Congratulations everyone, it’s officially Autumn! Autumn is one of the most looked forward to seasons of the year, especially if you’re an absolute lover of Halloween. While Halloween is, unfortunately, something we only celebrate once a year, something that’s constantly changing and evolving is the health of our environment. As taking care of our planet is now more important than ever, here are some ways to have a stellar Halloween but make it an eco-friendly activity for all.

THRIFT OR REPURPOSE YOUR HALLOWEEN COSTUME

One of the best and main parts of Halloween is all about what you’re going to be for the special holiday. Whether you want to be a pirate, a superhero or some kind of animal, we all want our costumes to be as amazing as possible. But with the most consumers throwing away an average of 70 pounds of clothing annually, why not lighten that load a little bit and thrift or repurpose old clothes for your costume?

Have old clothes sitting in bags in your basement or in the back of your closet that you’ve been looking to get rid of? Use Halloween as the perfect time to dig them out and use parts or all of the clothing to create your costume. Even if you need some extra materials such as sparkles or beads, you can easily find those sorts of options at a craft store such as Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics. Not much of a DIYer? The thrift shop is the perfect destination as you’ll be amazed at the kind of options you can find for half the price!

DO SOMETHING CREATIVE WITH YOUR CANDY WRAPPERS

Halloween is the best excuse to eat whatever kind of candy your heart desires. Gummy worms, Reese’s, M&M’s, really the options are endless. But what should we do with all the wrappers that we end up with? While the easiest and most common option is throwing wrappers in the garbage, in order to prevent further waste, you can take your wrappers and repurpose them for candy wrapper DIY projects! If you’d rather go the recycling route, that’s absolutely possible as well. Because wrappers can be more difficult to recycle from your home, you can order zero-waste boxes from recycling companies, ensuring that each plastic wrapper is moulded into new recycled plastic products.

USE ORGANIC PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

Part of the fun with dressing up for Halloween is how out of the box and creative we can get with our makeup and our hair. But instead of buying those Halloween makeup kits we so often see, consider using more organic and eco-friendly options instead. If part of your costume is to have a different hair colour, skip the wig that you’ll likely only use once and then throw away and think about using a hair dye instead. Using a semi-permanent eco-friendly hair dye like this will give your hair the colour you’re trying to achieve while also being more sustainable!

The same can go for your makeup. If you’re already a huge makeup lover, prevent further waste and use the makeup products you already have and/or invest in green makeup products perfect for your Halloween look. Using greener and more natural makeup products will not only be better for the environment but you’ll also feel better about what you’re applying to your body.

GIVE OUT ORGANIC TREATS

As trick-or-treating is a large part of Halloween, use the opportunity to give trick-or-treaters some healthier options for both them and the environment with organic goodies. Even though organic candy may be more expensive, these kinds of candies will contain no harmful chemicals or ingredients and will make a difference in your carbon footprint. You’ll be most likely to find these kinds of products in the organic section of supermarkets, health food stores and even possibly some farmer’s markets.