Eco-friendly Halloween: Sustainable décor ideas for a green celebration

Halloween is a time for spooky fun, costumes and candy, but it can also be a time for generating a lot of waste. Single-use plastic decorations, mass-produced costumes and excessive packaging can take a toll on the environment. But fear not, fellow spooky enthusiasts! You can still embrace the spirit of Halloween while keeping your celebration eco-friendly and sustainable.

This year, let’s ditch the disposable and embrace creativity with these sustainable, eco-friendly Halloween décor ideas.

1. Embrace the natural world

Autumn foliage: Leaves, branches and pumpkins are the perfect natural decorations for a spooky ambiance. Gather fallen leaves in vibrant hues and craft them into garlands or use them as table scatterings.
Pine cones and twigs: Create whimsical spider webs or miniature haunted forests using pine cones, twigs and branches.
Dried flowers and herbs: Dried herbs like lavender or rosemary can be incorporated into spooky wreaths or arrangements. Dried flowers in autumnal tones add a touch of ethereal beauty.

2. Repurpose and upcycle

DIY decorations: Get crafty and transform old jars, bottles and containers into spooky lanterns or candleholders. Paint them with eerie designs or fill them with fairy lights for a magical glow.
Fabric scraps and old clothes: Create ghostly figures, spiderwebs or Halloween banners using old fabric scraps and clothing. Sewing skills aren’t necessary – get creative with glue and scissors!
Cardboard and paper: Repurpose old cardboard boxes and paper into spooky decorations. Cut out silhouettes of bats, ghosts and pumpkins or create a haunted mansion backdrop.

3. Opt for sustainable materials

Reusable fabric bunting: Instead of flimsy plastic banners, opt for reusable fabric bunting that can be stored and used year after year.
Natural fibre decorations: Look for decorations made from natural fibres like jute, cotton or wood. These are biodegradable and more environmentally-friendly than plastic options.
LED lights: Swap traditional incandescent bulbs for energy-efficient LED lights. They use less energy and last longer, reducing your carbon footprint.

4. Get creative with food and treats

Homemade treats: Skip the mass-produced candy and bake your own spooky treats using organic and locally-sourced or foraged ingredients.
Reusable food containers: Encourage guests to bring their own reusable food containers for trick-or-treating or party snacks.
Compostable packaging: If you do use packaging for treats, choose compostable or biodegradable options.

5. Spread the word

Educate others: Talk to friends and family about the importance of eco-friendly Halloween. Encourage them to adopt sustainable practices for their celebrations too.
Support local businesses: Seek out local businesses that offer sustainable Halloween decorations and products.

By adopting these eco-friendly practices, you can enjoy a spooky and fun Halloween while minimising your environmental impact. Let’s make this Halloween a celebration of both fun and sustainability, ensuring a happy and healthy future for generations to come!

Price Points: Gutter cleaning tools

We have two absolutely humongous sycamore trees in our garden. Between October and November each year, they shed what feels like a metric tonne of leaves and whirlygigs; onto the ground and onto the roof of the cottage.

For the first few days, it’s an easy job to just bend down and collect up the scant leaf litter on the paths and begin to store it into a large bin liner. We save it all to turn it into leaf mould, a process that takes about 2 years. If we have a windy period or cold snap, the leaves fall in a veritable avalanche overnight. That’s when it becomes a bigger job to clear.

The path isn’t such a big deal; however, the leaves that fall on the roof quickly block up the gutters and downpipes. That’s why we’ve been looking at these gutter cleaning tools. The choice is an easy one for us… it has to be #2.

The Home Valet option seems all well & good, but it doesn’t look like it would easily cope with the volume of leaves. The Guttersucker is the kind of kit that would suit a professional window cleaner who could do a seasonal sideline in gutter clearing. Or else, someone that lives in a huge mansion or towering home. Our favoured option would only need to be installed the once – and then unblocking gutters will be a task of the past!

1. The Original Home Valet® gutter care kit: £8.95, eBay
  Clears 4 metres of guttering without the need for you to move your ladder along
2. Gutter protector: £12.79, Coopers of Stortford
  Comes in 4m (13ft) lengths. It has a hook at either end making it easy to join together to form a continuous run along the entire length of your gutter, or it can be cut to length.
3. Guttersucker Junior: from £462.00, Gutter Sucker Direct
  A safe & effective way to keep gutters up to 12m/30ft/4 storeys, free-flowing

shop gutter cleaning tools

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Guttersucker Junior
£462.00

Gutter protector
£12.79