Carbon Neutral Halloween Parties

This weekend gave me the the perfect opportunity to have a go at two of my favorite pastimes – having fun with the kids, and finding new environmental solutions to life’s problems.

Halloween parties are always great fun in that they give us all the chance to get dressed up and make a mess. However, I can’t help noticing that any special occasion like this often leaves a lot of waste. So in an effort to try and limit the carnage caused by a Halloween party, I devised some of these eco-friendly solutions to the horror of Halloween!

Planning ahead

The biggest challenge you’ll face is to simply limit the amount of unnecessary expenditure. Whilst it can be tempting to empty the supermarkets in order to cater to your family’s never-ending appetite for soft drinks and snacks, it’s a good idea to think about working out what you really need.

Buying big bottles of drinks is so much more environmentally-friendly than lots of little cans. And it can also work out cheaper in the long run too. Similarly, much junk food can be packed full of horrible chemicals, and it’s much more fun to make your own Halloween snacks!

Long-term partying

Similarly, try and avoid products with large amounts of unnecessary packaging or toxic plastics, and if possible, buy party materials that you can reuse. It’s always a good idea to try and think beyond the short-term when planning these activities as even something as simple as using plastic storage boxes to keep any leftover food can go a long way.

Rather than filling your car with paper plates and tablecloth, simply investing in a decent washable tablecloth can work wonders in the long-term. And in terms of furniture, it’s a good idea to always have some collapsible chairs and even a fold-over bed from the likes of Bedstar to cater for the legions of children arriving on your doorstep!

The power of DIY

Although it’s never easy, there’s great fun to be had in creating your own party décor. The internet is full of sites such as Pinterest and Tumblr that provide endless varieties of Halloween ideas. Whereas the ever-reliable Country Living have some simple and fun Halloween home décor tricks that will cut down on your carbon footprint, and save you a few pennies too.

The same applies to Halloween costumes. Our supermarkets are increasingly littered with cheap-but-throwaway costumes that will get worn once and then end up in a landfill site. However, with a little bit of craft know-how and some of the supplies at your local craft store, just about anybody can put together their own unique and terrifying Halloween costume.