Green on Halloween: How to be an Eco-Friendly Observer

Halloween is a part-DIY and part-store-bought celebration. Yet it’s a huge industry regardless of whether the latest zombie threads come from Amazon or the back of the closet. The US state of Illinois harvested 17,600 acres of pumpkins alone in 2023, a steady increase from the previous years. Of course, there’s a fresh stock of horror films that need to be made, too.

Scary Sequels

Smile 2 and Terrifier 3 will both be released in time for Halloween in 2024. Similarly, online casino operators start to put their spookier games out toward the end of the year. The online slots at Paddy Power Games already feature Eldritch Dungeons, the vampire-themed Immortal Romance, and Big Bass Halloween, a fishy take on the holiday.

It’ll all end in November when the pumpkins still on the doorstep turn brown and shriveled. In the meantime, is there any way to have a greener, more sustainable Halloween this year?

Spider Webs

Halloween isn’t a wasteful festival by default. Many of the props for the lawn will come out of storage, for example, while homemade costumes embody the spirit of Halloween, as an occasion for reuse and recycling. Also, those pumpkins (or turnips, if you’re above a certain age in the UK) left on the porch will probably end up in the ground or in the bellies of passing animals.

The UK is a useful case study for Halloween as the festival is still growing in popularity in the country. The Finder website says that Brits spent £1bn on Halloween in 2023, although, 67% of the country planned to spend less than £20. Pumpkins were a strong seller, accounting for £29.95m of the £1bn total, a 15% increase over 2021. Interest in Halloween grows with each subsequent generation.

Unlike Christmas, decorations at Halloween tend to be more analog. Pumpkins are traditionally lit the natural way, for instance, while spider webs and plastic bats don’t need a power source. The holiday has become more high-tech in recent years, and this is where many of the costs and ecological impacts come from.

Seasonal Treat

Light-up decorations use LED, Mini (Icicle), or Standard C-7 bulbs. In order of wattage, these lights consume 5W, 50W, and 125W, respectively. Estimates vary but LED lights can save between 75-90% of the energy used by other bulbs. They last 25x longer, too. This is arguably one of the downsides of reusing decorations, as older, less efficient technologies can remain in circulation.

Ironically, the sun can lend a hand during the darker months. Solar-powered Halloween lights store energy during the day for use at night. Paired with a smart plug, a $10-$20 device that has a timer and countdown setting controllable via a smartphone app, householders can limit their festivities to only when they’re home and in the mood for a spooking.

There’s a limitless number of ways to have a sustainable Halloween. The WWF website recommends that parties avoid disposable cups and plates, buy locally produced treats, and grow pumpkins at home. If you have the stomach for the insides of a pumpkin, toasted pumpkin seeds offer a seasonal treat. The SimplyRecipes website has advice for “de-gooping” the seeds.

As a pagan festival, Halloween is deeply connected to the natural world. Lend nature a hand this year.