Halloween this year may look a bit different than usual, but it could also mean less waste. Traditionally, Halloween produces a lot of waste with all the treats, costumes and Jack-o’-lanterns. As we are advised for public health reasons to stay in our own neighbourhoods and within our own households, reduced driving and parties already makes this year’s Halloween more green. How else could we make Halloween this year more S.T.E.A.M. Green? Let’s find out!
- Any easy way to reduce waste in general is to reuse — reuse any previous Halloween decorations this year
- Buy less decorations or buy more durable and sustainable decorations we can reuse in the future
- Gather arts and crafts supplies, recyclable materials, and other items we aren’t using anymore to create our own decorations
- Turn old stockings into spider webs and nests
- Make Halloween masks out of packaging styrofoam
- Create tombstones out of cardboard boxes
- Transform mason jars and metal tin cans (this requires adult supervision) into dazzling lanterns or luminaries
- Old books can be turned into pumpkins
- Egg cartons make great bats
- Get creative with netting from bags of oranges, old candy wrappers, etc!
- Decorate with things that are compostable, like leaves, branches, pumpkins and gourds
- Find locally-produced treats
- Choose treats that protect rainforests, by using certified sustainable palm oil
- For hygiene purposes, it is best to make sure that treats are individually wrapped, but we can certainly look for treats packaged in recycled materials. Boxed candies, for example, are also a great option.
- For those going out trick-or-treating this year, we can still reuse our trick-or-treat bucket or bag from the year before, or turn a household item into one, such as a bucket, pillowcase, or an old bag. They can even be decorated to perfectly match the spooky season.
- Buy pumpkins from local farmers or farmers’ markets
- Grow our own! Stay tuned for our next story on growing pumpkins from the seeds of the pumpkins you have now!
- Not only can the seeds be used to grow our own pumpkin, we can also toast them for another tasty treat or use them in making granola
- Carve the pumpkins rather than decorating them with paint so they can be compostable
- Once Halloween is over, we can make pumpkin pie, muffins and soups from our Jack-o-lanterns or we can compost them
- Just because we are wearing cloth masks when trick-or-treating this year doesn’t mean our costumes can’t look amazing! Check out our story that includes ideas on how to integrate our costumes with cloth masks.
- Make our own by reusing or upcycling old clothes, such as worn T-shirts and black clothing
- Thrift shops and yard sales could be a good place to find other clothes or costumes
- There are also costume swaps we can take advantage of in the future, a good option to consider for any costumes we may have already bought in the past
- Let’s get creative and see if we can save our costume from this year and reuse it in a different way the next!
- For any virtual costume parties, we can reward our virtual partiers with “The Most S.T.E.A.M. Green Costume!”
Be S.T.E.A.M. Green for Halloween with these science-inspired costumes!
