Green up your halloween

It’s the cheap plastic tat, sweets laden with sugar and chemicals  and once-use disposable items that are the most ghoulish things about Halloween.

At the end of the night, the landfill groans with plastic that will take hundreds of years to degrade, the streets are littered with sweet wrappers and children are stuffed to the eyeballs with chemicals and sugar. I’ve even seen plastic pumpkins in the shop – wtf??

Here are my tips for an eco friendly, green halloween.

Costumes

During my childhood, we made do with a white sheet over our heads with two holes cut out for our eyes! Why buy a nylon or polyester outfit for your kids? Why not make your own or buy second hand from a charity shop.

Make a witches hat from a cone of black paper which can be composted or recycled after use; it’s simple, quick and the kids can get involved.

Treats

Instead of buying cheap sweets to hand out, why not give less of better quality? Buy packs of organic sweets sweetened with fruit juice, hand out fruit leathers, small bags of dried fruit or squares of organic chocolate.

You could move away from edible treats altogether and make some apple faces to give away!

Food

There’s no need to splash out of garish iced cakes or processed food for halloween – nature provides all you could need. After carving out your pumpkins, add the flesh to soup and make scones. These are warming, delicious and good for you!

Ditch the disposables

Serve pumpkins in carved out mini pumpkins to save on washing up and no waste; just give the ‘dishes’ to the compost heap to eat! Use real cloth napkins, use a tablecloth and turn this into a feast for the eyes. Say no to balloons and use fabric bunting instead.

Personally we stay away from it altogether and use Halloween as a celebration of nature and an opportunity to remember and give thanks for the people we have loved who are no longer with us. It’s a great excuse to light a bonfire in the garden, and dance around, finishing with a bowl of steaming soup and home made bread!

What about you – do you celebrate halloween? How do you make it a green celebration?