With Halloween’s trademark festivities cancelled due to coronavirus, it provides an unusual time for reflection over this bizarre holiday, as we are not caught up in the costumes and candy.

Halloween has always been controversial, with its religious origins having been mostly disregarded in favour for dressing up as ghosts and witches, much to the contempt of many, and the more recent discussions on the sugar consumption caused by trick-or-treating leading to families handing out carrot sticks to disappointed children. However, in the spirit of the recent drive for a cleaner planet, due to the state of the oceans and many initiatives to cut down on all types of waste, it is shocking Halloween has not changed much at all.

Look at the three biggest components of the holiday, firstly you have sweets and chocolate, all individually wrapped and given up to children by the tonne. These rappers are then thrown away, most of them are unrecyclable and so go straight to landfill. Then you have costumes, cheap and mostly,70% polyester, these are worn and then many are thrown away, again going straight to landfill. [stat] Finally, carving pumpkins, a plastic less tradition, however this causes even more waste, as families throw them away, scooping the seeds into the bin, despite many easy ways to use the pumpkin for meals or snacks.

This year may allow people to recognise how this wastage has been normalised, and could easily be stopped. But with so much going on in the world, it is easy to overlook.

With Halloween’s trademark festivities cancelled due to coronavirus, it provides an unusual time for reflection over this bizarre holiday, as we are not caught up in the costumes and candy.

Halloween has always been controversial, with its religious origins having been mostly disregarded in favour for dressing up as ghosts and witches, much to the contempt of many, and the more recent discussions on the sugar consumption caused by trick-or-treating leading to families handing out carrot sticks to disappointed children. However, in the spirit of the recent drive for a cleaner planet, due to the state of the oceans and many initiatives to cut down on all types of waste, it is shocking Halloween has not changed much at all.

Look at the three biggest components of the holiday, firstly you have sweets and chocolate, all individually wrapped and given up to children by the tonne. These rappers are then thrown away, most of them are unrecyclable and so go straight to landfill. Then you have costumes, cheap and mostly,70% polyester, these are worn and then many are thrown away, again going straight to landfill. [stat] Finally, carving pumpkins, a plastic less tradition, however this causes even more waste, as families throw them away, scooping the seeds into the bin, despite many easy ways to use the pumpkin for meals or snacks.

This year may allow people to recognise how this wastage has been normalised, and could easily be stopped. But with so much going on in the world, it is easy to overlook.