Halloween is a favorite time of year for many kids — filled with creativity, imagination, play, and of course, sweets. But between the candy wrappers and costumes, the holiday also brings a lot of unnecessary plastic waste. So this year, instead of opting for pricey plastics to celebrate the season, we’re here to help your family make this your most fun and sustainable Halloween yet. Keep reading for our top tips to keep the spooky spirit alive — minus the plastic.

DIY decor

There are plenty of ways to create sustainable Halloween decorations that are far more beautiful than purchasing plastic products. All it takes is a little imagination! We encourage you to test out one of these frightfully fun DIYs:

• Painted pumpkins: Swap plastic pumpkin decorations for the real thing! For young kids, avoid the mess of carving by using markers or paints to make fun faces. 

• Egg carton witch hats: Cut a leftover egg carton into a witch’s hat to dress up dolls, toys, or tiny pumpkins. Use the peaks for the tip of the hat and the lid for the brim before painting black.

• Autumn leaf stickers: On your next nature walk, pick up autumn leaves to use as window stickers or to string into garland. Cut them into a fun shape, press them in a book or iron them between wax paper, and paint them white like ghosts or black like bats.

• Twig and twine brooms: Pick up sticks and twigs too and tie them into a witch’s broom. Use larger sticks for the handle, wrap smaller twigs around the bottom, then secure with twine.

• Yarn spider web: Hang up a spooky spider web with yarn. Secure the edges in an asterisk pattern, wrapping and crossing the pieces of yarn over each other in the center. Then, tie a piece of yarn to one of your lines before weaving it in a circle outward from the center.

Spooky snacks

This time of year is all about plastic-wrapped treats, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of healthier, more sustainable Halloween candy alternatives you can try instead. We recommend trying out these festive options: 

• Buy in bulk: Head to your local eco-friendly grocer or farmer’s market and buy candy using your own reusable container. Then, pack it for trick-or-treaters in small cutouts of paper bags tied with twine.

• Make your own: It’s easier than you might think! Simply choose your favorite dried fruits, nuts, seeds, popcorn, or pretzels and dip them in melted chocolate or caramel. Let harden and be sure to check on any kids’ allergies before serving.

• Decorate sugar cookies: Use cookie cutters to create spooky shapes and dress them up with colorful icing. Allow kids to decorate their own and let their imaginations run wild.

• Create fruit monsters: Re-arrange your favorite fruits into banana ghosts, mandarin pumpkins, or googly-eyed grapes. Check out more ideas here!
  

Eco-cute costumes

What better way to engage your kiddo’s imagination than helping them build their own sustainable Halloween costume from scratch! This allows you to forgo plastic costumes, choose your own design, and avoid unnecessary plastic waste. Here are a few of our tips to achieve your child’s favorite costume yet:

• Facepaint: Dress up any outfit using eco-friendly and kid-friendly makeup as facepaint to turn them into a mermaid, a comic book hero, animal, or anything you can dream up. If you use glitter, just be sure it’s biodegradable.

• DIY props: You can repurpose your witch’s broom DIY for a costume, make a super hero mask out of fabric, or cut a cardboard box into a robot. The possibilities are endless!.

• Felt or cotton balls: Cut out pieces of felt or pull apart cotton balls to stick on any monochromatic outfit to turn it into a costume. White bone shapes over black clothes can make a skeleton. Red, yellow, and green felt circles turn you into a traffic light. And, cotton balls on top of a hat or umbrella can transform you into a storm cloud.

• Decorate your Pura Stainless bottle: And, of course, don’t forget to use washable markers or paints to dress up your family’s Puras to match your costumes!
  

At Pura Stainless, we believe that plastic is one of the scariest things for the health of our kids and the planet. That’s why we innovated a healthier way to hydrate — with a line of 100% plastic-free water bottles for people of all ages. So, if you don’t have one already, be sure to complete your sustainable Halloween, with one of our safe sippers. Shop now!