Booooo! Don't be scared, we prepared a non-scary guide for you to have less waste during this Halloween from costumes ideas to decorations, candies, and more!
Here is your recipe:
_____________________
Zero Waste Halloween
1. Treats / Candy
2. Decoration and Party
3. Recipes
4. Costumes
______________________
1) Zero Waste Halloween - Candy and Treats:
Each candy packed with plastic and those little packed candies also come with a bigger plastic package which creates hundreds of little pieces as waste in landfills. We all know this story but what is the solution?
- Check for candies with compostable wrappers or recyclable cardboards & foils.
Yes, they exist. Candies, chocolates wrapped in plant-based, non-GMO, compostable wrappers! Italian Alce Nero moved from standard plastic to a biodegradable and compostable alternative to wrapping their chocolate bars. Alter Eco also provides delicious truffles cookies in plant-based compostable wrappers.
Whoppers and Hershey's have options for recyclable cardboard packaged chocolates.
- Fruits are so far the best choice.
This might be tricky with little kids who prefer chocolate over fruits but no worries there is a couple of tricks for this tricky situation. In the end, it is Halloween, right? Comes with tricks:)
You can also simply give those little fruits as healthy treats. Check recipes for tips at the bottom of this article.
- Make your own treats.
Treats do not have to be candies or chocolates only. You can give away recyclable gifts. Here our favorites colorful seed balls, seed pencils, or seed decorations in Halloween theme where kids can also learn how to plant a seed in a joyful way. They just need to throw these seeds items into the soil, water it and let nature do the rest.
2) Zero Waste Halloween - Decorations:
No need to make Halloween scary for your pocket and environment. First of all, don't buy new decorations and you will learn why no need to buy new ones in a minute. Save your money and the environment.
- Swap decorations with your friends, utilize second-hand ones or use last year's decorations.
5 times in a row, we are using the same decor and it is totally ok! It is about the spirit at the end, right? We even take our traditional photo each year with the same decor when we are hanging our decors. However, if you are keen on a new look, we suggest swapping your decorations with a friend.
- Home-made edible decorations
Who said decorations cannot be eaten? For more edible options look below the recipe section.
The best example is the carved pumpkins. Here are tips for zero-waste pumpkin carving:
Use your existing kitchen utensils for carving, no need to buy a special carving set.
Compost the leftovers from carving except the seeds.
Use pumpkin seeds to make pumpkin seeds :) We dry under sun generally but you can roast them and season with different herbs like salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and so on.
The day after Halloween, use your carved pumpkin for soup or a pie. For more ideas, you can check out The Guardian for pickling or making guacamole out of it.
- Halloween Party
Here we already give you GREEN decoration and treats ideas. So what else you can do to reduce your waste?
Utilize reusable cutlery, say #noplastic. You can check out these TerraMavi's 100% biodegradable handmade coconut or bamboo cutlery sets.
Coconut bowls are also great alternatives to plastic plates which will bring nature to your theme and will go well with your healthy recipes below.
3) Zero Waste Halloween - Recipes:
We leave you with this super-easy, DIY, healthy, and zero-waste Halloween recipes. They are not only for eating and but for decorations too! The birds with one stone!
Here is our eco-friendly Halloween decoration and cocktail with TerraMavi wheat straws!
4) Zero Waste Halloween - Costumes:
Costumes generally do not use consecutively years over years, we understand that you want to have the new ones. Fortunately, there are options to reduce your waste while still having a new costume every year.
-First, check your wardrobe and Modify your existing costume.
This suggestion might need a bit of creativity. If you are lacking creatives ideas here are some:
Use a white dress for Kleopatra, add some golden souvenirs and belt. Since this is mostly about make-up, you do not need to worry about the costume itself. Check out this video for make-up.
How about Wednesday Adams? You just need a black dress, braid your hair on each side, some white powder. Ok, a lot of white powder, no additional make-up and you are ready!
-Rent your costume.
An easy option with no creativity is renting out your costume. There are dozens of websites and stores for this purpose.
-Exchange with your friends.
This is also our favorite, if you really liked a costume from a friend of this year take a word from him for next year to borrow.