When Halloween is over and it’s time to put away the pumpkin decorations and move onto the next holiday, try to think of green ways to move on from Halloween.
Finding out what to do with your pumpkin is the easy part and reusing your decorations year to year is a no-brainer. Save money and resources by not being one of the Americans that collectively buy nearly $1.58 billion worth of Halloween decorations each year. Here is an interesting fact about reusing decoration:
“If each festive household could save just $5 per year by reusing some of their decorations from the previous year, the annual savings would total $420 million – enough to heat every U.S. home for seven hours during the first week of November.”
Well now that saving decorations is a proven good idea, what can we do with all of those costumes? Here are a few helpful tips—
Reuse-If you really liked your costume, you can wear it again, or give it to a friend to wear again. If you don’t think any of your friends would wear it, try to use it as a yard decoration- add some spider webs, some fake blood, and you have yourself festive front yard decor!
If you were one of the people to splurge on that “must have” spooky make-up but have no use for it now, think about hanging on to it. Let the kids play with it or use it for crafts. Also, you can recycle makeup through programs like the Origins Recycling Program. Bring your empty cosmetics tubes, bottles, jars, etc. (no matter the brand, Origins takes them all!) for a free sample of your choice of one of Origins’ skincare products.
Don’t forget to donate! Think hard and look around your community. There are many schools that have theater programs that could probably use your creative costumes. What about local preschools that could use dress up outfits? Or if you know if a Ronald McDonald house or charity like it, drop off your costumes there for the families that are staying there. With play rooms and kids in need, where else should your slightly used costume go?
Try selling your suit. Whether it is through online venues such as eBay or craigslist, or finding a consignment shop or even by organizing a costume re-sell you could make a few bucks and help out someone who might not be able to buy it at full price.
Remake! If you have a good sized piece of fabric, find something creative to do with it. Remake a tee-shirt into a reusable shopping bag or take the cloth and convert it into the back of a bulletin board. Get creative and reuse!
Whatever you choose to do, keep in mind that whatever you throw away will most likely stay in that landfill for years.
Tags: Halloween recycling, Recycling for Charities, Reuse decorations
