Foam pumpkins: made in China
The first week of the free Halloween Costume Swap at my local farmer’s market was a great success. All of the costumes that I started the day with were quickly gone and replaced by many others. Word had gotten out via Patch, New Castle NOW, Facebook and even Twitter. Some of the PTAs were able to get an anoucement into their weekly news briefs. Both parents and kids visited the tent happy to swap their Halloween gear in exchange for pre-owned costumes for this year.
Many were thrilled at the prospects of not having to visit Target or Party City for this year’s costume. Most parents are pressed for both time and money these days. There’s a deeper and darker issue that not so many parents here in our comfortable suburban hamlet are not fully aware of: the environmental impact of all of these cheaply made costumes and goodies is huge.
Halloween is now our second biggest consumer event, only the Christmas season is bigger. We spend millions of dollars on plastic wrapped polyester costumes, cheap plastic decorations and so much more. When it comes down to waste, Halloween is a big mess. Most of our goodies end up in the landfill or, here in Westchester, incinerated in Peekskill. Most of the products we buy are made from petroleum and manufactured thousands of miles away in China. Our disposable culture is catching up to us as cheap oil and space in the landfills starts to run low.
I’m reminded of a movie that I borrowed from the Westchester Library System called Mardi Gras: Made in China. The movie followed the life-cycle of Mardi Gras beads from a small factory in Fuzhou, China, to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Here’s the trailer, you definitely don’t want your kids seeing this.
This is why we really must seriously consider the 3 Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle every day and every holiday. There’s just gotta be a better way.
The Halloween Costume Swap will continue at Chappaqua’s TABLE Farm Market every Saturday in October at the Chappaqua Train Station from 10am to 1pm. Spend your money on fresh veggies instead of Halloween costumes! See you there.
