Zero Waste Denverite: Halloween
Recently, I’ve made zero-waste changes around my own life, but as we enter the Holidays I’ve starting thinking about changes that I can make that will now have impact others. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it comes during my favorite time of year, fall.
My favorite part of the fall, and the Halloween season, is the décor. It brings me joy to be able to mix up my everyday décor with pumpkins, cute signs, and fall colors. While my everyday zero waste journey started recently, my zero-waste fall decorations have existed far before that. My decorations are a bit of a hodgepodge, but they’re me. I have a collection of small pumpkins that I scavenged at a local thrift store (in August!) several years ago, which taught me that if you want the good holiday decorations, you need to go early.
I have several handmade signs that I created too. I found some spare wood planks and used my extensive collection of sample paints to create the perfect “Hey, Pumpkin!” and “Trick or Treat” sign. One of my oldest decorations includes a nesting-box collection which turns into a haunted house that I got as a gift which once included popcorn and other treats. I always have to remind myself that zero-waste is about finding ways to reduce, REUSE, and recycle — recycle being the last resort.
Of course, fall decorations wouldn’t be complete without a cute porch sign (handmade, of course) and a collection of pumpkins. Every year I drag my husband out to our local farm to go pumpkin picking. As I think about being environmentally conscious it’s now much more than just leaning into the fall spirit, its also about shopping local. Its one less thing that I consume that comes from across the country or overseas. Where I get my pumpkins isn’t the only thing I consider, I also consider how I’ll dispose of them at the end of the season (keeping them for as long as its socially acceptable). It’s so important to make sure that they go to good use! This article by Michele Debczak mentions four great ways to dispose of your pumpkins.
As someone who personally does not like dressing up that’s an easy one — I don’t need (or want) a costume. However, that’s also an easy one to think about for Zero Waste — checking out our local thrift shop. There’s a thrift shop in Wheat Ridge, Treasure Trunk Community Thrift, that I swear by! Early in the season they had a great selection of Halloween costumes, décor, plus anything else you may need for your zero waste journey.
As we get closer to Halloween the thing that I’ve been thinking about the most is candy! A. Because I love candy, but, mainly, B. Because I’ve been thinking about how to be zero-waste conscious while handing out Treats. I’ve been deliberating this for a while now. Of course you want to be the house that gives out the good candy, or better yet, you don’t want to be the house that gives out the bad candy. But, the way that I see it, most (very close to all) of the good candy comes in plastic wrappers, or plastic-coated wrappers. While some of these wrappers can be recycled in special locations or through Terracycle, I expect that few of them will be recycled.
So I go back to, reduce, reuse, recycle — what Treats can I handout which reduce our waste. Through my research there are a couple of options here.
Some suggest making your own goodies or providing options that don’t include wrappers — however, provided that we are in a global pandemic, I don’t think that this is a viable option.
Candy wrapped in boxes. For example, Junior Mints, Milk Duds, or Nerds. These provide great options for the kids, while providing a recyclable option!
Candy with compostable wrappers. I found this option, Alter Eco which is a candy that not only has compostable wrappers, but the chocolate itself is made with sustainability in mind. This candy can be found all over Denver — at your local Sprouts and Natural Grocers. If you prefer Walmart or King Soopers there are a couple of locations that stock it too. The Alter Eco website has a Store Locator where you can check out stores near you that stock Alter Eco.
Foil Wrapped Candy. For example, gold coins, or those chocolate balls are a great option with a non-plastic wrapper.
Traditional Candy Options, in Bulk. While this option includes individually wrapped candies with a non-zero-waste wrapper, it will at a minimum save one bag. Go to your local grocery story and in the bulk candy section use your produce bag to weigh out however much candy you want! While this doesn’t completely eliminate the waste, at a minimum, its one-less bag.
How are you being less-waste this Halloween? Add your thoughts to the comments below. Have you found another way to be waste-conscious with your Treats this year? Let me know!
