Will you help us tackle the horrors of litter and waste this #HallowClean?

The sight of litter gives us goosebumps all year round, but Halloween night can have a bloodcurdling impact of its own on our environment.

The amount of waste generated by this spooky event is terrifying – with thousands of tonnes of flimsy single-use costumes, unrecyclable single-use plastic sweet wrappers, and mass-produced decorations ending up in landfill - as well as millions of perfectly edible pumpkins.

So this year Keep Britain Tidy is launching a fun festive campaign to encourage our nation of #LitterHeroes to join forces for #HallowClean.

Fang-tastic facts

• Millions of perfectly edible pumpkins and Halloween themed costumes end up in rubbish bins across the country annually
• Trick and treat sweet wrappers often litter our streets after Halloween
• Most decorations and costumes are made from plastics that are non-recyclable
• Keep Britain Tidy is urging people to make sure their choices on Halloween don’t haunt generations to come

There are several ways you can take part in our mission for a green Halloween during our #HallowClean week of action, from October 24 to 31:

• Dress up in your scariest outfit and do a #HallowClean litter pick with friends in your area - make your pledge here!
• Embrace our sustainable Halloween tips that we’ll be posting in our news stories and on our social media channels.
• Tweet your fancy dress litter-pick pictures, or your best sustainable Halloween ideas, with the hashtag #HallowClean.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “There’s no doubt Halloween can be a real nightmare for the environment.

“But there are many tweaks you can make to ensure your celebration is environmentally friendly.

“During #HallowClean week we can all play a part in creating a green Halloween whether it’s by hosting a creepy clean-up, aiming to create as little waste as possible, reusing and re-purposing wherever we can, and ensuring any party waste we create is recyclable.

“We’d love to see how everyone is celebrating #HallowClean – please share your pictures and ideas on our social media pages.”

Keep Britain Tidy is encouraging ghosts and ghouls across the country to adopt a few simple tips to keep their Halloween eco-friendly.

Our biggest carbon footprints during Halloween comes from rotting pumpkin waste which emits methane, and countless poor-quality, mass-produced outfits made from plastic or unsustainable materials.

So why not buy your pumpkin from a local grower or farmer’s market, and after carving it keep the seeds and flesh to eat later: you can roast the seeds and make pumpkin soup.

You could reuse outfits you've already got if it still fits or encourage your school to have a Halloween costume swap. You could even keep old clothes that can be reused to make your own costumes or buy second hand from your local charity shop.

You can recycle old sheets to make ghost costumes and repurpose your toilet paper rolls to make spooky decorations but, if you do buy decorations, please ensure that they are reusable so you can use them year after year.

Instead of buying a plastic bucket to hold treats in, why not use something you already have? You can use a wicker basket, a regular bucket or even an old bag or pillowcase that you can decorate and use every year.

If you’re throwing a Halloween party buy only what you need and make sure you avoid single-use plastic plates, cups and cutlery. You could use regular kitchenware or avoid the need for plates or utensils at all by opting to serve finger foods like sandwiches, muffins, cupcakes and bagels.

You can keep your party greener by balancing these dishes out with fruits and veg, avoiding as many meat-based options.

Opt for goodies with minimal packaging or packaged in recycled materials - or better still, avoid all those plastic wrapped sweets and make some ghoulishly good cookies instead.

Most importantly, please try not to over-cater - one of the kindest things you can do for the planet is reduce food waste.

And please avoid balloons as these can ultimately litter the environment and harm our wildlife.

Have a hair-raising #HallowClean, however you choose to celebrate it - happy haunting!