When I was a kid many decades ago, Halloween started in mid October with some lighted, hand-carved pumpkins on the neighborhood porches, and us kids asking each other “What are you gonna be for Halloween?”  The common answers were a witch, a ghost, a hobo, a princess.  Costumes were mostly homemade.  My dear mother was not gifted with clever costume-creating but between us, I got ready for “trick or treat”.   Then there was the year when I was about 5 or 6 when she bought me a ready-made costume from a store.  It was a clown outfit, cheaply made of some sort of artificial material but I was pleased.  I headed out the door with my orange plastic pumpkin with a handle and an open top for the candy to drop in.   It’s a pleasant story and memory but I’m now haunted by the certainty that both that clown costume and the plastic pumpkin are existing still, buried in the town “dump”.  

Nowadays Halloween starts somewhere around the first of September with enthusiastic outdoor decorating.  The yard or porch decor sports an enormous variety of blow-up figures swaying in the breeze.  They’re funny and cute and a source of enjoyment for the residents.  I just have to ask, what happens to them when they spring a leak and deflate?  My guess is, they end up in the landfill, forever because they are made of 100% polyester, a petroleum based forever  fabric.   I’m not wanting to deflate the fun, I just want us to find more sustainable ways to decorate.  Actual pumpkins with carved faces and a candle inside still delight.

Halloween is a heavily plastic laden holiday if we let it be.  I suggest adults buy candy to distribute that is not wrapped in plastic.  Yes, I know that has become more difficult lately. I’ve tried to find those small boxes of Good and  Plenty,  Milk Duds and Raisinets but I haven’t succeeded.   All I can say is, do your best.  (If any of you have other ideas for things to distribute, please write in to this column or to the Letters section.)

Lastly, in getting ready for this topic, I found several helpful websites on the internet when I typed in “Halloween without plastic”.  You can find attractive ideas for party decorations that use sustainable, non-plastic materials like colored paper, spider webs made with cotton twine and costume ideas.

If you have a tip, question, or suggestion, feel free to send an email to:  features@cmonitor.com.