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🎃🦇🍬
A Greener Halloween
All treat, no plastic trick.
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THIS WEEK
Treats, Decor And Costumes Without The Plastic
Direct links to candy in compostable and paper wrappers, metal jack-o’-lanterns and beeswax candles instead of plastic light-ups, and costumes your kids can keep wearing.
🎃 Shop The Halloween Picks
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Hi, I’m Carrie Lee 👋
Welcome to Ecowarriors! We got tired of walking into mainstream stores and finding nothing but petroleum- and chemical-based ingredients wrapped in plastic. So we built a better way to shop. Every week we hand-pick swaps for the everyday things you already buy, from snacks and skin care to cleaning and kids’ stuff, made with mostly plant- and mineral-based ingredients and not packaged in plastic. We do the digging, so you don’t have to.
Happy haunting!
Carrie Lee, Chief Eco Officer
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Candy wrappers, costumes, light-up skeletons. So much of Halloween is plastic we use for one night.
Same Fun, Less Plastic
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THE SCARY PART
👻 Your Costume Is Probably Plastic.
When UK charities Hubbub and The Fairyland Trust tested 324 Halloween costumes from 19 stores, they found 83% of the material was oil-based plastic, mostly polyester. Most get worn once.
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🍬 Treats Without The Plastic Wrapper 🎃
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Alter Eco Dark Chocolate Truffles
Organic, fair trade truffles, each in a compostable wrapper.
Shop on Amazon → |
Sun & Swell Chocolate Raisins
Organic, fair trade chocolate raisins in home compostable packs.
Shop Sun & Swell → |
Simply Gum
Plastic-free gum made from natural tree sap, in paper boxes.
Shop on Amazon → |
Sun-Maid Mini Raisin Boxes
The classic little cardboard boxes. One ingredient, nothing added.
Shop on Amazon → |
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WHY WE DO THIS
We share just a few picks each week to get you started. For 1,200+ better products, visit our website or try the free Hippiekit Microplastic Finder app.
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TRICK-OR-TREAT TIP
🧺 Skip The Plastic Pumpkin Pail.
Grab a pillowcase or a canvas tote instead. It holds more candy, it is easier on little arms, and it goes right back in the closet on November 1st. Want one made for the job? A few cotton bags we love (we don’t earn anything from these): 🦇 Lush Bat Bag A bat-wing drawstring bag made from 100% organic cotton. About $20. Shop Lush → |
| 👜 ECOBAGS Book Tote Unbleached organic cotton canvas, kid-friendly size, and it carries library books all year. About $18. Shop Tote → |
| 🧵 Handmade On Etsy Small makers sewing organic cotton trick-or-treat bags, many you can personalize. Browse Etsy → |
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🧙 Costumes Worth Keeping 🦇 Our favorite sources for costumes that are not one-night polyester. We don’t earn anything from these, we just love them.
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🌙 Hanna Andersson
Cotton Halloween pajamas that double as costumes and get worn all winter. Shop Hanna → |
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🦸 Sarah’s Silks
Pure silk capes for heroes, wizards and fairies, about $28 to $38. Shop Capes → |
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✂️ Primary
Easy DIY costume ideas made from simple cotton basics. Get The Ideas → |
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DIY FACE PAINT 🎨 Make Your Own From The Pantry. Most face paint is made with petroleum, synthetic dyes and plastic glitter, and comes in a plastic pot. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil and a few drops of water, then add color: ❤️ beet powder 💛 turmeric 🤎 cocoa 💚 spirulina 🖤 activated charcoal Do a small patch test on the arm first, keep it away from eyes, and wash off with soap and warm water. |
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NOVEMBER 1ST
🎃 Compost Your Jack-O’-Lantern.
A pumpkin in the trash ends up rotting in a landfill without air, where it gives off methane. In a compost pile or your yard waste bin, it turns back into soil. Pull out any candles first. Still whole and uncarved? Feed it to the animals instead (see below).
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 🐷🐒 Don’t Toss Your Pumpkins. Feed The Animals. After Halloween, your porch pumpkins can be a treat instead of trash. Farm sanctuaries feed them to pigs, goats, chickens and horses, and lots of zoos and wildlife rescues use them for enrichment. The monkeys go crazy for them! Where to take them: 🐖 Pumpkins for Pigs. A nonprofit with a map of farms and animal rescues that take pumpkin donations in nearly every state. 🦁 Your local zoo or wildlife sanctuary. Call first. Some only take them for a week or two after Halloween. 🐐 Farm animal rescues and small farms near you. Goat, pig and chicken keepers are often happy to take them. 🐦 Your backyard birds. Rinse and dry the seeds and set them out for cardinals, finches and chickadees. ✅ The rules: whole and uncarved, no paint, glitter, wax or candles, and no mold. Find a drop-off near you → |
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🕯️ Light It Up Without The Plastic 🎃
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Skip the plastic light-up pumpkins. A metal jack-o’-lantern lasts for years, and a pure beeswax candle inside burns clean. Most regular candles are paraffin, which is made from petroleum. |
 Copper Iron Jack-O’-Lantern A foot tall, hand-finished iron by Creative Co-Op. Holds a pillar candle. Shop on Amazon → |  Galvanized Metal Jack-O’-Lantern A rustic 8.5 inch iron lantern with a handle. Fits a 3 inch pillar candle. Shop on Amazon → |  Beeswax Pillar To Put Inside 100% beeswax with a cotton wick from Big Dipper. Fits both lanterns. Shop on Amazon → |
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✨ Love glass? Small studios hand-blow glass pumpkin candle holders that look gorgeous lit up. Browse glass pumpkins → |
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🦇 Decorate Without The Plastic 🍂
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Most store-bought Halloween decor is plastic made to last one season. These are made to come back out every October (we don’t earn anything from these). |
🧶 Wool Felt Garland Shifting Gaia’s Pink & Spooky garland is hand-felted wool on cotton string by fair trade artisans in Nepal. No plastic, and it’s compostable. Shop Garland → |
| 🎃 Felt Pumpkins Handmade wool felt pumpkins and ghosts from small makers. They never rot and look cozy on a mantel. Browse Etsy → |
| 🌾 Go Natural Real pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, hay bales and branches from your yard. When the season’s over, donate or compost them. Donate After → |
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QUICK POLL
🎃 You Pick Next Week’s Issue!
One tap counts as your vote, and you’ll get a sneak peek at our picks.
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💄 Before You Paint: Scan Your Face Paint
📱 Download Our Free Hippiekit Microplastic Finder App
Halloween face paint and makeup can hide petroleum-based ingredients in the fine print. Scan it with the free Hippiekit app to see which ingredients are petroleum- or chemical-based. Then get direct shopping links to better alternatives made with mostly plant- and mineral-based ingredients, and not packaged in plastic.
iPhone → Android →
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AROUND THE WORLD
🌎 On The Green Calendar 🍂
| OCT 10 | World Migratory Bird Day · Worldwide Theme: “Every Bird Counts.” Log the birds you see on an app like eBird and your sightings help scientists track them. |
| OCT 14 | International E-Waste Day · Worldwide A good nudge to recycle that drawer of old phones and chargers properly. | | OCT 16 | World Food Day · Worldwide A good day to plan meals around what’s already in your fridge. Less food waste means less landfill. |
| OCT 18 | Clean Water Act Anniversary · USA The law that cleaned up America’s rivers and lakes turns 54. |
| OCT 19–25 | One Ocean Week · Seattle, USA A week of ocean talks, science and events on the waterfront. |
| NOV 9–20 | COP31 Climate Summit · Antalya, Türkiye World leaders meet for the year’s biggest climate talks. |
| NOV 17–20 | World Conference on Marine Biodiversity · Bruges, Belgium Ocean scientists from around the globe share what’s living in our seas, and how to protect it. | | DEC 3 | Call to Earth Day · Worldwide CNN moved it from October 8. The theme is “Think Blue.” We’re not waiting, but mark your calendar and share with #CallToEarth. |
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New to the family? Catch up:
12 Sustainable Swaps · Top 5 Cleaning + Top 5 Personal Care · Sustainable School Supplies · The Fall Closet Reset We prioritize products made with mostly plant- and mineral-based ingredients over chemical and petroleum-based ones, and products that aren’t packaged in plastic. Small parts like caps are OK, but the main container can’t be plastic.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, Hippiekit earns from qualifying purchases.
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