Don’t Let Your Clutter Be the Scariest Thing This Month!
Happy October everyone! The leaves are turning, pumpkins are popping up on seemingly every doorstep, and the festivities are beginning. Haunted houses have twisting and turning lines full of people waiting to have the air taken from their lungs in fright. Do you want to know what I’m most scared of during Halloween? It’s not the realistic animatronics that jump out at you, or even the actors in their gory makeup. What truly sends shivers down my spine and makes my hair stand on end is the clutter we collect and the waste we produce every year.
As thrilling as Halloween is, it is one of the holidays that produces the most clutter. Each season we buy costumes that come wrapped in plastic, only to be worn for one evening and then shoved into the back of the closet to never see the light of a Jack-o-lantern again. This year, can you make your own Halloween costumes? There are so many creative and inventive ways you can use items from your closet to put together a contest-winning costume. Are you able to go to a thrift store and find the perfect straw hat to complete your scarecrow costume with the overalls you garden in? Can you dust off your old boots and borrow your friend’s cowboy hat to become a lasso-wielding champion? If you have old costumes that your kids have outgrown, post them on your local Buy Nothing group! With a little creativity and community, the possibilities are endless.
Another tip to keep away the creepy clutter is to declutter your Halloween decorations! Before packing up the pumpkins and ghosts, can you get rid of any decor that you did not put up? Cobwebs are a great addition to any haunted house, but only if they’re fake! If you have streamers and spooky knick knacks that you don’t put out and are gathering dust at the bottom of your bins, donate them and let someone else decorate with them. If you have lights that are broken, it’s okay to toss them. Decluttering before the season ends will ensure decorating for the next Halloween isn’t like being in a horror movie!
Before you go to the Halloween store that pops up every year in the abandoned building down the block, take a look in your closet and see what costumes you can create. You’ll save money, cut back on clutter, and keep trash out of the landfill! Now that’s a happy Hallowen.
