Following on from #SustainableSeptember, we have tips on making Halloween more green
Published: 02/10/2023
Busy Bees is committed to creating a sustainable future for its children and communities.
Following on from our #SustainableSeptember campaign to inspire more environmental awareness across our people and families, we have tips on making Halloween more green.
The amount of single use plastic and other waste generated each year from this fesitval is simply FRIGHTENING!
However, there are many alternative ways to celebrate that don't cost the earth, so check out our helpful hints below.
Over 2,000 tonnes of extra plastic is created every Halloween in the UK, with the majority used once and then thrown away. Costumes and decorations are the biggest contributors to this increase.
Reuse the decorations you had from last year.
Make your own decorations from old sheets for ghosts, tights for spiders and spider webs, clothes and fabric you have spare.
Use cardboard boxes/kitchen roll/plastic bottles to create spiders, bats etc – once Halloween is over you can keep these for next year or put them in the recycling bin.
Bring the outside in; using autumn leaves and branches from outside to create a display inside, the children could help you collect these items. You can put these back into the garden once finished with them.
Don’t forget to keep your items from this year to be reused again next year.
1.4 billion pumpkins are produced for Halloween in the UK each year. In 2019, a massive 8 million of these ended up in landfill. And 60% of consumers buy pumpkins to carve them but don’t end up eating the flesh.
The first step to reducing food waste is to keep the flesh and make something from it - a pumpkin pie, cake or soup.
If you have a food waste bin, please make sure your pumpkin and any of the flesh, if not being used for cooking, is put in this instead of the general waste bin.
You could keep the pumpkin seeds and leave them for the birds in a bird feeder or on a bird table. However, please don’t leave the pumpkins out for wildlife as these can be dangerous to some animals like hedgehogs and attract unwanted visitors.
7 million Halloween costumes are binned every year in the UK, with 40% of costumes worn only once.
Hire a costume, reuse last year’s Halloween costume, make your own using some old clothes.
Don’t forget to keep hold of these for next year.
For additional ideas and inspiration, Busy Bees parents can look for Spooky Fun on our UP App, which is packed with resources for families to enjoy at home.
Eco Buzz thanks you in advance for all your support in being sustainable today for the children of tomorrow.