Zero-waste Halloween: how to have a waste-free celebration!
Halloween is right around the corner and its time to spook everyone! However, the real scary thing about Halloween is the waste that gets left over after its all over. Celebrations are important but it is also essential to have a low waste celebration. Karmic Seed presents a few tricks and treats to help you get your zero waste Halloween started!
Paper Mache Pumpkin
A great way of using up old papers or newspapers lying around in your house is to make a paper mache pumpkin! This is way better than buying an actual pumpkin because it usually ends up adding to the agro-waste problem. Your paper mache pumpkin can also be saved up as a decoration for next year. Click here to see how to make one.
If you do insist on using an actual pumpkin, you could make complete use of it too. You could roast the seeds and eat them as is or plant them. The flesh of the carved out pumpkin can be used for cooking or to make a purée. You could also use the pumpkin rind to make a delicious pickle. After the celebrations, you can use the leftover pumpkin and compost it.
Instead of buying brand new decorations (mostly made of plastic) from a store, why not re-use your old decorations? It will save you a lot of money and you won't end up making more waste after the Halloween celebrations are over. If you don't have your old decorations, you could always make some with the existing materials in your house like old clothes, newspapers, bags etc. If you go online you could literally find millions of creative ideas. You could save them for next year as well!
Again, instead of buying a whole new outfit which you would use only once a year try stitching your own costume. You could get really creative and be a little unique as well. There are literally many pieces of clothing in each household that we would ordinarily just chuck in the trash. Use them to create your own costume. If you aren't comfortable stitching it on your own, you could always use the services of a tailor or someone who is good at it.
With store-bought candies, the extra problem of plastic wrappers comes along. So why not hit the good old recipe book and cook some homemade sweets! They are equally (if not more) delicious and come without the added trouble of trash! We hope these tips help you celebrate a happy, beautiful and trash-free Halloween! Any celebration is after all, incomplete without mother nature! Check out our other blog posts on making use of agro-waste.