Have a green Halloween with the District Council!

This time of year can be an exciting one for residents, especially those with children who can’t wait to dress up, go out trick or treating, and decorate the house. However, it can also cause massive amounts of waste.

If you want to try to be greener this Halloween, here are a few tips and tricks (or treats)!

Costumes:

It can be very easy to go online and order a brand-new costume every year. The trouble is we rarely re-wear these, and they can be pricey too! Instead, why not try:

• Asking a friend if they have a costume you could borrow. If you also have one that you don’t want to re-wear you could do a costume switch!
• Try your local charity shop. Sometimes half the fun of a costume is creating your own take on it. You can get creative, and it won’t cost as much as a ready-made version. You can even re-donate the items if you wouldn’t wear them again.
• Search your own wardrobe. Just like with a charity shop, there might be some hidden gems in there that could work perfectly, and you don’t need to buy anything new!

Decorations:

Adding some spooky decorations to your home, place of work, or school can be a really fun activity. If you want to get creative but want to be sustainable, you could try:

• Making your own decorations at home. You won’t have to spend a fortune, and it can be a fun family activity to try one evening. If you want some inspiration visit: https://www.gathered.how/arts-crafts/diy-halloween-decorations/
• If you do want to buy decorations make sure to choose ones to last. Go for options like dried flowers, glass lanterns, and autumnal wreaths that you can repurpose all year round. If you’re looking for some bat, pumpkin, etc. themed decorations try to avoid plastic options and instead go for fabric ones that you can keep.
• Carving a pumpkin? Don’t let the remains go to waste, use them in a recipe! You can make pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup, and more! Visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/12_perfect_pumpkin_dishes for inspiration and recipes.

Treats:

The treats at Halloween are sure to be many people’s favourite part, especially children who head out trick or treating. But with that comes a lot of individually wrapped goodies. Some ways you can limit the amount of packaging over Halloween are:

• If you are hosting a Halloween party, why not try baking the treats you put out instead of pre-packaged goodies. Head to https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/halloween to get some ideas!
• Whilst you will still want to make sure you have individually wrapped items for trick or treaters (for safety reasons), you can still try to choose options like foil covered chocolates rather than plastic packets.

Councillor Roger Jackson, Portfolio Holder for Cleaner, Safer, Greener at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We all want a cleaner, safer, greener Newark and Sherwood, and that doesn’t stop when it comes to occasions like Halloween. It is fantastic to see people getting creative with their costumes and decorations, and doing so in a way that is kinder to the planet can only be a good thing!

“I encourage residents to try these sustainable options as not only are they better for the planet, but many of these activities are something families and friends can enjoy doing together.”

Councillor Roger Jackson also encouraged residents to be rewarded for their sustainable choices. He continued, “If you do swap out your usual Halloween habits for more sustainable options, make sure to check Green Rewards and log your choices! You can earn points for activities like shopping locally for your treats, costumes, and décor, or for repurposing clothes to become a costume. These points could lead to you winning a voucher to spend locally in our District.”

Residents can sign up to Green Rewards, for free, at: https://www.notts.greenrewards.co.uk/ There’s also a free app for iOS and Android which you can download by searching for ‘Notts; Green Rewards’ in your device’s app store.

Join today and make small changes for a big impact.

For more information on Green Rewards visit: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/recycling/green-rewards-app/