Eco-Friendly Halloween: Top 7 Sustainable Tips

Halloween is a great way to celebrate while being eco-friendly. You can do this by using eco-friendly decorations, going sugar-free, and using recycled materials. You can also turn your leftovers into compost and travel by foot or bike.

If you follow these tips, your Halloween will be cost-effective, eco-friendly and scary.

There are few holidays as creepily atmospheric as Halloween. When the daylight is short and the nights are long and dark, it’s easy to get spooked.

But with a bit of planning, your haunted house can also be green, cost-effective, and eco-friendly.

With this in mind, we’ve compiled some top tips to keep your Halloween sustainable for the planet. Read on to find out more…

Plan your party with care

If you’re hosting a big Halloween party, start planning early. Not only will this save you time and money, but it will also be better for the planet.

It requires a little research when you make an eco-friendly party. Here are three things to consider.

1. Check which materials are eco-friendly if you buy or make costumes. You could even give your guests guidelines about fluorescent costumes and ensure the lights are off when you’re not using them.
2. Regarding food and drinks, try to opt for organic, locally sourced, and ethically produced.
3. Make sure your decorations are LED or battery-powered.

01. Use eco-friendly lighting

Halloween might be the spookiest time of year, but it’s also the darkest.

To keep things scary but eco-friendly, you’ll need to source only eco-friendly lighting products. This may include choosing to use real candles instead of fake ones.

Not only are real candles better for you, but they are also better for the environment as they reduce your carbon footprint.

Find a Halloween themes candle container and buy candle refills, like Tallo. They’re natural and produce zero-waste. That way, you will save on your electricity bill and create a Halloween atmosphere.

You could always use solar-powered lights or LEDs if you don’t want to use real candles. LEDs are not only cheaper than real candles, but they are also better for the environment.

02. Go sugar-free

Halloween is a candy lover’s dream come true. But unfortunately, excessive candy consumption harms your health and the planet.

Luckily, there are a few ways to lessen your Halloween eco-footprint without giving up on the sweets.

1. Turn to healthy and natural sweets such as nuts, dried fruit, and seeds, which are high in protein.
2. Replace sugary drinks with healthy drinks such as fresh juices.
3. Try to exchange your trick-or-treat goodies for eco-friendly alternatives such as recycled goods, seeds, and/or gift cards.

03. Purchase costumes secondhand

You could always buy a secondhand costume if you’re not designing one.

There are many charities and secondhand stores full of eco-friendly, secondhand costumes. Often, they’re even cheaper than new costumes.

But! Make sure you clean them thoroughly to remove any germs or bacteria that might be present. This is the best way to ensure your costume is sustainable and eco-friendly.

Yet, if you decide to craft your own costume, try using recycled or sustainable materials, such as cardboard boxes or old fabrics.

04. Decorate with eco-friendly materials

If you’re hosting a party, you’ll need to decorate your home with spooky decorations. But ensure that you use eco-friendly ones, as many traditional decorations are toxic and bad for the environment.

Some of the best eco-friendly decorations include fake spider webs, plastic bats, old wooden furniture, paper skeletons, and fake cauldrons. You can buy them from eco-friendly stores.

You can also try and make your own decorations. There are plenty of online tutorials showing how to turn everyday items into something spooky.

Use recycled materials

If you decide to decorate and make your decorations, use recycled materials.

You can do this with everyday household items. For example, turn your old books, toys, and magazines into cauldrons, pumpkins, and skulls. Or use egg cartons, tin cans, and old clothes.

But you should avoid synthetic materials, like plastic toys, clothes, and decorations, as they are bad for the environment.

You could also try making decorations from natural materials, such as vines, leaves, pinecones, and flowers.

And remember, for the next Halloween, reuse all your decorations.

05. Celebrate with eco-friendly food and drinks

Food and drink are the cornerstones of any party. This is also where you are most likely to overstep boundaries when it comes to eco-friendly practices.

Food

It’s important to remember that the food you serve at your party should be healthy and eco-friendly. This means avoiding heavily processed foods, including candy and other sweets. You can always make your snacks using organic ingredients.

Drinks

Drinks should be alcohol-free and contain only natural ingredients. You serve homemade juices and smoothies or non-alcoholic cocktails, such as mocktails.

06. Trick or treat, but travel by foot or bike

If you’re planning to trick-or-treat this Halloween, try to walk or bike instead of driving.

If you decide to drive, make sure you carpool or drive a hybrid or electric vehicle. Not only are these eco-friendly options better for the environment, but they’re also better for your wallet.

If you’re planning to give treats to children while they’re trick-or-treating, make sure they’re eco-friendly too. Try to avoid giving sugary and/or highly processed treats. Instead, give kids eco-friendly alternatives, such as organic fruit and nuts.

07. Don’t throw away your leftovers — compost instead!

If you’re hosting a party, you’re going to have leftovers. You might be tempted to throw them away. But throwing away food is bad for the planet.

Luckily, you can turn your leftovers into compost instead. Composting is an eco-friendly and cost-effective way of dealing with food scraps.

All you need is a compost bin, which can be made out of cardboard, wood, plastic, or metal. You then need to add food scraps, plant matter, and water to it.

When you’ve filled the compost bin, you need to leave it to decompose for several weeks before turning it into rich, nutrient-dense compost. Then you can use it in your garden.

Summing up

Halloween is a great way to celebrate while being eco-friendly. You can do this by using eco-friendly decorations, going sugar-free, and using recycled materials. You can also turn your leftovers into compost and travel by foot or bike. If you follow these tips, your Halloween will be cost-effective, eco-friendly and scary.

Make sure to read our Sustainable Christmas Tips.