The Environmental Impact of Halloween; And What You Can Do About It

With the fall season in full swing, there's no doubt Halloween has crossed your mind. The decorations have already been popping up in stores for what seems like months now. Though there can be some controversy over the holiday, it can be a time of fun and celebration; between the costumes, candy, parties and more, what's not to love? And even further, what does sustainability have to do with any of this, it only comes around once a year, what's the big deal?

Well, there is a massive hidden cost to Halloween that keeps getting spookier with time, and that's the enormous amount of waste produced for the holiday. This article explores the history of some of the classic Halloween traditions, as well ideas on how you can enjoy them more sustainably.

Where Do These Traditions Come From?

Halloween itself got its origins from a festival celebrated by the Ancient Celtic people like 2,000 years ago called Samhain which marked the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter. After the harvest work was done, the people would light bonfires and dance. Also during this time, it was believed that the barrier between the living and the dead became blurred, and spirits could transcend. So another part of this celebration involved wearing costumes of animals and monsters to ward these spirits away and prevent them from kidnapping you. A ton of the traditions surrounding Halloween can be tied back to this festival in some way, but over time, it was influenced by Christianity.

Hundreds of years later in the 7th century, the Catholic Church declared November 1st as All Saints Day to celebrate the Saints of the Church. A couple more hundred years later November 2nd was declared as All Souls Day. These two Catholic holidays are where trick-or-treating stemmed from. In the Middle Ages, poor families would go over and visit wealthier family members or other people's houses and receive gifts, originally pastries. In exchange, they would pray for the family and their deceased loved ones. Fast forward to the 1800s, and carving vegetables, turnips specifically, became associated with the holiday largely in Ireland and Scotland. This tradition evolved from a myth of a man named Stingy Jack who tricked the devil and had to walk around with a turnip lantern. The Celtic people were located in what is modern-day the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Northern France. When people migrated to the Americas, they brought these traditions with them. It was then that carving pumpkins became traditional as pumpkins were native to North America, and replaced turnips in the carving tradition over time. Over all of this time, these separate holidays merged to become today’s Halloween, though the Catholic Church does still recognize All Saints and All Souls Day.

Impact of Halloween Traditions

Every year, somewhere between 2,000 and 2,079 tonnes of plastic waste from Halloween costumes ends up in landfills. That is the equivalent in volume of nearly 70 large semi-truck trailers packed to the brim with just plastic waste. The worst part of this statistic is that this is just from the UK. Every year in the US, 35 million costumes are thrown away. With the majority of them only being worn one time. Seasonal fashion like this falls under the fast fashion category, and so this cycle of spending reinforces those business. This spending hit a record high in the US last year. In 2024, Halloween spending totalled 11.6 billion dollars.

Unfortunately, the spooky statistics don't stop there.

Every year on Halloween, Americans throw away $400 million dollars worth of uneaten Halloween candy. Food waste issue aside, the other layer of this is that candy wrappers cannot be recycled, so even the candy that does get eaten contributes to a lot of landfill waste from their packaging. If they are accidentally thrown in the recycling bin and happen to still have some melted chocolate on them or even be completely unopened, now the rest of the recycling bin is contaminated. 

Jack-O-Lanters also contribute significantly to the waste surrounding Halloween. This one is a bit nuanced because while yes, pumpkins are a natural material, throwing them away does more harm than merely contributing to waste. If they end up in a landfill, which the vast majority do, they cannot decompose properly. And when these millions of pumpkins sit in the landfill and break down, they release methane gas. Which is an incredibly strong greenhouse gas, stronger than carbon dioxide.

If you are somebody who partakes in the Halloween festivities, don't let these statistics scare you or make you feel guilty. Instead, now that we know better, feel empowered to make a positive change.

What Can We Do About It?

Costumes

Starting with Halloween costumes, there are plenty of ways you can still participate in this tradition more sustainably than single-use costumes.

• Make a costume out of clothes you already have, Pinterest has great ideas for this. Some quick ideas from us include: nurse if you have scrubs, boxer if you have athletic wear, braid your hair wrap your hands and give yourself a black eye with makeup, a pro athlete if you have a jersey, you could try and recreate an iconic photo of a celebrity, The Rock with the black turtle neck for example. There’s way more options here than you think.

• Hit the thrift stores. Some simple costume ideas you could thrift for are Scooby Do characters, buy an old Hawaiian shirt and be a tourist or even just go walk around and something might inspire you. On that same note, you can sometimes get lucky and find actual costumes at the thrift store.

• Costume swap! If you do choose to purchase a halloween costume, keep it and reuse it or swap with your friends for next year. It's a fun way to mix up your costumes and it could save you money.

  
  

  Bonus Tip: on the same note as the costumes, when you’re looking at Halloween decor for your house or porch etc., be mindful of what you’re buying and if you're actually going to like it and want to put it in your house for years to come. You could also explore diys and upcycling projects for this. We don’t need to be falling into the overconsumption trap with that either, and that is my reminder from us to you.

Candy

Moving on, the candy situation. Maybe controversial, but there are other things you could give out besides candy. But if you are going to partake, there are a couple strategies you can use to help reduce waste.

• Buy a reasonable amount, we do not need to be going overboard here.

• If you’re going to be home, only put out a little bit at a time so people are less likely to just take handfuls or dump the whole bowl in their bag. Putting out everything at once runs the risk of the first few people taking a bunch and the bowl sitting empty for the rest of the night.

• If you are going to buy candy, think about what people tend to like and want to eat so that the treats that do go out, will have a higher liklihood of being eaten.

  
  

  **Let's also take a second to recognize here what a privilege it is to be able to buy or collect candy and treats and participate in such a consumerism-based holiday. So if passing out candy isn't in the cards for you, that's okay, there's no shame in that. Same idea with throwing a party or hosting or bringing a dish, it's okay to just do what you can. But at the same time it’s important to be mindful of our collective impact.

Pumpkins

Last but not least, the pumpkin carving. It's fun, creative, and can be used as decorations too. And while they're a natural material, there are still ways we can enjoy this tradition more sustainably.

• So the biggest way you can make a positive impact on this tradition is by not throwing your pumpkins away when you’re done with them. Compost them instead!

• If you do not have a way to compost them yourself, ask your local farmers if they’ll take them or ask around your neighborhood if anyone else has the means and would like to.

  • The reason this is important is that is because when they are in a landfill, the decomposing process changes, and they release methane gas. When they are broken down the correct way and able to decompose properly, they do not release methane. Composting creates an aerobic environment, so there are other bacteria that help break them down so compost your pumpkins!

• Be very careful feeding them to wildlife; we would advise you not to. You don't want to introduce them in an area where they can grow and become invasive, especially if there are still seeds in them. They could also attract wildlife and put them in a dangerous situation and bring them to areas that they otherwise would not be.

• Roast your pumpkin seeds! If you have never tried roasting your pumpkin seeds in the oven with some flaky salt or other seasonings, you are missing out. They make a great nutritious snack on their own and can also be used as salad toppers, etc.

There are plenty of simple ways to make Halloween a more sustainable holiday while still enjoying all of your favorite activities. Thank you for wanting to learn more and live sustainably!