Hallowe'en without the (plastic) Horror - four easy swaps you'll fang us for
In a dark, dark wood, there lived a dark dark… OK so, the real horror story is this October, Hallowe’en is expected to generate an additional 2000 tonnes of plastic from costumes alone – equivalent to 83 million plastic bottles. And the total plastic waste footprint of Hallowe’en is of course much higher when you consider party kits and decorations, and Hallowe’en food packaging, most of which is single use. Shocking! Lovers of infographics can find the full sickening report at fairylandtrust.org/news
But plastic-free doesn’t have to mean petrifying! Here’s our non-scary sustainable swaps for a zero-waste Hallowe’en
NO TRICKS - ALL TREATS!
While passing out fruit might sound like a good way to get your house egged, windfall toffee apples pumpkin face tangerines are always a huge hit with our trick or treaters.
Not convinced? ReFill Shop Bude has plenty of zero waste palm oil free treats for your party or those visiting ghouls - from Haribo to Bombay Mix, to dried fruit and nuts, to chocolate buttons! We'll even supply you with paper bags.
If you are having a party, ask your guests to bring home-made treats in reuseable containers.
MAKE IT!
More than 30 million of us are set to dress up and frighten our friends and neighbours - with most people buying new costumes each year, of which 40% are worn just once, and only a tiny proportion sent for recycling.
Here's Gen and Issac showing us there's no need to buy new! Swap with a friend, or buy second-hand.
Make your own unique costume with charity shop treasures and support a good cause at the same time.
Make a rainy morning of it and trawl Bude's charity shops:
AGE UK - 25 Queen St,
British Red Cross - 14 Queen St,
Cornwall Hospice Care - 3 Princes St,
RSPCA - 22 Lansdown Rd,
Save the Children - 3 Queen St,
Sue Ryder - Binhamy Retail Park.
Pinterest is your friend for costume ideas.
DECORATE LIKE A DEMON
Charity shops are also great places to pick up some repurposable items like old sheets, but if you don’t want to buy, use what you have — we’re big fans of squash and gourd arrangements (check out our window display), candles and reusable or secondhand decorations, especially ones made from compostable or recyclable materials like cotton or metal. There are plenty of DIYs out there where you can repurpose household items like these cute egg cartons bats. Think newspaper spiders, crows or witches hats. Check out www.compostandcava.com or inhabitat.com for some spooky yet stylish inspoooo
EAT YOUR PUMPKIN
A spine-chilling 15 million pumpkins are binned every Halloween – enough to make a bowl of soup for everyone in Britain. Check out environmental charity Hubbub‘s pumpkin rescue campaign for ideas for a feast of recipes and how you can conjure up some culinary magic
Thai pumpkin curry anyone?