Halloween is a picture-perfect time to get crafty creating costumes, making decorations, and enjoying the company of friends and family for the spooky holiday. This is also a great opportunity to incorporate some principles of Zero Waste: Refuse what you don’t need, Reduce what you do need, Reuse and repair what you already have, Recycle what you can’t use, and Rot (compost) the rest. Consider doing some of the following for Halloween 2022:

Zero Waste Costumes:

• Use items you already have in your closet, shop secondhand, rent things, or swap with a friend this year to have a zero waste costume; extra points for upcycling! Costumes are always better with props, and its easy to make or find props made from natural or recyclable materials. To reduce packaging as much as possible, consider avoiding costumes that require face paint or other plastic accessories. Thrift stores an online marketplaces are great resources for finding those critical costume pieces.

DIY Halloween Decorations:

• Plan to “Do It Yourself” this Halloween by making your own zero waste decorations. Using seasonal flowers or seasonal foods like pumpkins, squashs, gourds, dried corn husks, and even apples can make the scene feel festive. Cutting out paper bats from black paper is an easy win for your décor. Another fun project is grabbing cardboard from your recycling bin and cutting out Halloween shapes. Hang these silhouettes in the window at night to step up your spookiness! Most importantly, for those fun get togethers consider upcycling old glass jars for your witch’s brew. Throwing a Halloween party? Make sure to check out our tips for having Zero Waste Events.

Trick or Treating:

• Try handing out alternative items to trick or treaters this year to reduce waste. Halloween can quickly become a trashy holiday due to all the fun candy wrappers of all materials, shapes and sizes. Look out for candy that is in paper packaging, or handout festive fruits. Halloween themed pencils, erasers, and bookmarks are always needed. People have a lot of fun handing out other items like coins, native seed packets, or even mini pumpkins!

Compost Your Pumpkin:

• Make sure to compost your pumpkins that were used as displays or jack’o’lanterns so they don’t end up in the landfill. You can also save the seeds to eat as a snack, or plant them in your yard for pumpkins next year. Please check out our guidance so you can Compost Correctly!