Zero Waste Halloween: Have Fun Without the Horror of Waste

We’re now well into the spookiest month of the year where the leaves are starting to turn, and the mornings are starting to have that autumnal feel.

The things we do at Halloween can generate extra waste – pumpkin carving, costumes, and decorations. But there are still loads of ways to have fun without being wasteful. We’ve come up with a few tips to help you kick start your low-waste Halloween celebrations!

Get crafty!

Looking down the aisles at supermarkets in the lead up to Halloween can be a plastic nightmare, with many of the items on sale being used only one or twice before they are thrown away. That’s why we recommend getting crafty! Making your own decorations is a great way to get the kids involved and they can be reused or recycled. Take a look at the video below for some great Halloween craft ideas.

Pumpkin soup anyone?

Did you know pumpkins are really good for you? They also taste delicious and are really versatile. They can be used in recipes for:

• Hummus
• Risotto
• Curry

Or keep it simple with this great Pumpkin Soup Recipe from BBC Good Food.

Alternatives to the plastic Halloween bucket

If you already have a plastic pumpkin bucket, try to reuse it to get maximum use out of it. But if you don’t have one, take a look around your home and see what you can find – perhaps an old canvas tote bag that you can ‘Halloweenify’ or even a paper bag that you can decorate!

Hire or DIY costumes

Did you know Halloween costumes being sold by some of the UK's biggest retailers contain the same amount of plastic as over 80 million plastic bottles? Charities Hubbub and The Fairyland Trust took data from 300 clothing lines sold by 19 different retailers. They concluded that 83% of the material found in costumes on sale contain oil-based plastic like polyester.

Making your own costume can take time and might be a scary proposition. However, some of the best Halloween costumes are the simplest. Check out these ideas:

Zombie – Find some old clothes and shred them to create the perfect zombie costume! Add some red paint or food colouring to get the full effect.

Ghost - Go for the old ‘ghoul’ look with the classic white bed sheet - you can keep it afterwards to use for painting or DIY.

Skeleton – Add some white tape to a black T-shirt. You can then simply rip off the tape when you’re done. (Check out the video below from Hubbub).

Why buy when you can hire? Don’t forget you can hire costumes. There are lots of costume hire shops across London or online hire services. Just do a quick online search and see what spooky outfits you can find.