How to Have a Bird-Safe Halloween

If you're anything like me, you love Halloween. There's something about this time of year that just makes my slightly dark little heart happy. Creepy decorations, haunted houses, pumpkin carving, costumes, trick-or-treating, candy, the whole bit (I even like those hard-as-a-rock molasses chews your grandma used to hand out). It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of any holiday, but most of us tend to forget that not everyone enjoys our man-made traditions. No, I don't mean your killjoy neighbour two doors down who pulls their blinds and has a "NO CANDY" sign on their door, I'm talking about our wildlife. Holidays are a time of laughter, fun, and excitement, but they're also a time of unnecessary waste and excess. From single-use plastics, to palm oil laden treats, to microplastics polluting our lands and water systems.. it's time to change the way we celebrate, because the way we're doing it hurts our planet. Here are some ways we can help keep our impact on wildlife & the Earth to a minimum this Halloween. 

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) grabbing a peanut from a DIY pumpkin bird feeder.

Repurpose your pumpkins
Once the jack-o-lantern faces have dimmed, and the pumpkins on your steps have worn out their welcome, what do you do with them? Turning your pumpkins in to bird feeders is a fun way to reuse pumpkins that would otherwise be tossed (or kicked down the street by neighbourhood tricksters), and provides great photo opportunities! Learn how to create a pumpkin bird feeder here. Another way to be sure your pumpkins don't go to waste is by donating them to local wildlife rescues. Many are happy to accept them as food for some of our native wildlife species such as porcupines and raccoons.

Go palm oil free
Arguably the best part about Halloween is the candy. I remember taking inventory of my loot, and praising houses who gave out full size chocolate bars. But as I've become more aware of environmental issues, I've realized the damage we can cause by supporting certain food companies and industries. One industry in particular is especially damaging to crucial habitat to 1000's of flora and fauna species: the palm oil industry. Palm oil makes up 35% of the world's vegetable oil market, and can be found in cosmetics, detergents, soaps, and food products including candy. Due to its tropical nature, palm oil can only be grown in regions within 10 degrees north or south of the equator. These areas are also home to biodiverse rainforests, which are being destroyed at an unfathomable rate to sustain our growing "needs". So how can we help decrease the demand for palm oil? Be a conscious shopper and thoroughly read labels on products you purchase, and a great place to start is the Halloween treats you choose to hand out. You can find a list of palm oil free candy here. Another option is to go completely edible treat & plastic packaging free by handing out things like mini notepads, pencils or crayons, native seed packs or plantable paper, or even little packs of bird seed!

Get thrifty
Let's face it, Halloween costumes are a one time use thing. No one wants to wear the same costume year after year. Because of our need to be scarier, bigger, trendier than the previous year, a lot of our old costumes wind up sitting in our closets for years and are inevitably tossed, only to wind up another piece of trash in our landfills. This year why not check out your local thrift stores? Thrift stores are the perfect place to go for everything you need to create a one-of-a-kind DIY costume, or to pick up a lightly used ready-to-go ensemble. Before you head over, be sure to go through your own stash to see what can be donated for someone else to use.

Ditch the balloons
Having a Halloween party? Time to decorate! For years the go-to party decoration has been the balloon. There are balloons for every occasion, and Halloween is no exception. While they may look fun, balloons pose a huge threat to birds and the environment. A recent survey of more than 1500 dead seabirds showed that four in ten deaths were caused by soft debris like balloons and other plastics. After our balloons make it to the landfill (or elsewhere) they become potential risks to birds and other wildlife in the form of tangling and strangulation from ribbons and strings, and starvation caused by accidental ingestion of the balloon itself. Time to ditch balloons for the birds!

Choose bird-safe outdoor decorations
Can you imagine being a bird, flying about business as usual, and then all of a sudden where you'd normally glide right through, you were caught in a giant cobweb? This happens all too often with those mass produced, giant cotton-like spiderwebs you find at the dollar store. With fall migration underway, many songbirds are at risk of becoming entangled in the webbing which is almost always fatal. Skip the cheap & harmful decorations this year, and opt for more natural decor like carved pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales, or try some of the eco-friendly DIY options listed here.

However you choose to celebrate this Halloween, keep birds in mind and do what you can to reduce plastic pollution, habitat loss, and unnecessary excess. Let us know how you're having a bird-safe Halloween in our Facebook group Ontario Birds by WBU Barrie!

Happy Trails (and Happy Halloween)!
- Shayna