Things that go bump in the bin?

This Halloween, scores of children will once again drag their parents out into the chilly October air to spook their obliging neighbours into handing over sugary treats. Costumes, sweets and decorations are all considered necessities for this single evening of enforced spookiness – and then typically end up in the bin. For a green-minded parent (or child), are there ways to avoid being haunted by horrible waste without making Halloween a ghastly chore?

While costumed kids may be the mainstay of the Halloween tradition, they aren’t the only ones setting out to give their neighbours a fright at this time of year. Indeed, it’s not just human beings. Around the world wheelie bins have taken it upon themselves to give unsuspecting residents a scare. But it’s not chocolate they’re after. In fact, these bins are rather abstemious at this time of year. Or at least they’re trying to be.

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Perhaps this bin has had problems with dog waste in the past.

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This kerbside recycling box just wants to feel wanted.

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This is what can happen if you persistently fail to recycle properly.

So much for the tricks, now for the treats. In order to exorcise the phantom of waste, we’ve been round to our neighbouring environmental websites to collect the best tips the internet has to offer on how enjoy a green Halloween. Take a look and learn how to save your residual waste bin from seasonal overindulgence this year.

Dark arts and crafts

The important thing to consider when deciding on Halloween decorations is the materials that they are made of. If you’re shopping for your ornaments, avoid cheap and cheerful single-use items with excessive quantities of packaging. However, the best thing you can do is to make your own decorations at home. Feeling creative? Try carving a brain out of a watermelon. Kids will love eating slices!

Use your melon. Source: www.cutefoodforkids.com

If you were wondering how you might illuminate your garden path this year, old milk bottles can be made into rather spooky ghost lanterns. Easy to make, these decorations can be readily recycled when you’re finished with them.

Turning a little pail – into ghostly lanterns. Source: www.lilsugar.com

Turn into a pumpkin pie

Halloween is now said to be the third most lucrative festival after Christmas and Easter: Yougov estimated that consumers in 2012 spent £268 million whilst other estimates are even higher. This rise in popularity has triggered a huge demand for pumpkins, with millions bought in the UK each year, according to retailers, 90% of which were used as lanterns.

Sadly, once the candles go out, many pumpkins go straight in the bin. Rather than throw away the remains, why not put them to good use: pumpkins are rich in vitamins and minerals and lend themselves to a variety of recipes.

Sweet tooth? Try making a pumpkin pie. Simple to make and full of sugar, there are plenty of recipes out there to make sure your blood sugar levels don’t crash after a 31^st October binge.

Easy as pie. Source: www.simplyrecipes.com

If you fancy something a bit more savoury, try a soup. Websites such as BBC good food are full of tummy-warming variations.

A souper-natural idea. Source: www.bbcgoodfood.com

Stitching hour

When it comes to Halloween waste prevention, the making your own costumes is a bit of a no-brainer. It’s coming up with a quick and easy idea that’s the hard part. It has been estimated that more than one million tonnes of textiles are thrown away every year in the UK. Around 25% of textile wastes are reused or recycled annually in the UK. This figure can be increased by avoiding cheap poor quality supermarket costumes and rooting around in your cupboards for suitable materials. Below are two especially creative ideas for different ages.

A onesie coupled with a green bicycle helmet make for this simple child’s costume. Who said Halloween costumes needed to be scary?

It certainly tortoise something about waste prevention Source: www.mnn.com

Scare your neighbours into thinking that they’ve shrunk down to the size of matchbox with a homemade Lego man costume. A large cardboard box, cylindrical bin, rubber gloves and some colourful tape is all you need.

Creative costumes: cheap, cheerful and child’s play. Source: www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com

The web is full of suggestions to help you reduce the amount of waste you produce this Halloween; these were just a few of our favourites. Avoid being tricked by your residual waste bin this year and take some of these simple preventative measures on board.