Give To the Planet This Halloween – 5 Eco Friendly Halloween GivesThese eco friendly Halloween gives are fun! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I know I am not alone! While Halloween is a festive, spooky time, it is also a time that we tend to create a lot of waste that is not good for the planet. When October hits, there are new, exciting Halloween decorations that are tempting to buy, especially for school staff who like decorating their school halls and classrooms. But we have to remember what this means for our planet, all of these extra decorations will eventually go to waste and will continue to hurt the planet. So what can school staff do to reduce waste and have an eco-friendly Halloween with their students? Let’s find out!Reuse Decorations For An Eco Friendly HalloweenHalloween is a time of temptation. We want to get the latest and fun decorations highlighted online and in stores to spruce up the classroom. This year, reuse your old decorations from last year! Make it a yearly tradition to dust off your box of Halloween decorations and reuse them every year and only replace decorations as needed. A pro tip is to make sure to detangle and organize your decorations when you are putting them away for the year, there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to untangle meters of caution tape! Those old decorations you have to finally stop using? See if you can recycle them and dispose of them in an eco friendly way.DIY Halloween Decorations! A Halloween Classroom ProjectIf you are anything like me and feel like every year you want something new to add to your decoration collection, try making your own! This could be a great class activity that your students can do for an art project. Use your recycled plastic/cardboard from home or from the classroom (if you do not have enough, ask your kids to bring a thing or two from home). There are plenty of fun homemade Halloween decoration tutorials you can find online for you and your students to enjoy! Check out these three ideas that you can bring to the classroom: Flying black bats made from toilet paper rolls, cute bats made from toilet paper rolls, and Monsters made from pop bottles!What About Candy For An Eco Friendly Halloween?We all get tempted to buy at least two boxes of candy from the store, one for the trick-or-treaters and one for ourselves! Those boxes of individually wrapped Halloween chocolate bars and candies are so tempting because they’re delicious and convenient. But they are terrible for the environment. If you give out candy in your classroom or at your school – try to avoid buying those convenient boxes of mini candy’s and instead make goody bags! This Halloween, give back to the planet by buying large bags of candy and chocolate that do not wrap the candies inside individually. Using small brown paper bags, you can make a variety of candy bags to give to your kids. Remember to wash your hands before transferring the candy and minimize using your hands – kitchen tongs might be your best bet! Keep it clean and eco friendly!Buy Pumpkins Locally!If you are planning to decorate your classroom or your school with real pumpkins, buy from a local source. Finding a local pumpkin patch is a great way to give back to your local community and to give back to the planet by reducing your emissions and carbon footprint. While this is something you may prefer to do individually, you could consider organizing a group of school staff to carpool to the pumpkin patch and pick out pumpkins for the school!Pumpkin After CareIf you do end up using pumpkins in your school or classrooms, make sure you dispose of your pumpkins responsibly. When you’re done with the pumpkins make sure to save the seeds. You can add spices and roast them for yourself or roast them plain and feed them to the birds! You can also call your local farms or zoo to see if they want any pumpkins as snacks for the animals. If this option is not possible for you, make sure to at least compost the pumpkins instead of throwing them in the garbage. You could also have a short lesson with your students on Pumpkin After Care, so they can dispose of their pumpkins at home responsibly as well.Did we miss anything? If you can think of any other Halloween-ie planet gives that could be done in the classroom, leave a comment below! We always love hearing from you. Ready to start giving with your classroom on a regular basis? Sign up for a free membership at 365give and watch your students fall in love with giving. Share Article: