3 Zero Waste Halloween Crafts

For many of us, Halloween is a great time of the year to bring out any spooky treats and decorations. But when living a zero waste lifestyle, this holiday–filled with plastic candy wrappers and treats–can become a big challenge for even the most stern zero waste followers. What are some ways to help keep true to a zero-waste holiday? Here’s 3 ideas to bring into your haunted house.

Mummified Glass Jar Candle Holder: Brought to us by Crafting a Green World, this spooky craft can be a creative alternative to a pumpkin lantern. Using gauze tape or cheese cloth, simply soak strips of your material in a mixture of flour and water, then paste it onto the glass jars. Once they dry overnight, you can then use recycled paper to glue on the faces. Then, light up your jars with beeswax candles, solar lamps, or tea lights with rechargeable batteries. These jars make a great lighting accompaniment to scary snack tables, porches, and more. 

Melon Brain: Have zombies on the loose? A melon brain carved from a watermelon is a great way to use a treat as a decoration. Simply follow the carving instructions on Instructables, and set it on your table for consumption. Even if it does not get eaten entirely, you can compost it, turning this into a zero-food-waste project.

Yarn Spiderweb: Instead of buying the synthetic materials for traditional spider webbing, consider making a spiderweb out of leftover yarn or string in your home. The Art of Doing Stuff has a nice tutorial to help you create a large spider web on your wall. 

These Halloween crafts are just a few ways to showcase how your holiday does not have to be spent on buying new decorations, and dealing with the extra waste once the day passes. By turning to your recycling bin first, you can get a lot more mileage out of your waste, with the promise of recycling afterwards again. For more zero waste holiday ideas, read through our blog.