Kristen Ahern of Conscious Costume and Cat Sewell of Polyglot Theatre emphasize that the holiday's true value lies in community and imagination rather than commercial franchises. Participants can assemble disguises by capturing a character's essence using wardrobe color palettes, markers on plain shirts, or simple natural additions like attached leaves. Functional elements like animal ears, tails, and robot heads can easily be constructed using scrap fabrics, cardboard, paper bags, and wire coat hangers. These crafted pieces can be comfortably secured with masking tape, rubber bands, or safety pins to avoid generating non-recyclable waste.
Key points
Crafting holiday outfits from existing household items eliminates reliance on single-use…: Crafting holiday outfits from existing household items eliminates reliance on single-use plastic store purchases.
Emulating character color palettes through everyday garments offers a simple method to po…: Emulating character color palettes through everyday garments offers a simple method to portray recognisable figures sustainably.
Swapping accessories, makeup, and family clothing creates complete disguises without prod…: Swapping accessories, makeup, and family clothing creates complete disguises without producing unnecessary seasonal rubbish.
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The thrill of an event like Halloween doesn’t come from a brand new costume or “two pillowcases’ worth of sweets”, says play specialist Cat Sewell.
The fun comes from carving out the time to play, making ridiculous outfits, and the terror and delight of haunting the neighbourhood, says the artistic director and co-CEO of Polyglot Theatre, a company that creates participatory, immersive, child-led theatre.
“The value is the community connection, and the risk and scared-ness of knocking on doors, and doing that in a community. And the takeover of the streets again for families.”
Keen to join in the Halloween revelry but don’t have a costume? Experts say it’s not too late; you can still fashion a ghoulish get-up, without buying – or wasting – anything.
Finding fang-tastic inspiration
A great costume relies on a “sense of fun and commitment”, says Kristen Ahern, the founder of Conscious Costume. There are plenty of ways to use what you’ve already got, and avoid the trap of plastic dress-ups that tend to be bought new, worn once and thrown away.
Unusually wet weather delivered the cleanest October atmosphere the capital has experienced in years, concluding the month with a rare sub-100 pollution score. While government officials claim emergency regulations improved conditions, environmental analysts argue extreme rainfall served as the primary driver behind clearing the air. The resulting deluge dropped average pollution scores to levels unseen since 2015.
The extensive destruction around Glenmore in the Cairngorms has stripped the ecosystem of essential seed sources and wildlife habitats, creating a long-term environmental void that could take hundreds of years to reverse. However, early signs of ground recovery indicate the landscape is gradually stabilizing, offering hope for regional flora and fauna to reclaim the damaged moorland.
Landon Hoberman, a 17-year-old from New Jersey, has led an environmental campaign that prevented 8.1 million single-use plastic utensils from entering landfills. Rather than relying on new technology, his effort encourages restaurants to stop automatically including plastic forks, knives, and spoons in takeout and delivery orders. Instead, participating businesses prompt customers to request utensils or select an opt-in option at checkout, ensuring the items are distributed only when genuinely needed.