Be more green this Halloween

Published: 19/10/2022

Avoid creating a nightmare for your wallet and the planet – be more green this Halloween!

Tackle food waste and eat your pumpkin

Did you know that 22 million of the 39.9 million pumpkins bought this year will go to waste, left uneaten?

Pumpkins are cheap, nutritious and can be cooked in a variety of ways. Why not roast the seeds or make a curry, soup or bread from your jack o’ lantern leftovers?

Learn which bits of the pumpkin you can eat, and see Hubbub’s simple pumpkin recipes. BBC Goodfood have also shared their top 20 pumpkin recipes.

Scare people, not the planet

A spooky Halloween fact for you: each year an estimated 7 million Halloween costumes ended up as waste in the UK.

This is equivalent of 2,079 tonnes of plastic, or 83 million Coca Cola bottles according to Fashion United.

Not only should we be conscious of the environmental impact of our Halloween costumes, but also the ethics of production.

93% UK high street brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker aren’t paying garment workers a living wage. Popular costume providers and fast fashion retailers such as Fashion Nova, Boohoo, and Pretty Little Thing all score less than 10% on the Fashion Transparency Index.

Why not get creative and make your costume from second hand materials and charity shop finds? You could always swap with friends if attending more than one event.

Party responsibly

It’s not just costumes that create waste, makeup and decorations can run us into a web of trouble.

Lots of party decorations and snacks are made from single use plastic, contributing to the 40% of plastic used just once then tossed worldwide, according to National Geographic.

Why not try to source sweets that are not packaged in individual plastic wrappers? You could look at foil wrapped chocolate and snacks that come in bulk rather than lots in small amounts.

You can also make your own Halloween decorations out of eco-friendly products or buy decorations from second hand shops or online retailers. Some local shops that can help you out are Shop Zero, British Heart Foundation, White Rose.

Keep on top of Sustainability at NTU by following the team on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.