Top tips for Halloween décor that’s sustainable and nature-friendly

Waste from Halloween was estimated at the equivalent of 83m plastic bottles in throwaway outfits alone last year, according to charity research. Evidence also showed eight million pumpkins became food waste.

With the annual celebration of ghosts and ghouls growing in popularity and the coronavirus restricting ‘trick or treating’, the conservation charity is encouraging people to start celebrating the festival in new ways – with a focus on nature, sustainability and recycling.

Andy Beer, nature author and regional director at the National Trust said: “By focusing on what we can find and see in nature at this time of year, we can live more in the moment and really notice the changing seasons. With the berries in hedgerows, nuts falling from the trees and the changing leaf colours, it’s a great time to bring some of nature’s own wonders into the home to create autumnal inspired decorations to enjoy, before using them for compost or recycling in garden waste.

“Halloween is also a time when families and ‘crafters’ especially can get really creative with new and fresh designs for carving swedes, squashes or pumpkins.”

Top tips for autumn decoration: Take a walk and look at what might work as decoration – you can dry the brightest coloured leaves on any paper at home – arrange them flat, hang them together – you can create a fallen leaves display under a squash or pumpkin or under your own twig tree. Consider autumnal fruits, nuts and vegetables as potential decorations. Also think what might work well in a vase – simple shapes like long sticks and tall stemmed dried flowers can be very effective. You can really bring a sense of the outdoors inside if you choose carefully.

Try to keep things reasonably simple – it they work together in the natural world they will work visually in your home too.

When carving or using swedes, squash or pumpkins for decoration, nothing needs go to waste. The flesh can be used for anything from soups to scones, the seeds can be toasted as an additional topping or used for bird food. And, as for the carved creations, once the outer skins start to degrade, they can be composted or put out for the birds to enjoy.

For more information on autumn decorations and recipe inspiration, visit nationaltrust.org.uk.