Going green: Eco-friendly fright night family fun is frightfully good idea

Latest article from Angela Terry Green Green campaigner and consumer expert, Angela Terry, separates climate change facts from fiction and here she explains how you can take simple, practical steps to help save the planet. Follow @ouronehome & visit https://onehome.org.uk/ for more advice. Q: How can I have an eco-friendly Halloween? A: From pumpkin picking to trick-or-treating, Halloween is a great excuse to have fun with your friends and family. But an abundance of cheap costumes, disposable party decorations and plenty of plastic sweet wrappers means that the holiday can have a frightful impact on our environment. However, there are many simple ways you can make your Halloween green. Rent, don’t buy Instead of splashing out on another fancy dress costume made from non-recyclable material, rent a well-made outfit from a local costume supplier. Local charity shops are also a great place to look for a pre-loved outfit that won’t scare your bank balance. Swap shop Get together with some friends and swap last year’s costumes. Or how about creating a costume from items that you already have in your closet? Save your pumpkin Last year research by Hubbub revealed that around 35 million pumpkins were bought in the UK with a scary 14.5 million ending up in the food bin. All pumpkins can be eaten, reducing food waste a simple way to help cut your carbon footprint. This year don’t just dump your jack-o'-lantern after the kids have carved it, roast your pumpkin seeds and reuse the flesh in tasty soups or curries. Get creative Spooky decorations are a big part of Halloween. Try ditching single-use plastic decorations and dig out your craft box. Go for an autumn walk and gather up sticks, branches, dried leaves and dead flowers to create your own Halloween wreath to hang on your door. Turn the lights out To ramp up the scare factor while saving on your electricity bills, switch the lights off and throw a party lit by candles. Look for beeswax or coconut wax candles that are more environmentally friendly and burn slower. For the perfect haunted house, think about investing in some energy-saving coloured light bulbs to illuminate your home. Reuse and recycle If you must buy brand new, look for products that are reusable like felt banners or recycled paper pom poms. Try Talking Tables, who launched the world’s first recyclable paper party cup and have a range of compostable and recyclable products. Trick-or-treat Have a range of eco-friendly treats for when neighbourhood children come,avoiding highly processed sweets. Take a look at Terracycle, who have drop-off points across the UK to help recycle plastic confectionery wrappers. Celebrity spot She’s a fashion designer with a passion for sustainability, Stella McCartney using her runway show at Paris Fashion Week this month to debut the use of regenerative cotton in her catwalk creations. The process, affectionately known as “shirt to dirt,” is produced in a way that captures carbon within the soil and is good for the natural environment. Her new spring/summer collection is thought to be the 51-year-old designer’s most sustainable yet with bags made from grape skins. Green swap We all shop online. Next time swap express shipping to standard and opt for fewer deliveries that helps reduce carbon footprint. Alternatively support local businesses and reduce packaging by visiting your nearby high street. World leaders ready for COP27 climate summit In a few weeks world leaders will meet for the UN’s 27th climate summit – otherwise known as COP27 – in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh ... but why is it important? What is COP27? Taking place November 6 to 18, with more than 2000 speakers, 35,000 participants and 300 topics, this is a global conference to protect all our futures. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, an annual meeting of all nations that are part of the UN’s climate change treaty. What happened at COP26? Last year world leaders, CEOs and scientists met in Glasgow for COP26 to discuss how to tackle climate change. Nations adopted Glasgow Climate Pact, which prioritised a doubling of finance to support developing countriesand agreed to “phase down” use of coal. Much has changed since then. With a growing energy and cost of living crisis, the conflict in Ukraine and knock-on effects of a worldwide pandemic, climate action has slowly been falling down the political agenda. Meanwhile greenhouse gases have continued to rise with increasing extreme weather events affecting the lives of millions of people. World leaders must unite to curb our planet’s rapidly rising temperature. Why is COP27 important? Some seven years ago the Paris Agreement committed all countries to keeping global warming to well below two degrees centigrade to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Since 1990 the UK has already cut greenhouse gas emissions by 44 per cent but still has some way to go if we are to reach net zero by 2050. Reports show not enough is being done globally to stop the effects of climate change, COP27 expected to focus on turning talk into climate action. This is a real chance for world leaders to agree how best to implement plans to reduce global emissions. Future generations depend on this summit to be a success. What are key themes? Intense droughts, severe floods and other extreme weather events mean people are suffering now. Loss and damage from climate change is fast emerging as a critical issue for billions of people, particularly in developing countries. Climate finance and how countries can fund adaptation and transition toward low-carbon economies is also expected to be a key topic for the conference. Who’ll be there? Despite giving a speech at last year’s summit in Glasgow, it has been reported our new monarch King Charles III has been asked not to attend COP27 by the PM. But it is thought that Liz Truss will attend the global event in Egypt. Fact or fiction Climate change is due to human activity, not natural. True. Although earth’s temperature has varied over time, scientists are 100 per cent certain that human pollution is the main reason behind rapid global warming. 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