How to Have a Holistic Halloween
Happy Halloween everyone! This holiday dates back some 2,500 years to the Celtic festival of Samhain; this was the day that marked the end of the harvest season and the summer and the beginning of the winter - this bought cold weather, darkness, famine, and death. The Celts believed that the worlds between the living and dead became blurred and ghosts could return to the earth on Halloween hence, why people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
Now, Halloween is celebrated as one of the most fun holidays, it’s a happy excuse to dress up as your favourite character and eat lots of sweeties, and fuel ourselves on the adrenaline of being spooked. In fact, Halloween is the second highest-grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.
Halloween can come with a lot of excess consumerism, a lot of junk food, and a lot of cheap plastic packaging. Like anything, you can choose to participate that way or you can choose to do things differently. It really only takes a few simple swaps to make Halloween less commercialised, healthier and eco-friendly.
Costume Prep:
- Consider finding items in your home to make a costume
- Instead of buying new make-up, use make-up that you may already have.
- Recycle costumes from years past by sharing with friends or hand-me-downs for children.
- Ask your child ahead of time who they would like to become and challenge their creativity by asking them how they could help to make parts for the costume.
Eco Halloween decorations
- Homemade decorations with recyclable materials
- After calving a pumpkin it can be for or the remainder can be used for:
Trick or treating (Remember to always stay safe, see here for some tips.)
- Eat before you go out trick or treating
- (If you’re friendly with your neighbours) hand our healthy treats to be given out when your children visit.
- Make your own loot bag instead of using a plastic bucket for collecting sweets.
- Handing out alternatives to trick-or-treaters - e.g. play dough, slime, faux crystals, paper fortune tellers, stickers, and pencils.
Healthy Halloween Treats - Check out some of these great recipes below we’ve found
What do you think are the top tips for having a healthy Halloween? Let us know in the comments!