in

5 tips for a Halloween without unnecessary waste

Unbelievable amounts of rubbish are created every year because of Halloween: 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin and seven million Halloween costumes are annually thrown away.

Recycle Now has put together tips for a celebration with less waste:

  • Don’t just carve pumpkin lanterns and throw the flesh away. Use them instead for pumpkin pie, risotto, soup or even pumpkin-flavoured, spiced mulled wine. Even the seeds can be boiled in salted water, drained and spread on a baking sheet to be cooked in the oven for a tasty snack.
  • Instead if buying a new costume, why not look at what you’ve already got that can be adapted? A black jumper and tights can form the basis of a cute cat costume with the addition of black painted or crayoned paper ears attached to an Alice band, a tail made from a stocking (or one leg of a pair of tights) stuffed with newspaper and face-painted nose and whiskers. Or consider second-hand costumes from a charity shop, friends or a website such as Freecycle.
  • Instead of buying commercially produced sweets, why not bake your own Halloween cookies at home? Satsumas can have scary faces drawn on in black felt pen or be turned into ‘spiders’ by using a knife to cut ‘legs’ from the peel, leaving the top part attached and drawing eyes in the centre.
  • Choose decorations that can be reused, and those made from recyclable materials such as paper or wood. For instance, a ceramic skull lantern can be brought out year after year. A string of paper ghosts can easily be recycled, whereas a plastic pumpkin garland can’t and will end up in the general waste bin.
  • Unsure what you can or can’t recycle in your area? Use the Recyling Locator to find out.

Image: Pixabay

This post was created with our nice and easy submission form. Create your post!

Written by Sonja

Abortion is decriminalised in Northern Ireland | Amnesty UK

UK student invented bio-plastic made of fish waste