5 Tips for a Sustainable Halloween
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 13:00:01 PM America/Los_Angeles
Halloween, for many, is a festive time of year that offers the best of the fall season. Candied apples and creative costumes are just two of the many reasons to get excited about this frightfully fun holiday. But all the spooktacular excitement can cause us to forget about sustainable practices. This year, consider making your Halloween a bit more eco-friendly with these five tips!
Photo by Paige Cody
DIY Decor
Fall is a great time of the year for trying out DIY decor because much of it can be done with natural items like pumpkins, apples, and leaves. Not only do these items give your home the perfect autumn vibe, using natural decor means less plastic waste. And best of all? These items can be composted! Use the compost to provide essential nutrients for your garden once the season is over. DIY not your jam? A decor swap or the local flea market are also sustainable ways to score some “new” items for the spooky season ahead!
Thoughtful Costuming
As people try to make Halloween more earth friendly, many head to their local thrift stores in search of a new scary outfit or swap with friends to switch things up. However, there is a less common but equally sustainable option: thoughtful purchases for costumes. Instead of buying items that get tossed into the back of your closet never to be seen again, opt for items that might actually make their way into your regular wardrobe. Cheap costumes are fast and easy but can be a waste if you only end up wearing them once.
Limit Candy Waste
Leftover candy piles up pretty quickly if you consider everything that comes in with the kid(s), brought home from the office, or sits around after trick-or-treating is long gone. Sure, much of this gets eaten up eventually, but a lot of it ends up getting tossed in the trash after everyone’s done picking out their faves. While you don’t want to run out when children come knocking on Halloween, you can make more sustainable choices while shopping for candy. Opt for sweets wrapped in paper instead of foil or plastic so that even if it ends up in the trash, it’ll be biodegradable.
Buy Locally Grown Goodies
Whether you’re in the market for pumpkins or fall-inspired treats, buying locally grown goodies means that less greenhouse gas-producing resources have been used to get them in your hands. Buy local to minimize Halloween’s carbon footprint. If you’re feeling a bit more crafty or adventurous, you might even go to pick apples yourself and dip them in sweet caramel sauce at home!
Recycle and Compost
Many of the items already mentioned in this post can easily be recycled and composted. Natural decor like leaves and apples can be composted, but so can those leftover pumpkin pies and other foods that don’t get eaten up in time. For items that can’t be composted – such as plastic decor – consider upcycling so that others can take advantage of them next year. Donate old costumes and decor instead of throwing them in the trash bin.
Bark Potty partners with 1% for the Planet to donate 1% of our sales to One Tree Planted. 1% for the Planet is a network of businesses that have committed to taking responsibility for the environmental impacts of their various industries. 1% for the Planet encourages businesses to practice corporate responsibility by facilitating donations to grassroots environmental organizations such as One Tree Planted. Each Bark Potty purchase you make further supports our collective efforts to reduce the ecological footprint that humans have left on the environment!