Happy Shalloween!
Don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of chocolate, sweets, horror movies, and dressing up. I love the festive spirit, it lights a bit of shine on gloomy short winter days, but there is a responsible way of doing Halloween and a shallow way of celebrating.
Few scary facts about how Shalloween looks on paper:
83% of Halloween costumes used non-recyclable oil-based plastic
That’s equivalent to 83 million plastic bottles ending up in landfill
Plastic polymer used in over 63% of the costumes can take 20 to 200 years to decompose
40% of UK consumers buy pumpkins to carve but 60% report that they throw them into the general waste bin
18,000 tonnes of pumpkins are thrown away each year
When pumpkins decompose they produce a highly harmful green house gas, methane (over 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide)
7 million costumes are thrown out each year in the UK alone
£300 million is spent on Halloween
4 out of 10 costumes are only worn once
The equivalent of 520 elephants of plastic waste is thrown away at Halloween
These are scary facts, but we want the spooky tradition to live on for the next generations. So, we must adapt and think of creative solutions to make Halloween sustainable.
Here are some simple solutions to consider for this and future Halloween celebrations:
Use your old clothes and a few tools to make your costumes or re-use your old costume with a different approach
Buy costumes or clothes from second-hand or charity shops
Rent costumes instead of buying it
But fewer pumpkins and use the leftovers from the carvings
Once you’re ready to throw away your pumpkin lanterns put them into your compost bin
Re-use your old decorations or make your own from sustainable materials
If you want to buy new decorations check if they are recyclable and good neigh quality to use again for a few years
If you have the time and skills try to make your sweets for trick or treaters
Try to buy anti-slavery chocolates and ethical/vegan candy brands with recyclable wrappings
Do not egg people's homes or waste toilet paper on their property. I think it’s time to kill that tradition!
Happy Halloween Everyone,
hope you will all look evil and hunt souls while being good to our planet :)
•sources were taken from https://www.wastemanaged.co.uk/halloween-waste/•