5 Spooky Sustainability Facts

As our favourite spooky season draws near, we are here to share some haunting facts surrounding halloween and help you creep closer to sustainable celebrations.

Chilling Costume Consumption

Every year it is estimated that 12,500 tons of Halloween costumes are sent to landfills across the world. With the majority of these costumes being made from non-biodegradable materials, this is a huge contributor to textile waste. To reduce this spine-chilling impact, opt for DIY creations using pieces from your existing wardrobe, rewear previous costumes and collaborate with friends to swap costumes.

Spooky Single-Use Season

The UK spent up to £607 million on Halloween in 2021, with many purchases being made up of single-use plastic; from throw away plastic decorations to disposable tableware and cutlery. Often appearing for one night only before they go to landfill to haunt the environment for years. To make a less grisly impact, embrace sustainable alternatives like reusable decorations and tableware and cutlery that you can use year on year.

Petrifying Pumpkin Problem

In the UK alone, 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins turn up in landfills each Halloween. This is an issue as the lack of oxygen in landfill conditions means as pumpkins decompose they produce methane gas, which contributes to global warming. To minimise this eerie effect you can instead turn your pumpkins into tasty treats or compost them at home.

Eerie Electricity Expenditure

It is estimated that elaborate electronic decorations for Halloween can cost the environment and your bank account significantly. So don’t be a nightmare for our planet, you can switch to LED lights or solar-powered decorations instead or have simpler spooky displays.

Warped Wrappers Waste

With Americans alone purchasing nearly £600 million worth of sweet treats for halloween each year, we have a big wrapper waste problem! The multi-layer design of wrappers (often plastic & aluminium) makes them notoriously difficult to recycle, with the end result being that wrappers fill up in landfill sites. Scary stuff! To help minimise your wrapper waste, opt for baking your own treats or choose options with either no wrappers or minimal/recyclable packaging.

We hope this Halloween you celebrate all things spooky and ensure the only frights you encounter are the ones hiding in the shadows, not the ones haunting our environment! So forget the orange and go green this Halloween!