Have a More Sustainable Halloween with Zoo Knoxville

There are so many clever ways to have a sustainable Halloween and protect the earth and animals at the same time. When we are preparing for a holiday, it’s easy to make quick purchases out of convenience. But unfortunately, the cost of that convenience can harm the environment in the long run. With a little creativity and thoughtfulness, we can find ways to make our holidays unique, fun and reusable year after year! 

Let’s find inspiration together on how we can all opt in to having a more sustainable Halloween.

Reduce plastic

It may take a little extra time and resourcefulness, but there are plenty of alternatives to plastic this Halloween. Here are some easy ideas to get started:

– Try to use natural decor instead of plastic, there are tons of options for fall. Think seasonal flowers, corn stalks, pinecones, leaves, hay, etc. 

– Use pillowcases or help little ones decorate canvas bags to reuse for trick or treating instead of buying plastic baskets.

– Try buying candies wrapped in cardboard, foil, paper, or wax. 

Use Pumpkins Thoughtfully 

Pumpkins are a fall favorite and for good reason! However, when tossed into trash and later in landfills, they emit methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Here are some great ways to use a pumpkin and be kind to the environment at the same time:

– Buy them locally: think farmers’ market or produce store.

– Have a plan after the holiday: compost it, donate to a farm, animal rescue and in some limited occasions you can eat it.

– Pumpkin for Pigs location information for Knoxville Donation Site (Simply search Tennessee at the bottom of the page, and the details for She Diggs Farm, a Knoxville location, will populate.)

– Other great ideas here

Costume/ Decor Waste

Here’s some ways to reduce costume waste:

– Have a costume swap/trade with your friends and trade old costumes you have and accessories to create an all-new option.

– Thrift your costumes and decor to give these items new life.

– Do not hang fake spiderwebs outside. They are harmful for birds and can cause issues for wildlife. 

Ways We’re Staying Sustainable This Halloween

Halloween is a big deal at Zoo Knoxville. It’s the time of year for one of our biggest events, Boo! at the Zoo. Behind this enchanted production is our very own Special Events Manager, Suzi Hall.

Suzi has worked tirelessly to create an event that not only runs seamlessly but is decorated with sustainability in mind. She’s strategized and invested in materials with longevity, like fiberglass and versatile treat stations that can be swapped out with different tops and sides and used throughout the year. She gave us a little background on her thought process:

“Thinking about providing decor and an experience that guests couldn’t see in their own neighborhoods – something that would last 10 years and help develop a cohesive brand identity with the event. Something that guests could take family photos with every year to become a fall tradition and watch their kids grow…” Hall shared, “Luckily, we have a very talented fabrication company right here in East Tennessee, Brainchild Creative. Steve Brauch and his team came for a tour of the zoo and a few key spots and animals we wanted to highlight. From there, he sent over a few designs and started work on our custom pumpkin animals, first drafts were nearly perfect. These installations have become crowd favorites for family photo ops and help celebrate some of the key species we are known for here at Zoo Knoxville.”

But the resourcefulness doesn’t stop there. Our team used a recycled play prop from a Lighthouse Youth Theater production for our red queen area on our Boo! at the Zoo trail. Our Communications Manager, Jonathan Jones, is a theater dad and he helped with a production of Wizard of Oz this past spring. He worked briefly with set designer Brian Perry, who created an animatronic head for the wizard. 

“We do our best to re-use and repurpose as many of the sets as possible but it becomes expensive to store things so it’s really helpful to be able to re-home anything we can and in this case it worked out well. It was also designed and engineered right here in East Tennessee,” Perry shared. 

After the play, Jones suggested to Hall that the wizard’s head could be incorporated into Boo! at the Zoo, and she made the connection. 

“With the help of Scott Swenson and our facilities team, we re-themed the head to become the Queen of Hearts. The queen is controlled by an amazing voice actor who sees and interacts with guests along the storybook trail. Brian’s programming allows the mouth to open in accordance with how loud the voice actor speaks into the microphone. It really is the most amazing thing to watch – coupled with the actress’s quick wit and silly jokes, the queen of hearts has fast become a crowd favorite.”

We’re so grateful to our team, who has collaborated and created this magical event for our community. Together our shared goals have helped us build something that will last for years to come. We hope this has given you some inspiration for your own events and Halloween festivities. We wish you a spooky and sustainable Halloween!