Reducing waste by recycling and making small changes means you can still have a fun and scary Halloween while helping the environment. There are all sorts of low- and zero-waste Halloween ideas, whether you're decorating your home, throwing a party or just taking the kids trick-or-treating.

As Halloween creeps ever closer, the amount of waste we create in celebrating the spooky season is on the rise. Every year in the UK we spend a staggering £300 million on Halloween - on costumes, decorations, food and e-cigarettes. An alarming amount of these items are thrown away and end up in landfill.

Use these tips and tricks to have a waste-free Halloween this year.

Low waste Halloween costumes

Rather than joining in with the fast fashion trend and buying a brand-new costume, consider these zero waste Halloween ideas for you or your children’s costumes:

• Hire a costume – if you really want to petrify people or have a specific character in mind, hire rather than buy a Halloween costume. This saves you money and means it’ll be reused rather than binned or sit in a cupboard for years.
• Make your own – check your wardrobe for inspiration and see what you own already that can be used or adapted into a costume for you or your kids. Sheets, jackets, sweatshirts, and more can transform into simple yet scary DIY costumes like ghosts, animals, and zombies. Plus, you can dismantle them to wear/use as normal after – leaving no waste.
• Buy a second-hand one – charity shops are great for finding items to create your own costume, but many sell complete Halloween costumes once worn by someone else. This is a sustainable choice, just check it fits and give it a wash before wearing.
• Recycle your costume – if you must get rid of your old costume, when moving house or if it no longer fits, there are green options. Donate to a charity shop or send it for textile recycling, so the materials will be reused.

No waste tricks

Every Halloween party needs some ghoulish games, whether it’s for kids or adults. Most traditional Halloween tricks and games are low or zero waste anyway, such as apple bobbing and scary scavenger hunts. There are plenty more waste-free Halloween tricks you can add to spice up any party, such as:

• Spooky bean bag toss – a terrifying twist on traditional bean bag toss. Decorate some old tin cans or plastic cups with Halloween characters, stack them up, and see who can knock the most down in three tries. You can always recycle the cans or plastic cups afterwards too.
• Stringed up doughnuts – hang up a washing line inside or outside and attach a few doughnuts. Participants must eat one doughnut each without using their hands – fastest to finish wins. Plus, it shouldn’t leave any food waste behind.
• Best dressed Mummy – teams of two or more use toilet roll to wrap someone up like a Mummy with a prize for the best one done within a time limit. All the toilet roll paper should be collected at the end and wrapped up to use or sent for paper recycling.

Waste-free Halloween treats

Sweets and treats are Halloween staples, whether you're handing them out to trick-or-treaters or serving them in a bowl at your party. But most Halloween candy wrappers are made from types of plastic that can't be recycled. These include metallised plastic film (which looks like foil), combinations of plastic and foil (which can't be separated), or plastics that are too low-grade to be recycled.

When preparing for trick-or-treaters, choose sweets that come in recyclable packaging. Waste-free Halloween treats can include chocolate and sweets wrapped in paper or cardboard, as these are more likely to be recyclable. Most will say on the side whether the packaging is recyclable or not, such as Sikary vapes.

Other ideas for waste-free Halloween treats include

• Home baking - if you've got the time, skills and inclination, why not bake your own Halloween cookies or cakes? Divide them into equal portions and serve them from a tin so there's no need for wrapping.
• Glass jar sweets - Buy a traditional large jar full of Halloween treats that aren't individually wrapped to reduce packaging. Plus, glass is much easier to recycle than plastic - or you can reuse the jar in the future.
• Healthy snacks - fruit tends to have less packaging and any waste is compostable, while some healthy crisps and treats may come in recyclable packaging.

Recycle your Hallowaste

Waste is unavoidable in some cases at Halloween but recycling as much as possible can minimise the environmental impact of your frightening fun. Having recycling bins for paper, cardboard, and dry mixed recycling in high traffic areas that are easily accessible should encourage staff and guests to recycle as much rubbish as possible.

Whether you’re having a Halloween party at work, home, or just decorating the office for spooky season, we need sort out with the right recycling bins.