I know, happiness isn’t necessarily the first thing you think of when somebody mentions the meaning of Halloween but if you put the whole “souls of the dead, roaming the earth needing to be appeased” thing to one side, it’s got parties, sweets, fancy dress and games so what’s not to enjoy!

Well at the risk of sounding like a total party pooper (no comments please!) there’s a lot of unnecessary waste around Halloween and that doesn’t make me happy, at all.

I know I get off easily for this event because as I don’t have kids there will be no organising of outfits or parties for me to worry about but I do get a lot of guisers at my door (trick or treaters for those of you not familiar with the Scottish term!) so I was thinking about what I would do for them.

My usual goodies were not terribly eco-friendly with lots of single-use wrappers on lots of small individually wrapped sweets. One suggestion from a local zero waste Facebook group included reverting back to more traditional fare including good old monkey nuts but of course I remembered when those were phased out as we became more aware of allergies, so what what now?

Aargh! I hadn’t even thought about Hallowe’en! Been too busy worrying about Xmas... (Facebook reply to my green halloween query)

This got me to thinking about the Teal Pumpkin Project , set up to “[Raise] awareness of food allergies through the addition of non-food trinkets and toys to your treats, making Halloween safer and more inclusive for all.” But looking at their list of non-food items I spotted a number of plastic things that you just know will end up in the bin before you get anywhere near Christmas.

By now I had a list of things to consider: plastic waste, dietary requirements, inclusivity and of course what kids will actually want!

And that’s without me having to even think about things like fancy dress outfits (no-one suggest the Jamaican bobsleigh team please!) games, prizes etc etc

So do I have any advice? Well I definitely don’t have all the answers and I can’t guarantee guisers knocking at my door will be given 100% plastic free treats this year but for what it’s worth, here are some thoughts that might help us all on the run up to the 31st.

Oh and if you’ve got more ideas, I’d love to hear them in the comments. I definitely need more help with this one!

Think before you buy.

• There’s sooooooo much more Halloween stuff sold to us these days and a lot of it is really fun and pretty cool so I get why we buy it but as with everything else, we need to get in the habit of trying to resist those purchases we know we a) don’t need and b) create more waste. Remember, recycling really isn’t the answer, reducing has got to be the way forward.(Easier said than done, I know!)

• Buy second hand - charity shops, Facebook marketplace etc are easy ways to still get the goodies without creating more plastic items. Have a look online and in shops after Halloween or keep an eye out during the year for when people inevitability get rid of bits and pieces and costumes their kids have outgrown and stock up, guilt free AND at a reduced price!

Think before you bin

• Would someone else use that old costume your kids have grown out of or use those pumpkin lanterns you don’t like anymore? Sell them online to recoup some pennies or just hand in to a charity shop to be reused by someone else.

• Use your pumpkins!

  • Did you know an estimated 10m pumpkins are grown in the UK every year, 95% of which will be hollowed out in lanterns for Halloween. That’s a lot of food waste!

  • Plan ahead with what you will do with your pumpkin flesh and the outside of the pumpkin too.

  • Did you know squirrels, badgers, foxes and birds love pumpkins?

  • Or just don’t buy one and go really old school Scots and use a turnip instead! (actually don’t, it’s REALLY hard to carve and it stinks!)

Costumes

• Avoid plastic costumes (if you can, that’s so hard these days though I know)

• Try to pick costumes that are less likely to be a fad such as witches and gouls etc (again, I know, I don’t have kids and I do appreciate they will want what’s super cool right now, that’s why I added the word try!)

• Get a costume they can wear again. I don’t necessarily mean like the witches costume I wore for several years that started off as full length dress and ended up a mini skirt! I mean ones that they may just want to add to their regular dress up box so it’s not just worn once.

Share knowledge and support

• Speak to other friends and organise a halloween party where dressing up in a cardboard box painted to look like an oxo cube (my friend’s kick ass mid 80s outfit) or dressing your baby up as the porridge oats man (my baby brother in a kilt over his nappy and white vest on with a tiny wooden caber made from scrap wallpaper) is closer to the norm rather than plastic outfits…

• …and where dooking for apples and treacle scones swinging from strings provide the edible entertainment.

• Hand costumes down or swap between friends and family.

• Share ideas with others. Spot something eco-friendly in the shops, post it on Facebook with the reason it’s a good idea.

Consider others

• It’s natural to approach things with what we have always known, what we experienced or what we liked. But groups like the Teal Pumpkin Project highlight why we need to think about other’s who still want to join in but need things just a little different from the way most of us would think.

• For me I always wanted guisers to perform the traditional guising song, Halloween is coming or tell a joke etc and I particularly disliked hearing the call of “trick or treat!!”. I know it was because I liked our Scottish tradition and was sad to see it disappearing but I’m now balancing this an understanding that some kids just don’t feel confident enough to sing or tell jokes and the trick or treat works for them. I still hope the Scottish version continues but realise now that’s up to the parents not me.

The treats
And finally, back to my original question, what do I hand out to guisers??

• Handmade sweets (I’m thinking I might try traditional Scottish tablet!)

• Non-food treats

• Money (I’m hoping the kids like bronze!)

• Tangerines (I already always include these and they always go!)

• Monkey Nuts (I’d recommend having these separate, clearly labeled and to tell the kids and their accompanying adults)

• Homemade cookies

• Fair trade chocolate

• Sweets from ethical providers*

• Toffee apples

• Sweets in paper or cardboard wrapping

• Refreshers

• Candy sticks (in box)

• Raisin poppets (the other flavours contain palm oil)

• Stoats oaty bars (biodegradable wrappers!)

• Pick and mix sweets put in to small paper bags or loose in a big bowl

Happy Halloween, folks!

* I don’t buy from Nestle anyway but after reading this article, Mars will be getting a hard pass from me too this Halloween. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/?