13 Easy Ideas for an Amazing Eco Friendly Halloween
Tired of the same ole same ole when it comes to Halloween parties and decor? Is this the year you’re going to have a little more of an eco-friendly Halloween?
From the costumes to the decorations to the treats, food and everything in between, let your creative flag fly and hey, if you’re like me and lack in that department, let these ideas inspire you.
Making your celebration a little less toxic and a little more eco-friendly is only as hard as you decide to make it. In fact, it’s probably more fun and easier than any other holiday because pretty much anything goes.
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Eco-Friendly Halloween Costumes
Back in the day when we were elementary aged, our parents would buy the plastic mask with the plastic costume and send us on our way…who remembers those? The sweat inside the mask from just breathing was enough to make you want to pass out.
But as we got older, we came up with our own costumes using what we had at home or borrowed from friends.
Get some ideas from Melissa @ Bless this Mess. All kinds of great costumes using things you may have laying around the house.
Or how about if you live in a neighborhood, host an in person or virtual costume swap. We live in a fairly large neighborhood with kids of all ages so it would be easy to pass costumes around.
Another option would be to host one virtually in a local community Facebook group.
Or if you’ve got a kiddo in daycare or some sort of afterschool activity or maybe a sports team, talk to the other parents and host a swap with them. Swap is just a fancy name for trade, lol.
Visiting a thrift store is always a good option or a consignment sale for those younger kiddos. I used to hit all the community consignment sales in September and could easily find several costumes to choose from.
If those aren’t options that work for you, how about this cute idea? It’s a little more time intensive than my patience is willing to give but it’s so cute, I couldn’t pass up on sharing it.
Eco-Friendly Halloween Decorations
I honestly don’t have a creative bone in my body but I love to be inspired and recreate what I see others making. Sometimes our brains just need a little kickstart, eh?
Halloween decorations can be made using all sorts of materials so if you can, skip the plastic, unless you’re using something you’d otherwise be getting rid of.
Maybe a few of these ideas in my Easy Upcycled Halloween Decorations post will inspire you and ‘help you’ find items around your house that you could use for making decorations.
I would never think to make any of these but now that I see them, I see how easy they are to make and if you’ve got kids, you probably have plenty of leftover arts and crafting supplies laying around to make these.
Toilet Paper Roll Bats – start saving your toilet paper rolls and if you have paper towel rolls, those could be cut in half.
If you could stop wasting money on paper towels, would you? Head here to find out how easy it is to make the switch to reusable paper towels.
Toilet Paper Roll Monsters – this is your chance to let your imagination go crazy. Pull out the box of all the random craft supplies and let your kiddos go to town.
Bat Template – in case all you have is some Halloween colored paper, grab this template and make some bats to stick around the house. Definitely better than having real bats flying around, right!?!
Dye Free Halloween Treats and Food Stuffs
Food
Halloween Deviled Eggs – these are pretty awesome looking. If you’re having a teen or adult Halloween party, these would go over super well and you don’t need dye full of poison to achieve the color.
Candy Corn Veggie Platter – I love, love, love candy corn but this is about as close as I can come to it these days.
Pumpkin Hummus – this would be great with any veggies or the usual pita, pretzels, maybe even graham crackers?
Orange Jack-O-Lantern Fruit Cup – this is so cute and versatile. Fill it with whatever fruit you prefer and once the party is over, you can throw the oranges in the woods for animals, put it in your compost bin or even use it as a hanging bird feeder.
Drinks
Sour Green Apple and Lime Soda – this honestly couldn’t be any easier and the color is perfect for a Halloween party. You’ll be surprised at what gives it this awesome color.
Hocus Pocus Non-Alcoholic Punch – I feel like I’d need to throw some alcohol in this and vodka is always my go to but non-alcoholic is always a winner.
Creepy Halloween Punch – I love the great orange color of this punch and how cute are these glasses? The ingredients are full of vitamins to help support your immune system going into the season of sicknesses. Surf Sweets is our go to when it comes to ‘healthier for you’ gummies and who wouldn’t love worms in their drink?
Treats
Naturally Dyed Marshmallows – there probably isn’t a healthier marshmallow and you’ll never believe how these marshmallows get their color.
Ghost Marshmallow Popcorn Balls – I would choose some Dandie’s Marshmallows as they don’t have any artificial dye in them. Did you know artificial blue dye is in marshmallows to make them look whiter? Talk about crazy train.
Easy Vegan Halloween Candy Bark – bark is always a hit and can be so easy to make. Naturally colored candy is always my choice and how cute are these eyes? You could use any kind of ‘better for you’ candy to make it as cute or scary as you like.
Candy
Let’s be honest, candy is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Halloween and for me, it’s Candy Corn. Bring on that waxy deliciousness.
But so many of the candy choices are filled with poison, I mean artificial dyes and preservatives and when you’re trying to keep the poisons and potions out of your body, it can be challenging.
Thankfully there are a good number of ‘healthier’ options that honestly taste just as good, if not better. Petroleum derived food dye doesn’t add any flavor, it just adds poison so opt for one without.
I’ve got a great round up of artificial dye free Halloween candy choices that are easily found and reasonably priced.
One tip on the candy wrappers, all the candy that comes in foil – think candy like Hershey Kisses, Reeses Peanut Butter Minis, etc, keep those foil wrappers and even maybe through Easter so you can mush them all into a big solid ball and then toss in your recycling bin. They need to be 100% foil though, no paper or plastic in them.
And don’t forget, after Halloween is over, don’t throw those pumpkins in the trash. Check out my 13 Ways to Upcycle Pumpkins After Halloween post for all kinds of easy, fun ideas.
13 Easy Ideas for an Amazing Eco Friendly Halloween
