Celebrating Green Halloween - the sustainable way
Perhaps the most frightening part of Halloween is its exceptional waste - each year our landfills are filled with over 7 million thrown away costumes 18,000 pumpkins (Waste Managed).
There’s been numerous calls to cut down these scary statistics, and sometimes it’s hard to remain optimistic that we can both live Halloween to the fullest and act with the planet in mind. But Halloween does have sustainable attributes - you can celebrate a ‘Green Halloween’ by embracing all the environmental autumnal favourites. By simply making more considered choices we can use Halloween as a lever for change, to show that sustainable choices don’t limit you.
Have you ever needed a reason to pick your own Pumpkin?
Pumpkins are a classic Halloween tradition but they are also a classic source of waste. Local pumpkin patches offer an autumnal afternoon out and a celebration of the growing process. By choosing your own pumpkin straight from the ground it cuts down on transport emissions and proves that pumpkins can be grown in the north of Scotland - perhaps the perfect community allotment project? Inverness’s community managed to grow an immense 20kg pumpkin at the Inverness Botanic Gardens in 2019!
After you’ve carved your pumpkin, go one step further and use the inside to make some pumpkin soup, bakes or pie. Make sure to feed your composter with the pumpkin flesh after Halloween; pumpkins are not suitable for leaving in the wild as they pose harmful to hedgehogs.
A Zero Waste Pumpkin experience and one less going to landfill.
Bring on the DIY
The era of Doing-it-Yourself (DIY) is firmly here, and bring it into your Halloween.
How empowering is it to wear an outfit that you worked at and styled yourself? Instead of buying a brand new costume, build your own. Check out accessories from local second hand shops, utilise face makeup to elevate looks and bring back previous costumes from the dead to make them ready for another year.
Make your own Halloween décor to celebrate the season - it’s fun and a great way to learn new skills. Save bottles to make ‘poison’ bottles, dead leaves/flowers create a spooky vibe, paper buntings. Buying some lights can make everything look better & really take the DIY to the next level. Or if you do buy decorations, save them to use next year aswell.
Guising is climate & community approved
Guising is often just seen as a fun activity for children, but what’s not often spoken about is how much meaning it provides for the wider community. For some who live without the means of easy socialising, children coming to their door happy to tell a Halloween joke may just bring a connection they otherwise would not have.
Make sure to do your guising by foot instead of taking the car - it ruins the fun! It’s impressive to see lots of people out on Halloween night creating a sense of community.
Indulgence in all the sustainable sweet treats
See Halloween as a means to showcase sustainable food sources. If you can, invest in buying Halloween Treats that have a good story behind them -Fairtrade, sustainably sourced or maybe even locally made. Perhaps a child will take it home and it’ll become a new favourite? In terms of recycling power, look to ensure any sweets purchased are foil wrapped as it’s easier to recycle.
It’s all about balance - why not give guisers some home/community grown fruit too? Apples, Berries, Veg are some of the most commonly grown in the north but also the most popular.
Party with the environment
Along with your DIY party decorations, utilise the Party Kit Network for your Halloween party! Hire a reusable kit of all the party essentials - cups, plates, decorations and more. There’s quite a few options up the north coast and on Orkney & Shetland. Find your local kit here.