Halloween should be spooky — not wasteful!.

Every October, costumes, decorations, pumpkins, candy wrappers and plastic accessories can add up to a frightening amount of garbage. But with a few simple choices, we can keep the fun while reducing our environmental impact.

This Halloween, challenge yourself to make your celebrations a little greener.

🎃 1. Reuse, Swap or Thrift Your Costume

Before buying something new, look at what you already have. Raid your closet, visit a thrift store, swap costumes with friends, or create your own.

A little imagination can turn old clothes into a pirate, zombie, witch or mad scientist — no brand-new plastic costume required.

👻 2. Decorate Without the Plastic Overload

Reuse decorations from previous years and choose items made from cardboard, fabric, wood or natural materials.

Leaves, branches, pumpkins and old sheets can create plenty of Halloween atmosphere.

Remember: spooky doesn’t have to mean disposable.

🕷️ 3. Say “Boo!” to Single-Use Items

Avoid disposable cups, plates, cutlery and decorations whenever possible.

If you’re hosting a Halloween party, use regular dishes or reusable alternatives. Less garbage means a much less frightening cleanup the next morning!

🍬 4. Be Smarter About Treats

Candy wrappers can create a mountain of waste. Choose products with less packaging when possible and avoid buying far more candy than you need.

Of course, leftover chocolate rarely seems to remain “left over” for very long!

🎃 5. Don’t Trash Your Pumpkin

Your jack-o’-lantern still has value after October 31.

Roast the seeds, use the pumpkin flesh in soups or baking, and compost the rest where local programs allow.

Pumpkins belong in the compost — not the garbage.

🚶 6. Walk the Neighbourhood

Trick-or-treating is already one of Halloween’s greener traditions.

Walk around your neighbourhood rather than driving from place to place whenever possible. If travelling farther, consider carpooling.

♻️ 7. Pack It Up for Next Year

When Halloween is over, don’t automatically throw everything away.

Store costumes, decorations, reusable bags and accessories for next year. Donate items you no longer need so someone else can give them another life.

🎃 This Halloween, Make GREEN the New ORANGE!

You don’t have to completely change Halloween to make a difference.

Reuse one costume. Avoid one unnecessary plastic decoration. Compost one pumpkin. Walk instead of drive.

Small choices multiplied across hundreds of homes can mean less waste, less plastic and a cleaner Georgian Bay community.

So this Halloween, have fun, get creative and make sustainability part of the celebration. Happy Halloween.

Go Green for Halloween — because the scariest thing this October shouldn’t be what ends up in our garbage!

Engage with Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team

                Wasagabeachclimateaction.com     [email protected]

Disclaimer
·This Blog was first published in What’s Up? Georgian Bay, October 2026 edition (See Page 4)