ReutersA campaign aimed at preventing people from buying single-use Halloween products has been launched in Cornwall.
Clean Cornwall’s Boo to Plastic campaign said the event was “plagued by single use products” that harmed wildlife and caused a “big rise in litter” each year.
The environmental charity said surveys conducted in 2019 found 83% of Halloween costumes sold online were made of oil-based plastics, which were “very rarely” recycled, and that seven million costumes were disposed of each year in the UK.
Emily Cantrill, team leader at Clean Cornwall, said people could instead share reused costumes, give out plastic-free treats and not use decorations such as faux cobwebs.
“We don’t want to stop anyone having fun at all, but we just think let’s get creative about it,” she said.
“There’s other things you can do – go to the charity shops, I’m sure everybody could pull together a costume from the stuff they could possibly find at home… there are alternatives.”
Ms Cantrill said she wanted people to think before they bought single-use Halloween themed items.
She said: “I don’t see a reduction – every year we look around the shops and they are just full to the brim.
“I don’t think a lot of people realise that the costumes they are buying are made of plastic – about 85% of it is plastic.
“Just reuse, recycle, swap with your friends, go to school and do a swap, just be creative about what you’re doing.”
