I doubt the fairies and spirits our ancestors sought to ward off or appease with gifts on Samhain would be happy with the plastic nightmare the ancient tradition has become.
With its origins in Druid culture, Halloween is thousands of years old.
Communities across Ireland gathered to celebrate before the long dark winter, lighting sacred bonfires which their hearth fires were relit from in the hopes they would keep burning and protect them through the cold.
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They donned entirely natural costumes and made sacrifices of food and animals to the Celtic gods.
While I’m not up for the whole living sacrifice side of things, the lesson here is that everything they did was in harmony with the natural world as they used what was available to them.
As I child, mine and every other family in my community still used what we had around the house for our costumes and celebrations.
There were no racks filled with shiny new Halloween outfits at retailers up and down the country, made of every kind of plastic you could just about imagine. Nor were there mountains of pumpkins imported from far flung places for us to carve, paint and stick on the door step.
Just 30 years ago, things were very different from what they are today.
Most of the treats you gathered were nuts, apples and oranges with some chocolate thrown in.
Parents and grandparents made apple tarts with coins hidden inside, amid warnings of ‘be careful you don’t swallow it’. And you really loved the Halloweens when you watched on as sticky and chocolate apples were made and our lanterns were carved from native turnips.
While the ethos of Halloween hasn’t changed that much in that it’s the night we dress up to scare off evil spirits and keep a lantern lit in the window - how we celebrate it now is unrecognisable. We're like the walking dead buying into our own apocalypse.
So much so, that charities up and down the country have taken to encouraging people to use what they have to dress the kids, buy from charity shops and try to avoid the mountain of plastic associated with the event.
The National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween Consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics suggested total Halloween spending in 2022 was expected to reach a record $10.6 billion in America, exceeding last year’s record of $10.1 billion.
It’s not quite that much in Ireland (around €50m) while in the UK Statista says it has grown from £230m in 2013 and is predicted to hit £637m this year, it’s no wonder retailers and rushing to push the Halloween merchandise.
Every shop, from Home Bargains, to Primark and supermarkets like Asda and Tesco are not going to jump on that bandwagon - despite the environmental impact of the merchandise created for this one day that we are swallowing hook, line and sinker.
And in the middle of all that, much like everything in modern day life, we lose something.
With every brand new witch costume, or plastic skeleton we are widening the divide between us and nature that ancient Celts nurtured and relied on.
Life is not easy today but it wasn’t easy for them either and the fear of not having enough to feed the family has led us so far down the path of constant buying, that we are killing the planet we rely on for life.
Celts could head down to a stream and know the water they were drinking was clean. They knew the crops they grew weren’t covered in harmful pesticides. They could rock up and pitch their house where ever they felt like.
In fact they only thing they had to do was survive and to do that, they took what they needed from nature and nothing more.
I love Halloween, maybe even more than Christmas. For me it’s about family, celebrating those links with the world around us and creating things together. And buying sparkly, dark and brooding things from shops doesn’t give me any of that.
Keep Britain Tidy says most of costumes and plastic-wrapped treats are made from plastic (which come from fossil fuels) that’s not recyclable.
They want people to help them tackle the terrifying mountain of litter the celebration now brings by staying away from single use plastics, eating the pumpkins they can and not buying costumes that will get one use “to make sure their choices on Halloween don’t haunt generations to come”.
“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,” they say.
How about we help them out a little this weekend and on Monday.
Fireworks are not so cracking for pets
The USPCA is urging those of us with pets to do what we can to keep the furry highnesses safe and happy, this Halloween.
While many of us have overcome our natural fear of loud noises, animals haven’t and they get petrified.
Fireworks in particular can have a very distressing effect on many animals, leaving them panting, barking, whining, pacing around and shivering.
USPCA Animal Care Manager Deirdre McArdle said: “Pets can be spooked by fireworks, so we advise you keep them indoors.
“We recommend talking your pet out for some exercise earlier in the day, prior to fireworks being let off in the evening. Whilst firework displays are happening, it is important to keep your pet in a space that they feel safe and comfortable in as this will reduce fear and anxiety.
“We also advise that you draw curtains, keep the television or radio on a for background noise, and provide a suitable hiding spot for your pet to retreat to if needed. If your pet is severely affected by fireworks, our veterinary team can provide great advice and treatments to help.”
They are also urging people ho want to dress up their pets to get costumes that don’t restrict movement or breathing or have head accessories as these can obscure your pet’s vision.
And to ensure any decorations that could be potential choking hazards are out of your pet’s reach.
Whilst often overlooked, sweets and chocolate treats are toxic to our pets and must be kept out of their reach. Ensure wrappers etc. are disposed of correctly as they are potential choking hazards.
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