY from Recycled Materials
Skip the plastic props and raid your recycling bin instead. Cardboard boxes can become tombstones, tin cans make creepy candle holders, and bottle tops transform into spiders. Paint, cut, glue and get creative!
2. Go Natural
Use what nature provides: pumpkins, hay, twigs, and autumn leaves. Support your local pumpkin patch, make mini pumpkins from satsumas, or turn fallen leaves into bats and ghouls. Compost everything once the season’s over (avoiding any non-compostable extras).
3. Reuse What You Have
Take stock before buying new. Swap decorations with friends, or check your local swap shop, school, or Devon Libraries for community reuse events.
4. Solar or LED Lights
Love that haunted glow? Switch to solar or LED lights to save energy and reduce emissions.
🧙♀️ Eco-Conscious Halloween Costumes
1. Charity Shop or Swap
Instead of buying something you’ll wear once, visit charity shops or costume swaps at schools and libraries. A bit of imagination and upcycling can create something even better than store-bought.
2. DIY Costumes
Homemade costumes are often the most memorable. Turn an old sheet into a cape, a cardboard box into a robot, or revamp worn clothes with a touch of creativity.
3. Choose Natural Fabrics
If you do buy new, look for natural or recycled materials. Avoid cheap synthetics, they shed microplastics and don’t biodegrade.
🎃 Sustainable Halloween Food & Parties
1. Minimise Food Waste
Use every part of your pumpkin; roast the seeds, make soup, bake muffins. Plan your menu so leftovers don’t go to waste.
2. Use Reusable Tableware
Ditch disposable plates and cups. Go reusable or compostable where possible.
3. Buy Local & Organic
Choose seasonal produce like apples, squash, and sweet potatoes. Supporting local farms reduces your carbon footprint.
4. Eco-Themed Activities
Try seed-planting stations, costume-making tables, or nature scavenger hunts. Great fun—zero plastic.
🍬 Green Halloween Treats
1. Choose Sweets with Better Packaging
Opt for recyclable or compostable packaging, or buy loose treats to divide yourself. Even better, offer alternatives like:
Organic fruit leathers
Fairtrade chocolate
Small non-plastic toys
Homemade goodies (for people you know personally)
2. Skip the Plastic Bucket
Use cloth bags, pillowcases, or handmade paper treat bags for trick-or-treating, no plastic buckets required.
3. Trick or Treat Locally
Plan a walkable route close to home to reduce your carbon footprint and enjoy the local atmosphere.
🦇 Final Thoughts: A Halloween That’s Scarily Good for the Planet
Being eco-friendly doesn’t mean losing the magic of Halloween, it just makes it more meaningful. Greener celebrations often spark more creativity, stronger community connections, and less waste.
This year, swap the scary waste for a Halloween that’s frightfully sustainable and still gives you all the thrills and chills of the season.
Happy Green Halloween! 🌿🎃