The horror of Halloween waste
The true horror of Halloween has nothing to do with zombies, werewolves, witches or tombstones – it’s the waste.
A survey of 19 retailers carried out by the Fairyland Trust with environmental charity Hubbub in 2019 found that, in the UK alone, Halloween celebrations create more than 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste just from clothing and costumes.[1]
Their investigation found that the overwhelming majority of the material found in the 324 clothing items promoted online was oil-based plastic, which equates to 83 million Coca Cola bottles by weight of waste plastic.[2]
According to a report by Hubbub and North London Waste Authority in 2017, £510 million a year is spent on Halloween costumes, but four in ten are worn only once and 7 million outfits ended up in the bin that year.[3]
Add to that the fact that of the 35 million pumpkins we buy to celebrate Halloween, only 14.5 million will be eaten (according to Hubbub research in 20214), and you can start to understand why Halloween waste is truly terrifying.
So, what can we do about it? For starters, we can make the most of any pumpkins you use by eating them. There are hundreds of tasty recipes for cooking with pumpkin, from soup to pancakes. Hubbub ran a campaign against pumpkin waste last year, and you can find lots of recipe inspiration on their website, as well as your usual recipe websites. You can also toast the seeds to keep to snack on.
For clothes, why not repurpose something you already have? Your child might not want to dress up (which is fine) or maybe you could use existing clothing to dress as a favourite character. They don’t have to be spooky, anything your child would enjoy is great. If you don’t have anything that fits the bill, why not check out your local charity shop? Halloween costumes are often highly flammable too, so there’s the added benefit of reducing that risk.
If you decide to go trick-or-treating, don’t use disposable bags. You can use household containers such as baskets, buckets or even pillowcases, and decorate them however you like, to re-use year after year.
And consider buying treats with minimal packaging if you can, or making your own. You could make cookies with your child as the perfect packaging-free treat.
Happy green Halloween!