Eco-friendly Halloween Tips
The scary thing about Halloween is the amount of waste – truly spooky. So here are some tips for a green Halloween:
Costumes
Here are some great ideas for making your own plastic-free costumes. Seven million Halloween costumes are thrown away every year, which is the same as throwing 83 million plastic bottles away.
Tragically, some synthetic costumes are very flammable and can cause nasty burns. See advice on burns here from First Aid Trainer Louise Worsley.
Pumpkins
To avoid creating food waste, please use up your pumpkin when you stop displaying it. Here are some great pumpkin recipe ideas! If your pumpkin starts to go off before you have a chance to cook it, then please compost it or add to your food waste that is collected by your local council.
The Woodland Trust asks please do not leave your pumpkin in the woods as pumpkin flesh can be dangerous for hedgehogs, attracts colonies of rats and also has a really detrimental effect on woodland soils, plants and fungi.
However, you can make a great bird feeder from pumpkin shell!
Sweets
Sweets mean wrappers – so what about baking biscuits or cupcakes instead? And talking of sweets, here are some tips from Lambourn Valley Dental on how to protect your teeth from the Halloween hit of sugar… And instead of a plastic bucket why not make a reusable fabric one?
See here for more green Halloween ideas including homemade decorations and costumes.
