Halloween brings back amazing memories from childhood! My brother and I looked forward to dressing up in whatever costume our mom made for us or hand-me-down we got from our cousins and making sure we had our spare pillowcase ready to take with us for the big candy haul. Those were the days!
As we got older, we started creating costumes ourselves usually from our own closet and getting creative with our face paint. Treats were more likely to have alcohol in them and we weren’t going door to door but to whoever’s place was having a party.
Halloween can still be FUN with less waste!
It’s estimated by the National Retail Federation that the United States spent $12.2 billion dollars on Halloween costumes in 2023. Most of which were likely not kept, reused or donated but quite possibly ended up in the landfill by the beginning of November. $3.9 billion was estimated to have been spent on Halloween decorations and $3.9 billion on candy. That’s wild!
We can definitely do better by choosing secondhand costumes and decorations, making our own, and choosing higher quality items that can be passed down or worn again. I’m looking at you Snow White costume I spent a small fortune on in the mid 90’s but also wore for 5 years straight to several different parties and costume contests. Yes, I wish I had photos too but sadly I don’t.
Sustainable Costumes
The most sustainable costume is the one you already have in your closet! Get creative! Grab a flannel, some jeans or overalls, and a hat and be a scarecrow. I loved being Pippy Longstocking wearing mismatched clothing items. I have a cat ear plastic headband I wear with all black clothing and paint whiskers on my face. My dad had flight suits from being in the military, we wore those at Halloween! These are easy costumes with very low impact on the environment or the pocketbook.
The second most sustainable costume is thrifted or borrowed or reused again and again. Finding yourself without any creative ideas but need a costume? Head to the thrift store and find one there! Who knows, you may even find some inspiration to be a hippy or find one of those shirts that says “This is my costume” on it. That was what my dad wore. See if there’s a Halloween Costume Swap in your area to find something to refresh your costume!
Borrowing a costume from a friend or family member helps their purchase to be reused and therefore lower impact on the environment. You can rent costumes too! This is especially great if you’re looking to win the best costume at the party!
Create a costume out of items around the house. Rob and I dressed up as mason jars for the Butter and Egg Days Parade and cut out shapes of the jars from cardboard boxes and taped letters on it.
Find a high quality costume that you feel like you can wear each year or pass down to someone else. It’s ok to buy new. But please make sure it at least can be donated.
All of these ideas work for the kiddos too!
Sustainable Decorations
Upcycle your décor and use natural elements from your yard or farmer’s market! Real pumpkins are a great way to decorate your home and yard. If you carve them, save the pumpkins seeds to roast. If you don’t carve them, eat them! Not into eating squash? See if a local farm or animal sanctuary will take them to feed their animals.
Scoop up some of the fallen leaves to decorate the table or entrance to your home. Be sure to leave some behind for critters and bugs to shelter in for the winter and compost in spring! Also, please DO NOT use the fake spiderwebs, this can be harmful to wildlife.
This is the time of year for the DIY folks out there! You get to show off your creativity and talent in a big way! Turn your empty jars into lanterns, cut out paper bags in spooky shapes, and use tissues to hang up ghosts around the house.
Borrow some decorations, thrift them, or find a swap near you! These are all great ways to reduce waste while still getting in the festive spirit!
Sustainable Halloween Party
All of the ideas above from thrifting, swapping, and DIY apply to the party too! Why stop with just what you’re wearing?
Use your reusables! Ask people to bring a spare wine glass to decorate at the party and to take home. Love this so I know which glass is mine for the night! Use your flatware and serving dishes instead of buying and trashing the disposables. If you have that particular friend that tends to go overboard, hand them the coffee mug for their drinks and maybe a thrifted dish instead of your good ones. You’ll thank me later for this idea!
For the kids, ask the parents to bring their own cups and you can provide reusable items or head over to the thrift store to score some awesome small plates for the kiddos that you can use again next year…because we all know you’re going to throw another awesome party next year.
Make your treats or ask others to make some to share instead of buying the prepackaged ones!
Games can be fun and sustainable! Go on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood with the kids and your friends. Find a house with a blue car, find the number 31 anywhere in the neighborhood, find the spookiest house, the list could go on forever for a scavenger hunt!
Buy a bunch of small pumpkins from the farmer’s market and set out items to decorate with them and have a pumpkin decorating contest. For the drinkers in your life, take a drink every time someone says “Happy Halloween”. You get the idea. Save money, save the planet, have fun!
Halloween is a fun time of year! Take a few extra moments to DIY and get creative while reusing what you have and thinking about the end of life of anything you purchase. Let us know in the comments what your favorite Halloween memory is!
