5 Fantastic Ways to Celebrate an Eco-Friendly Halloween

October. 31, 2022 |  Written by Daniella

Spiced pumpkin lattes are back, autumn leaves are crunching on the floor and spooky decorations have started appearing on doors, which can only mean one thing… Halloween is just around the corner! Something really scary about Halloween is how many single-use plastics are used in decorations, costumes and sweet packets. These are bound to end up littering the landfills and can really dampen the excitement surrounding Halloween. However, there are many ways to ensure a brilliant eco-friendly Halloween! Read on to discover five ways to make this Halloween extra special for you and your family.

Buy Your Pumpkins Locally

One way to ensure an eco-friendly Halloween is to make sure that you buy your pumpkins locally. This significantly reduces the carbon footprint they leave, and taking your family to a local pumpkin patch can be a lovely way to make the holiday memorable. You can also find locally grown pumpkins at farmers markets and in some supermarkets (they should specify on the labels so make sure to check these).

Pumpkins have become a staple in Halloween but it is shocking how much food waste these create. There are so many uses for the insides of a pumpkin, they’re edible and make great additions to many recipes. Some yummy examples are below:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds make a lovely snack for the autumn. Make sure you’ve removed the flesh of the pumpkin from the seeds, wash them in warm water, dry them with paper towels or a clean tea towel and pop them in the oven! It’s as simple as that. There are a variety of ways to roast them depending on the flavours you prefer too. You can roast them with paprika, or choose sea salt and oil for a different taste.

The oven should be set to around 180C/350F, and the seeds should be roasted in around fifteen minutes (make sure to mix the seeds up every five minutes or so to stop them browning) and then set them aside for approximately ten minutes to cool.

Pumpkin Cookies

Sitting on the sofa, watching a spooky family film and cuddling up with some warm pumpkin cookies sounds heavenly! To make these pumpkin cookies, you will need to preheat your oven to 200C/390F and grate your pumpkin until you have around 150g/5oz.

Mix 125g/4oz of butter, 200g/7oz of sugar, 1 egg and ½ a tsp of vanilla extract. Then add 300g/10oz of plain flour, 1 tbsp of baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger and ½ tsp of ground cardamom. Stir well until this is all mixed up. Then add the pumpkin, mix together and you’ve got your pumpkin cookie mix! Space them equally on the baking tray and bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they’re browned.

Pumpkin Soup

This is such a simple and tasty recipe for autumn. Preheat your oven to 190c/375F. Cut the pumpkin into bitesize pieces, add some seasoning (salt, pepper, mixed herbs) and roast with your choice of oil for around 20-35 minutes. Then blend them with your choice of vegetables.

If you do have any leftover pumpkin that you need to dispose of, make sure to put them in your food waste bins. Alternatively, you can use them in compost bins or in your garden to feed the birds!

Reduce the Environmental Impact from Your Sweets

So many plastic wrappers are sent to landfill after Halloween and there are some conscious choices that can be made to avoid this. If you’re buying them from the supermarket, try to look for sweets/candy that are wrapped in less packaging – for example, some Halloween chocolates come wrapped in recyclable foil instead. There are also fair-trade or organic brands which reduce the impact on the environment too.

Alternatively, you could make some yourself! It is really important that if you’re doing this, you let the neighbourhood know so they know that their kids are safe – you could put up signs, posts on social media or a note on the packaging you choose. If you’re someone who enjoys crafts, you could even try and make small gifts instead – a small Halloween puzzle they can do at home, or something they could colour in for example.  

Opt for A Rattan Basket for Trick-or-Treating/ Decorations

It can be so easy to run down to the local pound/dollar shop and grab the easiest decorations you can find, especially if you’re short on time. However, these materials break quickly and end up wasted in a landfill. It is much more cost effective in the long run to use a product that can be used for years to come, this is also much better for the environment too.

Rattan baskets are made of eco-friendly materials and have a longevity that plastic baskets don’t. They can be used outside to hold some spooky decorations, as a trick-or-treating bucket, or as a basket to hold all the goodies for your trick-or-treaters. Rattan baskets can even be used to hold the pumpkin cookies made from the recipe above!

Celebrate Halloween with An Eco-friendly Party

If you’re someone who likes to celebrate the holidays with a party for your friends and family, then there are so many ways to do this in an eco-friendly way. One way to make sure that the party is eco-friendly is to challenge your guests to make their costumes themselves (there are some handy tips for this in the step below). Choosing a wooden utensils set is also a brilliant way to cut back on the use of non-recyclable plastics, and on the washing up! The wooden utensil set is also compostable so these can go in your compost bin too when you’re done.

Making the party food yourself with organic ingredients can ensure that your party is eco-friendly and is a great conversation piece too!

Create Your Own DIY Sustainable Halloween Costumes

Plastic costumes such as a ghost or a pumpkin can look very sweet on Halloween itself, but it is terrifying how many of these types of costumes end up in landfill unable to decompose. It is also rare for children to wear the same costumes again and again, especially if they go through a growth spurt during the year.

Making your own Halloween costume can be a brilliant way to spend the day together! It can also be less expensive if you re-purpose things you already have in the house such as a sheet, some cardboard boxes, eco-friendly bin bags, or an old dressing gown. If you still fit in last year’s costume, you can also try throwing some fake blood on it to become a zombie!

Conclusion

There are many ways to celebrate Halloween in an eco-friendly and cost-effective way. Whether it’s making your own treats with your leftover pumpkin, getting creative with your costumes or using eco-friendly materials, there is sure to be an eco-friendly method that suits you and your family or friends. Click here to find more eco-friendly home products!