Halloween is full of tricks, treats and plenty of spooky stuff—but with a little planning, your fright night can be festive without creating a monstrous mountain of waste.

Stop Cosmic Candy Curses

Don’t let candy wrappers become a terrifying trash pile. Collect eligible wrappers for recycling at Recycle Utah.

And before tossing extra treats, remember that unopened candy can be saved for stocking stuffers, used to decorate Gingerbread homes and holiday treats, or you can donate excess candy at Recycle Utah through Wasteless Solutions for distribution to community kitchens around town.

Conjure Up a Creative Costume

Before creating textile-waste terror, raid your closet, craft cupboard or recycling bin and piece together a costume from materials you already have. No need to buy something boo-new!

Hunt for secondhand scares at local thrift stores, where costumes, capes, hats, wigs, props and decorations are waiting for their second act. Or host a neighborhood costume-exchange! Buy Nothing Park City (Facebook) is a great online forum to post and look for items.

Jack-o-Lantern’s Aren’t Junk

Choose pumpkins you can eat as well as decorate, roast the seeds and compost the rest when Halloween is over. Drop off at local schools, Recycle Utah or in your curbside organics collection bucket from Momentum. 

DIY Haunted Halls

Skip the store-bought plastics and summon decorations from things already lurking around your home. Cut bats, black cats and ghosts from cardboard, transform glass jars into glowing lanterns, and use branches, leaves, pumpkins and gourds for naturally creepy décor. And maybe give those hardworking spiders a break and leave their webs up for the week!

For more pre-loved props and haunting home décor, check out the Christian Center of Park City for secondhand treasures.

Throw a Low-Waste Monster Mash

Hosting a monster ball? Keep the party waste-free by using reusable plates, cups, napkins and utensils. Serve drinks from pitchers or dispensers instead of single-use bottles and cans, and pick snacks with minimal packaging.

Make waste sorting for guests wickedly easy by clearly labeling recycling and compost bins. Ask guests to bring reusable containers so leftover treats can go home with them instead of mysteriously vanishing into the trash.

This Halloween, ghost unnecessary waste, resurrect your reusables and scare resource destruction right out of town. A few small swaps can make your celebration a little less trashy—and a whole lot more spook-tacular.

By Jill Donello