Why Halloween Is Terrible For The Environment

Halloween, the time when Minions become sexy and children get to eat too much candy. All this revelry not only makes children hyper, but it's also bad for the environment. Yep, Halloween — at least the way Halloween is celebrated — is terrible for the planet. And it's not just because candy wrappers are made of plastic.

Many Halloween products are seasonal and made to be thrown away after the holiday. After all, no one wants to reuse that sexy witch costume two years in a row. Most costumes were not made to last beyond one use, so these are usually made from cheap materials derived from oil-based plastic, reported Mic. The fashion industry, either fast fashion, designer, or costumes, produces at least 10% of the planet's pollution, wrote Business Insider.

Costumes are not the only culprit. Decorations also tend to be thrown away. Fake spider webs, graves, and those super annoying cackling, dancing witches that start when someone walks in front of them are not fully recyclable. Fast Company pointed out Jack O'Lantern-shaped candy pails are also made of plastic, so look for more sustainable solutions if you can.

No Halloween is complete without a Jack O' Lantern, and if you think good ole' Jack should be safe because he's a vegetable, think again. According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), much of the 1.4 billion tons of pumpkins produced by the United States ends up in the trash where they decompose and create harmful methane gasses. Methane contributes to greenhouse gasses, which significantly impacts climate change, though Vice does point out industry, electricity, and transportation produce dangerous emissions at much higher rates than you know, The Great Pumpkin.

A lot of this wasted pumpkin comes not just from letting the face your kids carved rot on the front porch; it's from pumpkin chucking, that annual tradition of throwing pumpkins at high speed or even using a trebuchet to launch it at high speed. So unless you properly compost your Jack O' Lantern, it may turn to mush and create problems for Mother Earth.

If you think this news is going to make you enjoy Halloween less, don't worry, there are ways to make Halloween sustainable. The NRDC suggests exploring your closet for costumes or repurposing things from around your house. Try decorating with recyclables and serve homemade snacks. Bring a tote to go Trick or Treating. There are many ways to make Halloween a little less of an ecological nightmare without losing its creepiness factor.