Tips and tricks to green your Halloween

The DG+ team witches you a haunted and happy Halloween! If you’re anything like me, you probably look forward to spooky season every year: The crisp fall air, vibrant autumn leaves, haunted houses and corn mazes, cozy lattes, and all the pumpkin and apple-flavored desserts your heart desires. 

There’s something head-spinningly beautiful about the chance to be anyone or anything you want to be for a night — it’s a holiday built for freaks, geeks, and everyone in between (myself included).  

Still, we don’t often talk about the scariest part of All Hallows’ Eve: The environmental impact. The beloved holiday produces enormous amounts of waste through fast fashion, food, and single-use plastics; 2,000 metric tons of plastic waste come from costumes alone every year. Read on to learn more about Halloween’s effects on the planet and some tips and tricks for how to celebrate spooky season sustainably. 

Decor

Often, when we think of Halloween decor, disposable or store-bought items come to mind: Stretchy spider webs (which are crafted from polyester, a fossil fuel derivative and can endanger wildlife); inexpensive plastic pumpkins from Target’s dollar section; faux wood signs reading slogans like “Slayyy ‘Em Queen,” “If You’ve Got it, Haunt It,” and “Trick or Treat Yourself.” The decor is used only a few weeks of the year (and often not reused from one year to another) and relies on plastic-based materials to create the season’s creepy-crawly vibes. 

Good news! Sustainable alternatives are headed your way.

Pumpkins

The OG Halloween decoration: vegetables. 

Though pumpkins are America’s sweetheart when it comes to fall vegetables, autumn abounds with squash and gourds of all types: butternut, acorn, kabocha, fairytale, and plenty more. Rather than plastic pumpkins, why not opt for the real thing? Fall is their season — they’re thriving, we could say — meaning they’re usually inexpensive and at their prime levels of flavor. 

Why not pick up a few for the porch and a few more for dinner? 

If you do opt for a classic pumpkin and plan to carve it, there are a few delicious ways to get as much use out of it as possible. My personal favorite? Separate the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin guts, toss them with sweet or savory spices, and roast them until crispy. Welcome to your new favorite snack 😉. 

Don’t chuck the innards either — they’re prime candidates to be made into pumpkin guts bread. 

After Halloween has come and gone, your carved pumpkins will be looking a little scary (and not in a good way). 60% of pumpkin carvers dispose of them in the garbage afterward; be a trendsetter and compost. You’ll be saving your lanterns from ending up in landfills.

DIY Halloween decorations

One of the best ways to reduce waste from decorative sources is to make your own — here are a few of my favorite spooky DIY projects. 

Dried citrus garlands — I suggest oranges, given the season! — are a simple craft that anyone with an oven, string, and fruit can tackle. The resulting garlands can be hung in windows, from mantles, or coiled in bowls or jars to add a pop of Halloween color and refreshing scent to any part of your home. Plus, they can be reused during the winter holiday season; the oranges symbolize the sun during the winter solstice and darkest days of the year.

If you’re a crafter, try your hand at making some crochet pumpkins — Just Be Crafty has a wonderful tutorial that breaks down the process into easy steps that are accessible to crochet newbies like myself. Though she stuffs the pumpkins with polyfill, a synthetic stuffing material commonly used in pillows and stuffed animals, scrap yarn and spare fabric is a more sustainable alternative that’s just as cushy. The crochet pumpkins can be stored in the off-season or can be great cat toys.

Shrunken apple heads will lend a creepy ambiance to any room. As one of my favorite Halloween projects growing up, these wrinkly, dried heads have a special place in my heart. While they don’t always keep from year to year, the creation process is enjoyable enough that you won’t mind making them again every October. Plus, they’re compostable after use and endlessly customizable! 

Upcycle, reuse, and repurpose

Though the following ideas could also be considered do-it-yourself projects, each one upcycles traditionally thrown-out or recycled objects to resurrect them as Halloween decorations. Kind of a sustainable version of Frankenstein, no?

There are many ways to give plastic milk cartons a second life — here are two of my favorites. Reanimate them into spooky ghost lanterns with nothing more than a sharpie and some string lights or battery-powered tea lights. The more ghosts to add to your army, the better! 

Or, if you’re up for a bigger project, dissect the jugs into a hangable skeleton that can be stored and reused year after year. Living a Frugal Life and GreenPlanet4Kids both have great tutorials with visual and written explanations of how to create and organize the bones. 

Tin cans of any size (though the larger the better for maximum effect) can be painted and hung with ribbons or streamers as friendly ghost windsocks living in the trees. For a spookier alternative, chicken wire, white sheets, and old plastic bags can be used to create free-standing ghouls and ghosties.

Wine-drinkers can repurpose corks to create an assortment of Halloween characters — Pillar Box Blue suggests a mummy, Frankenstein, and Dracula among others. 

Costumes

85% of Halloween costumes end up in landfills every year — that’s a scary stat, especially considering that 83% of costumes contain fossil fuel-based plastics that can’t be recycled. 

Still, dressing up sans waste is possible. 

Many costumes can be made from what’s already in your closet (and often, a printer). Googling “last minute costumes” often does the trick. Check out these round-ups by the Pioneer Woman, Good Housekeeping, and Buzzfeed for some starting ideas. One of my favorites? A cat burglar. Pair black pants with a black-and-white striped shirt, a mask, and a bag filled with stuffed cats — or real cats, if your pets are more cooperative than mine!

Shop

If there’s a costume idea you like but you’re lacking a few components, hit up your local thrift store instead of the pop-up Halloween store in the mostly vacant warehouse nearby. The pieces you pick up there are saved from potential end-of-life spent in landfills and can be reused and repurposed into your daily wardrobe. 

Thrift shops are also a great place to garner inspiration; maybe that dinosaur shirt reminds you of a certain childhood cartoon and you decide to go as Miss Frizzle. Perhaps the silk dress hanging on the corner rack piques your memory of undergrad psych classes and you opt to be a Freudian Slip for the night. 

You might even find ready-made costumes there. While I wouldn’t bank on it, the possibility of a one-and-done costume shopping experience is definitely a reason to check out secondhand shops. 

Share

Friend group, neighborhood, or family costume swaps are another great way to source your costumes. It can even be an event in and of itself! Pregaming your Halloween party with a costume swap, anybody? Treehugger’s guide can help your swap go off without a hitch. 

Though not available in every area, costume rentals can be easy options for more complex costumes. And of course, as a last resort: stick a sign on your shirt that reads “Ask me what my costume is.” As long as you’re creative and can think on your feet, you can’t go wrong with this one. 

Bonus: Climate-themed costume ideas

Of course, I couldn’t leave you without a healthy dose of climate-themed costume ideas. Some are more obvious to non-climate folk than others — use your costume as an opportunity to teach others about climate change (and scare them a little, too). 

Solar panel costumes can be made with little more than a cardboard box, some paint, and a bit of tin foil. For a couples’ costume, have your partner dress up as either a wind turbine or the sun, depending on how deeply you want to lean into the energy look. Newpowa has some easy-to-follow instructions for how to make renewable-inspired costumes.

Rewiring America’s Mr. Heat Pump has broken the climate corner of the internet two years in a row; why not take inspiration and create your own heat pump costume? Or, for a less boxy but still climate-forward alternative, opt for the Lorax — everyone looks good in a bright yellow mustache. 

Pun costumes have always been my pick. Those working in climate communications might appreciate dressing up as greenwashing: Simply wear all green and carry a bucket of green paint and a paintbrush. Rising sea levels — portrayed with blue clothing covered in an increasingly high concentration of paper “C”s closer to the head — is another one of my favorites. 

‍

We hope we didn’t scare you with some of Halloween’s environmental impacts. Now, it’s your turn to go off and enjoy a sustainable spooky season. Until next time!

For questions about how your business can showcase its sustainability efforts, contact DG+Design today.