Tips for a greener Halloween

October 23, 2024| Community, Environment

By: Andrew Dollberg

Halloween is a time for spooky fun, but it can also come with a frightful environmental impact if we’re not careful. From single-use decorations to the mass consumption of candy wrapped in plastic, our choices can add up, contributing to pollution and waste that end up in our landfills.

To create a more environmentally friendly Halloween, here are five ideas for a holiday that won’t leave you feeling haunted by non-biodegradable waste.

1.  Create Eco-Friendly Costumes

Store-bought costumes, while cute, more often than not are made of (and wrapped in) plastic. These outfits are normally worn once or twice before going to their final resting place, at the dump—talk about chilling! Consider creating your own costume out of things you already have, not only to be more environmentally friendly but also to create a costume unique to you!

2.  Opt for Reusable or Natural Decorations

Instead of purchasing decorations that are made of plastic or Styrofoam, and often end up choking our local landfill, consider making your own décor of sustainable materials, such as pumpkins and haybales from local farms, or making paper ghosts and bats out of old newspapers or old magazines. Not only is it more sustainable, but it could make for a fun family activity! If you prefer to leave the crafting to those with more experience, consider buying decorations made out of natural materials, and made by local vendors.

3.  Choose Sustainable Containers for Trick-or-Treating

The plastic pumpkin candy buckets that so many trick-or-treaters use are ubiquitous but unsustainable. If you have already purchased one, hang onto it for future years so it can be reused.  If you need a candy carrier, a better alternative would be a pillowcase. Pillowcases are readily available at home, but even more importantly, they can hold more candy—YUM!  Reusable shopping bags, baskets, and backpacks also work.

4.  Be Mindful of Litter

Halloween parties and trick-or-treating can generate a lot of litter, especially around neighborhoods and public spaces. Make sure to clean up after events and encourage friends and family to do the same. By preventing litter from entering storm drains, you’re helping keep trash out of Lake Hopatcong and our watershed.

5.  Recycle Your Candy Wrappers

While those fun-sized candy bars taste good, the amount of small plastic waste generated can leave a sour aftertaste. While most local recycling programs don’t accept these wrappers, Terracycle offers a recycling program that allows you to collect them in a box or an envelope (available for purchase) and send them back for recycling. 

To make things easier, we will be collecting clean Halloween candy wrappers (any flexible plastic-based candy and snack wrappers) for recycling throughout the month of November. Simply drop them off in our collection bin, located by our office door on the left side of the Lake Hopatcong Station, 125 Landing Road, Landing any time from November 1 through November 30. Join us in reducing waste this Halloween—every wrapper makes a difference!

With these practices in place, you can create a Halloween that delights, with scares that are purely imaginary. Embrace creativity and create memorable experiences that are as kind to the earth as they are fun. Happy (and green) Halloween!