Halloween shoppers in the United States are expected to spend more than $11 billion this year on candy, costumes and decorations like giant cobwebs, skeletons and enormous inflatable ghouls.
Unfortunately, a lot of those thing will end up in a landfill quicker than you can cut eye holes into a spooky old bedsheet.
“It’s definitely morphed over the course of my lifetime into something that generates a lot more waste,” said Sabina Magliocco, a professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia. (Her favorite Halloween costume: when she dressed up as roadkill.)
The good news is, there are ways to make Halloween more sustainable. Experts offered a few tips.
Scary stuff, kids: All those candy wrappers
In folk tradition, Halloween was a time when the veil between the living and the dead thinned, and spirits roamed villages in what’s now Britain and Ireland.
Ancestral ghosts could arrive at your home, begging for food and drink, Dr. Magliocco said. Not knowing whether they were humans or phantoms, people would give sustenance to strangers freely rather than risk offending the spirits.
But after World War II, Halloween transformed into a commercialized, kid-friendly celebration. Manufacturers began mass-producing costumes and candy, and people started throwing parties and organizing parades.
Then, in the 1960s and 1970s, reports of tainted Halloween treats — remember the stories about razor blades in apples? — led people to buy more individually wrapped bars of candy rather than hand out homemade goodies. “This is the trickiest part, no pun intended, when it comes to single-use plastic,” said Melissa Valliant, spokeswoman for Beyond Plastics, a nonprofit group that works to end plastic pollution. (Her favorite costume: Carmen Sandiego.)
But people have options while staying in the holiday spirit. Instead of buying plastic-wrapped candy, Ms. Valliant said one way to cut down on waste is to shop at bulk stores and then portion out sweets like gummy bears or candy corn into paper or cloth bags cuts.
Or, buy candies in cardboard when you can. Think: Nerds, Junior Mints and Milk Duds.
Don’t be a sucker: Get your costume secondhand
Store-bought costumes are often full of microplastics. Their synthetic fabrics, like nylon and polyester, shed when washed. Most are single-use and many are made in factories with less-than-favorable working conditions.
In fact, 83 percent of the fabrics in conventional Halloween costumes are oil-based, according to a 2019 study from Hubbub, an environmental charity based in Britain that studied 324 costumes across 19 major retailers. “We wanted to look at sustainable fashion from a seasonal hook,” said Heather Poore, a co-founder of Hubbub and the group’s creative director. “It’s a lot of fun to engage people on their attitudes around costumes and encourage them to think differently.”
Thinking differently could look like rifling through your friend’s closet, repurposing a look from a previous year, or hitting your local thrift store.
“We’ve seen in younger consumers more of an interest in secondhand, and reusing things,” said Katherine Cullen, a vice president at the National Retail Federation. About 12 percent of shoppers will buy their Halloween items at thrift stores this year, according to a survey by the federation, a trend that is most popular among people 18 to 24 years old.
Places like Goodwill and Salvation Army always have racks of costumes for both kids and adults. And if you’re creative, you can make your own.
Want to go as Moo Deng? Find an old gray sweatsuit, cut out a couple cardboard circles for ears, and brush on some pink cheeks. Or skip the costume altogether and go full face paint.
Get real: Replace fake cobwebs with actual gourds
Halloween has gotten only more popular over the past two decades, according to Ms. Cullen, whose organization has surveyed people about the holiday since 2005. Since then, people have embraced the idea of Halloween as synonymous with fall and getting in the seasonal spirit. (Cullen’s favorite costume: a slice of pizza.)
Pairing holidays is a perfect way to waste less. Buying gourds or pumpkins that can last through the season can also be reused for other holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Afterward, the pumpkin seeds can be roasted. The rest can be composted.
“We can be mindful not to use something that took a lot of resources to create and goes into a landfill when we’re done with it,” Dr. Magliocco said.
Fake spider webs are made of plastic, and they can trap birds and insects. Orange trick-or-treat baskets pile up in landfills when the season ends. Instead, use old fabric or recycled paper to cut out bats along with fall leaves. Hang a garland of bright marigolds that can dry and last for months.
Thoughtfully creating less waste can mean more creativity, connection, and fun. “It’s meant to be a creative holiday,” Ms. Valliant said. “So get creative without relying on single use plastic.”
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