How to have an eco friendly HALLOWEEN!

[@kelseeleno4544]

Love these ideas. My parents have a neighbor who thrifts books and tries to hand them out based on what each kids costume is.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

that's amazing! how fun!

[@gweneverek6953]

We love to put together costumes with normal clothes. Wardrobe costumes! We even swapped clothes to complete the costumes.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

that's the best!

[@sarahkinsey5434]

I work at a fabric store in Minnesota, so we love a good sweatshirt costume.

[@gweneverek6953]

@@sarahkinsey5434 👍I am working on a Sally sweater from Nughtmare before christmas.

[@mackereltabbie]

For adults or older kids, friends' discarded/worn out work uniforms (scrubs, overalls and so on) make great costumes! Just add homemade scary badges, face paint or whatever fits

[@aurorapapillon4883]

I use candles with candle holders that cast spooky shadows, twigs tied into pentagrams, chalk and a music playlist for most of my halloween decor

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

great ideas! love the DIYs :)

[@cziegle3794]

​@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist There are large paper leaf bags at Walmart.

[@erintannehill]

This is my baby’s first Halloween and she’s going to be a pumpkin, but instead of the baby bubble pumpkin outfits, I’m doing a pumpkin face onesie with pants and a bow. She will be able to wear this outfit multiple times throughout the season and in different ways.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yay fun!! great idea :)

[@nature_rabbits5370]

What’s nice is pumpkins are actually a natural dewormer for a lot of farm animals! I just recently learned this, or maybe I relearned it because it’s possible that I forgot it. Lol

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

so true!! yay for eco and healthy!

[@louisehendrickx1671]

Friendly reminder to everyone that butternut squash peel is edible! Just cut up the pumpkin in pieces, add some olive oil and spices, throw it in the oven and there you go. The peel becomes almost as soft as the 'meat' of the pumpkin so you'll hardly notice :)

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

woohoo thank you!

[@TheSkellingtonGhost]

As someone into the goth life style. I keep most of my black and skull halloween decor as year round inside decor. Also thrifted and costumes that are a lot of small parts. I perfer my costumes to be reusable like resusing the acceries or top for another costume or every day wear

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yessss love that!

[@Volundur9567]

YASS! As a witch, it's always up.

[@francaaaaaaa]

I always liked the houses where we would get mandarins instead of sweets. Since I didnt really like most packaged sweets like chocolatebars. You can do this with any naturally packaged fruit. It's a win win, less waste and more health. Also we had a rule in our home for st Martin. This our walking around the neighbourhood for candy holiday, where kids bring light to people like saint Martin did. In my house we had to make our own light covering and if we didn't we weren't allowed to walk. If you are too ald or cool for crafts you are too old or cool to walk around for candy. I've always prefered the homemade ones over the premade ones.

[@melissam4954]

Mandarin oranges are such a good idea!

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

great idea!!

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

@@melissam4954 yes!!

[@Volundur9567]

Absolutely! We had an old rich lady who had the most succulent apples and oranges and would give us some. Many kids dropped them because they wasn't candy. Y'all bet I gathered them up.

[@francaaaaaaa]

@@Volundur9567 talking about succulents. I have a lot of mother of thousands babies. Baby plants would be so nice to get as well! Just have to find a way for kids to take it home safely. Maybe fold some toilet paper rolls into boxes.

[@AnjelicaSchink]

I have 4 children and every holiday we make decorations with things that would get recycled, we also draw alot of decorations on scrap paper, cardboard boxes and paint them. For Christmas we make ornaments from salt dough, cinnamon dough and sliced citrus and dry them. For halloween we have a family party and make homemade treats. My 7 year old son toke a box one day this summer and painted it to look like a turtle shell, he said it was going to be his costume this year. My love and priority for the environment have contributed to positive and memorable experinces for my children and helped to instill the importance of being mindful with how we contribute to the impact on the environment. I always strive to do things with my children that create minimal waste. We do always buy a bag of candy incase there are trick or treaters and any left over candy my kids get to eat. I feel that its okay to not be perfect, but instead do our best.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

wow I love these! Keep it up!

[@elizabethwhite72]

Yes! Eat the pumpkin or donate to a farm! And a costume swap! Love it!

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yup!! yayyyy!

[@aurorapapillon4883]

My cat gets bored of her toys, so I have a collection of toys for her and leave 3 toys out at a time, switching them out as she gets bored. I have seasonal themed toys I pull out, they're toys but also add to the festive feel. For Halloween she mauls a toy spider, skull and ghost.

[@louisehendrickx1671]

that is so cute! I'm gonna do that with my dog's toys too :)

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

how nice!

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

@@louisehendrickx1671 yay!

[@dinosaur3126]

We carve day of as a child in cool weather so no bugs and my mom made it into pie

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

great idea!!

[@4-kathryn]

I remember a few years ago my Mother-in-law bought my family a live pumpkin that she mentioned, "would be great for display", she was shocked when she returned a week later that we used it as a food source. Anyway I'm glad you mentioned that in your video, I'd rather have pumpkin bread or something instead of a splash of color somewhere inside our home. The candy by type separation is a good idea, I did it because my spouse hates chocolate so all the chocolate in one grouping (for me) and all fruity kind in another area for him. I didn't think that they might smell the same so that's another helpful tip. Already bought my sweets this year. Sadly it's wrapped in plastic but I was happy I supported a small business that sells allergy-free and vegan.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

For sure! Plus, they last forever so you can keep them as decor for a few weeks and STILL eat it! But for real, why waste free food???

[@mackereltabbie]

I decorate indoors with a lot of Hokkaido (smaller, round, strong orange color) pumpkins and cook them all the time as well. I usually just put one or two in the oven whole (brush/wash the outside clean first) and roast at 150°C until they have a couple brown spots, then cut up/scoop out the skin & meat and use it in muffins, various desserts, soups or smoothies

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

great idea! sounds tasty :)

[@chrstopherblighton-sande2981]

I've been using the same Halloween decorations for nearly 10 years now and I absolutely love getting them out each year as they are connected to all the memories from previous Halloweens :-) I've struggled with the waste around the sweets I give out to the trick-or-treaters as they always come in plastic. This year I've been thinking about bulking it out with some boxed raisins and blueberries, though it makes me feel guilty that the kids might not like them lol.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yay I love that so much! so many memories in our old decor :)

[@schmirfle]

My costume has been Harley Quinn for the last 8 years: for halloween, for any dress up party, anything 🤣 I sold it on a few days ago as it's time for something new but whatever I get next will be thrifted and the Harley Quinn was still in excellent condition so will hopefully serve this next person a good few years also

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

love that!! keep it up :)

[@starbug345]

Thanks for the tips. Happy World Mental Health Day

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

woohoo thanks for watching!

[@halslibrary]

I have some fruit chews that I don’t like so I am saving them to pass out for Halloween now

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

good use!!

[@anyawillowfan]

Does anyone have sustainable ideas for non-food treats to give out? A lot of children miss out on the enjoyment of trick or treating because even though they may be able to collect the candy, they aren't able to eat it for various reasons. In the past I've given out stickers and various halloween themed 'party bag' type items, but these are usually cheap plastic that is likely to just be thrown in the bin a few weeks later, which obviously I want to avoid.

[@ashleystanley7941]

Something a bit more permanent like hair ties, scrunchies, pins/buttons, or bracelets would be less wasteful than plastic rings, bouncy balls, etc. because people can reuse them over and over again. Depending on the ages of the trick or treaters/party goers, wooden pencils, recycled or refillable pens, or recycled sticky notes could be fun for tweens or teens. A QR code that takes them to a free song or playlist download could be fun, but I'm not sure I'm tech savvy enough to pull that off.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yes! canned sodas and waters are great or useful items they could use in school like holiday themed erasers, notebooks, pencils, etc

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

@@ashleystanley7941 great ideas!

[@anyawillowfan]

@@ashleystanley7941 Thank you, great ideas.

[@randalalansmith9883]

It's not the same pumpkin. On Oct 30, supermarkets pack up all the Halloween pumpkins and replace them with sugar-pie pumpkins (which ironically, have an inedible skin, and are less sweet). I've long thought that the unused Halloween pumpkins go to a canning factory to become pie filling-but it turns out commercial pie filling is made with something more like butternut squash. So it's a mystery how Halloween pumpkins are used in November.

[@randalalansmith9883]

Halloween pumpkins can be baked just like spaghetti squash. Just scrape parallel to the equator with a fork once they've baked on the half-shell with fat inside. And you can eat the skin.

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yes, they won't make the best pie but they do make lovely pumpkin bread, soups, and other savory dishes. I imagine leftover store pumpkins go to landfill or to farms/factories for animal feed

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

yes! they make delicious savory dishes :)

[@hynnow18]

“…talking too fast for you…” ok yeah, I had to change it from 1.75 speed to 1.25 speed

[@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist]

hahahaha hello fellow fast listener!!