The temporary joys of Halloween candy, costumes and jack-o'-lanterns have long-term environmental impacts.
Halloween candy wrappers create millions of pounds of trash every year.
And, research done in 2019 by U.K. environmental group Hubbub showed 83% of the material in Halloween costumes were plastics, likely to end up as waste in a landfill.
Feeling spooked by those statistics? Cincinnati Recycling and Reuse Hub Marketing Manager Katrina Weiss offers some tips to make your celebration more sustainable.
Use what you have
Ditch the big box store and get creative with costumes this Halloween.
Weiss suggests using items you have on hand to create a homemade costume. She says you can become E.T. using an old milk crate. Or, you can embody gumdrops with painted applesauce containers glued onto a plain shirt.
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If you have old costumes on hand, think about using them again.
“Even if you just make the choice to say, reuse a costume one year, that is better than going out and buying new, and that's better than putting that one in the trash, right?” Weiss said. “These little steps can add up.”
Costume swaps with friends can also be a fun way to get a “new” costume without buying one.
“If you've got little ones that are outgrowing costumes, passing them down or swapping within your friend group [and] give kids the opportunity to be other things each year as they grow into them,” Weiss said. “Sort of making it more about the creative spirit behind Halloween rather than the ‘just go buy the shiny new thing.’ ”
Save and donate
After Oct. 31, don’t toss your costume.
Weiss recommends checking with a school drama club to see if they could use it.
Several local organizations also accept Halloween costumes donations throughout different parts of the year. Findlay Market is hosting a Costume and Candy Drive through Oct. 25. Items can be dropped off at the Market Center.
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Recycle plastic candy wrappers
Not all trick-or-treating trash has to end up in the landfill. Weiss advocates for people to save candy wrappers and take them somewhere to be recycled, like the Recycling and Reuse Hub.
“What we encourage people to do is, if you've got a chip bag, for instance, tucking those little pieces inside of a chip bag and bring those to the Hub,” Weiss said.
The Hub will take plastic wrappers for free. Weiss says the Hub does not accept paper wrappers, like M&M bags.
After receiving wrappers, the Hub then sends the plastic to Brightmark’s Circularity Center in Indiana, where it is recycled into new products.