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We love Halloween. Do we love the plastic and rubbish that seems to come with it?
No.
If you're anything like us, by tonight you will have bucket loads of sugary treats, children/ witches/ wizards/ ghosts running around, unable to control their emotions and a lot of waste in your bin.
A great way to reduce this waste, is to bake your own Halloween treats - simple, healthier and no wrapping included. Below are some very simple shortbread witch fingers. We simply added some green food colouring and a sliced almond - et voila. Witch Fingers!
Inevitably, We Will Still Receive The Wrappers...
The problem with a lot of sweet wrappers is that they use a mixture of materials - like paper and plastic. These just cannot be recycled, so continue to exist for hundred of years before decomposing. For the sake of sweets 🙄.
So if we can't recycle sweet wrappers, what do we do with them?
We've come up with a few ideas....
Make Them Into Something!
Look at this gorgeous little coin purse made from a sweet wrapper. Super cool, kids will love it and means no wrappers in the bin! Admittedly you need some sewing skills, but people are selling these on Etsy! It's a very cool way to make something from rubbish!
Arianne and I love a bit of crafting, and origami is both relaxing for kids and adults. Why not use the wrappers to make flowers and decorations? They're much prettier than rubbish sitting in the bin and children will at least learn a little and develop some creative thinking from the process...
I love the idea of making a sun catcher or kaleidoscope from the transparent wrappers. The look lovely and teach young children about colour combinations, primary colours and the colour wheel too.
Have you seen the bags made from crisp packets? Super funky and they are literally just folded and weaved together!
Did You Ever Make Crisp Packet Key Rings?
I loved making these as a kid. Children do need adult supervision for this, but it's super easy. Just clean out a crisp wrapper and then place it on foil in a hot oven. Within a few seconds the packet shrinks to a tiny, solid little version of itself, which can be attached to a keyring. Make sure it's cool before you touch it though!
Simple Ways To Reduce Waste This Halloween
Sometimes, all we really need is a reminder of what to do with all of our waste. Don't forget to scrunch clean tin foil into a fist sized ball which can then be recycled.
Don't chuck that rotten pumpkin away, throw it out into the garden or in your local woodland for the birds to pick at - same with those bitten up apples from apple bobbing.
Whatever you're up to today, enjoy yourselves and spending time with friends and family.
Have a fangtasitic time! 🦇
Lots of love,
Keelly & Arianne xxx