One of the scariest things about Halloween is that it produces a massive amount of waste in a single day. One UK study found that petroleum-based plastic is in 83% of Halloween costumes. Polyester makes up 69% of the materials in them. It leads to about 2,204 tons of waste each year.
That’s just costumes. Halloween parties generate a lot of trash – candy wrappers, the bags those candies come in, plastic utensils, single-use cups and plates, bottles/cans, and food packaging for any snacks and meals you serve at a party.
RecycleNation has tips to help you get through Halloween without all the waste. Have a fantastic party while staying eco-friendly.
Meals and Snacks That Don’t Create Waste
Halloween parties are a lot of fun, but they also generate massive amounts of waste. On an average day, people generate just under 5 pounds of waste. A Halloween party isn’t an average day.
Whether it’s a school classroom party or a neighborhood haunted house gathering, pounds of food waste, single-use plastics, and napkins all contribute to the waste stream. Plan a no-waste menu for your party.
Spooky Finger Foods
Instead of meals that require bowls, plates, and cutlery, aim for finger foods that are easy to eat with your fingers. Here are a few ideas I’ve made before. The internet and your creativity offer many other fun Halloween finger foods.
- “Bloody” Pastries: Make a choux pastry with butter, water, flour, and eggs. We recommend King Arthur Flour’s easy recipe. Use a cookie scoop to make even-sized balls. Bake at 425F until golden. They’ll sound hollow. Pipe a bit of raspberry jam or strawberry preserves into the center of each ball.
- Eyeball Deviled Eggs: Boil enough eggs for the crowd coming to your home. Once cooled and shelled, cut each in half and remove the yolk. Mix the yolks with enough mayonnaise to make them creamy and stir in paprika, garlic powder, salt, and white pepper. Spoon a portion of the yolk mixture back into the egg white. Place half a black olive to form the eyeball and use pimento strips to form bloody streaks.
- Mummy Dogs: Wrap cocktail franks in strips of crescent roll dough. Brush the top with egg. Bake at 350F until golden brown. Once cooked, add small dots of cream cheese and a dot of black food coloring for the eyes.
If you have lots of leftovers, ask your guests to take some home. It keeps you from tossing out the food you can’t eat on your own.
Skip Single-Use Partyware
If you decide you need to have bowls, cups, utensils, etc., skip single-use. Use your own if you can or invest in compostable items made from potato starch or sugar cane.
Managing Trash and Compost
Set up clear bins for the items that do get thrown out, recycled, or composted. Make sure you’re available if people have questions or need help. Three clearly labeled bins help avoid any confusion.
Spooky Decor That’s Environmentally Friendly
Did you know that every year, over 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are thrown out? Those pumpkins can produce upwards of 83 million pounds of methane. That creepy Jack-o’-lantern on your front steps will join many others in contributing to greenhouse gases.
There are better ways to have spooky décor without unknowingly wreaking havoc on the environment.
DIY Halloween Décor
Instead of purchasing plastic décor, make your own. Cheesecloth makes great webs, and you can handwash it, dry it, and store it again for next year. Instead of a fresh pumpkin, buy ceramic or metal solar Jack-o’-lanterns you can use year after year. If you purchase items after Halloween, you often get substantial post-holiday discounts.
Turn old sheets or towels into ghosts hanging from your trees. Fill a plastic trash bag with air using an air compressor or leaf blower, then twist the opening to seal the air in. Secure it with a rubber band, then cover it with a sheet. Secure the ghost to a tree or posts. At the end of the day, the bag is still usable, and you can wash and store the sheet for next year.
Let Nature Inspire Your Designs
Nature is full of spooky items. A mason jar filled with battery-operated LED lights, plus bare sticks and twigs from the trees in your yard, helps set the mood. They also serve as mood lighting for a dimly lit, spooky haunted house.
If you do include Jack-o’-lanterns in your theme, use as many as you can. When you’re done, see if any neighborhood chickens, goats, or other farm animals would like a treat. Otherwise, compost the pumpkin at home or find a local facility that accepts food waste for composting.
Consider Sustainable Costumes, Too
Every party requires people to dress up. Your Halloween costume should include an eye toward sustainability.
During my childhood, Halloween costumes were plastic masks with elastic straps and plastic outfits that lasted the night, if you were lucky. When Halloween ended, costumes went straight to the landfill. We’re all now learning about the true dangers of plastics and microplastics.
One way you can make a difference is by choosing a sustainable Halloween costume. Here are a few ways to do it.
Eco-Friendly Costume and Makeup Strategies
Premade costumes often create massive amounts of waste. According to San Diego County, over 80% of Halloween costumes contain non-recyclable plastic, and they can take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. During that time, microplastics can enter the soil, groundwater, and air.
Each year, consumers spend over $4 billion on costumes, and only 40% of those Halloween outfits are worn once before they go to the trash. Premade costumes create too much waste. A better idea is to make your own costumes using things you already have at home.
Clean Out Your Closet
You have several outfits that are worn or don’t fit. Pull out outfits that a child could turn into a Halloween costume. That baggy sweatshirt you don’t wear could be dyed orange and turned into a pumpkin by adding some crumpled paper and using a belt to secure the bottom. Add a green hat to pose as the stem.
Repurpose a Cardboard Box
Turn a lightweight square shipping box into an outfit your child can wear while trick-or-treating. Wrap a box in a solid, non-glossy colored wrapping paper. Cut out white circles from construction or printer paper and glue them to each side of the box to make the box look like a die.
Cut a hole for the head, and your child has an outfit. When the day is over, you can recycle the paper and cardboard.
Costume Swaps
If you don’t have the time to make a costume, save the costumes at the end of the night, make sure they’re clean and in good shape, and store them for next year. When Halloween nears, post ads on community message boards looking for other parents who want to swap outfits.
It may take a few years to get a program going. Once you have several participants, you can keep swapping costumes, saving money and the environment at the same time.
Halloween Makeup Considerations
When you’re buying makeup for Halloween, look for brands that are eco-friendly and don’t test on animals. Purchase colors and brands that you’d wear outside of Halloween, too. If that’s not possible, look for the smallest possible size. Cosmetic samples are perfect for Halloween.
By putting a little thought into it, you avoid cosmetics that end up in the landfill in bottles, tubes, or jars that aren’t always recyclable.
Homemade Edible Fake Blood
If you need blood for your spooky Halloween party, don’t buy it. Make it instead. Whisk:
- 3 ounces of light corn syrup
- 1 ounce of warm water
- 1 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of red food coloring
- 3 drops of blue food coloring
- A pinch of cocoa powder
This creates an edible fake blood that avoids chemicals and can be used for both blood dripping down a face and as a cupcake drizzle.
Reuse, Donate, and then Recycle
RecycleNation encourages reuse and donation instead of tossing leftover Halloween items out. If you have items you can’t reuse or donate, our online search tool makes it easy to find where to bring your décor, costumes, and food packaging for recycling.
