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Trick or trash: The frightful mess of Halloween

  • The Garbage Lady
  • Oct 9, 2023
  • 3 min read

Updated: Oct 16, 2024



The first time I went trick-or-treating, I enjoyed it so much that the next day I put on my costume thinking we could do it again. All through my youth, wandering the neighborhoods in costume at night was delightfully spooky, and I loved sorting the candy haul at the end of the evening and trading with my brothers. Today, the holiday spooks me differently and without delight.


All Hallows Eve is upon us, and with it comes a deluge of decorations, costumes, and candy that will feed the ever-growing crisis of overconsumption and resulting waste.


“But it’s only one day, and it’s for the children,” some might say. But which children? Is it the 8% of children between the ages of 10-15 that work illegally in the China factories that manufacture the costumes made from synthetic fossil-fuel-based fabrics that can’t be recycled and are destined for landfills? Or the children in India forced to work in unregulated ‘ghost’ mines to extract the mica used in face paints and other cosmetics? Is it for the children of tomorrow and the unhospitable world they will inherit as the result of our unsustainable and insatiable demands for gratification? Those children may never experience a fun-size chocolate bar: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that chocolate could be extinct by 2050 due to climate change, deforestation, and global warming. Meanwhile, child labor and deforestation are growing concerns in the cacao industry of West Africa, where 90% of the world’s chocolate is sourced. The same is true for the palm oil industry.


It’s estimated that in the US alone, 35 million costumes are discarded each year, resulting in 2000 tons of textile waste that end up in landfills. Downstream, this waste will likely result in micro- and nano-plastics and chemical additives that contaminate the environment. A single trick-or-treater will generate 1 pound of waste—which translates to a collective 40 million pounds. An estimated 1 billion pounds of pumpkins will end up in landfills, where they create methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat in earth’s atmosphere. Pumpkins are a water-intensive crop, and in the US, only one fifth of them are used for food. These statistics are ghastly, and a far cry from the days of yore, when an old bed sheet was a ghost costume, a homemade popcorn ball was a treat, candles flickered on the windowsill, and bats cut from black construction paper hung from the rafters.


We often profess that children are resilient and adaptable, and it’s up to us to guide them toward a more sustainable Halloween. Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Talk to your kids about sustainability. The Story of Stuff is a great, kid-friendly resource.

  • Make costumes from items you have on hand or seek them out from second-hand stores or no-buy groups. Note: Many second-hand stores sell new, ready-made costumes and accessories. Skip these.

  • Avoid costumes made with plastic or other synthetic materials (including furry microfibers).

  • Avoid single-use and hard to recycle decorations, like polyester cobwebs and pipe cleaners.

  • Make your own decorations. For inspiration, these easy, eco-friendly ideas include paper pumpkin lanterns, leaf garlands, felted pumpkins made from upcycled sweaters, and more.

  • Make your own scarecrow!

  • Instead of synthetic cobwebs, get similar effects with washed cheesecloth or muslin.

  • Instead of a plastic pail, use a reusable grocery bag or a pillowcase, or make your own bag from scrap fabric.

  • Compost pumpkins once they’ve served their purpose. Find local composting options on the Litterless site. Or, depending on where you live, consider setting your pumpkin in an area where it can be consumed by wildlife.

  • Make roasted pumpkin seeds.

  • Choose chocolates that are Fairtrade Certified.

  • Give out candies that have plastic-free packaging:

    • Many chocolates, such as Hershey’s Kisses, have recyclable foil wrappers. (Hershey’s Kisses are also free from palm oil.)

    • Dots, Milk Duds, and Junior Mints come in recyclable boxes.

    • Bulk candies are also an option but might not be appropriate for all situations due to safety/contamination concerns.

  • Collect multi-plastic candy wrappers and recycle them by using a service like TerraCycle.


If you have other suggestions, I’d love to hear from you!


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