What do a witch, a cat, and Superman have in common? They are all costumes you might see when trick-or-treating this Halloween.

Once a year, we have the chance to transform ourselves into characters from our wildest dreams. There is a sense of excitement in the air when we can become something we’re not, just by donning a costume.

But therein lies the problem. Once November 1 hits, we throw the costumes in the back of our closet, where they are never to be seen again. This has a huge environmental impact.

Every year, we throw out 40 million tons of textiles — including used costumes. They end up in landfills where they pollute the air. 

Even the process of making a costume requires a tremendous amount of resources. We cut down 150 million trees each year just to make fabrics. One cotton t-shirt takes nearly 3,000 liters of water to produce. Don’t even get me started on the polyester onesie costume aisle.

The good news is that you can still look cute this Halloween without as much of an environmental impact. If you’re still struggling to put your costume together this year, here are some ideas to create a fun — and sustainable — costume. 

1. Do a costume swap

It’s time to part ways with your dusty ghost sheet and princess tiara. Plan a Halloween swap with your friends or neighbors to exchange last year’s costume for a new outfit. You’ll never know what new accessories you’ll find! 

The best part? It’s free.

2. Use clothes you already have

Instead of throwing out the clothes in the back of your closet, come up with new ways to style them to look like your favorite movie character or spooky spirit. Just add some makeup or accessories, and you’ll regret ever thinking about tossing your clothes in the trash. You might be the best dressed at the party!

3. Thrift a costume

Halloween is the perfect time to put your creativity skills to use. Instead of buying a pre-made costume and looking identical to the trick-or-treaters down the street, head to the thrift store. 

Pick a character idea and find clothes that match your vision or challenge yourself to use the pieces you find to inspire an entirely new costume. One person’s trash is another one’s treasure!

4. Upcycle, upcycle, upcycle

Upcycling is the process of changing an undesirable object into something of greater value. Learning simple sewing skills can help you transform drab pieces into works of art — or terrifying disguises.

You can do this by altering clothes from the thrift store that were a bit too big or gathering art materials from around the house to add unique embellishments to your costume. Snap a picture to share your upcycled masterpiece with the world!

5. Make a trick-or-treat bag

We all know the feeling of having to lug around a huge bag after a long, hard day of candy collecting. We also know the satisfaction of emptying out the bag to claim our prizes: mouth-watering chocolates, lollipops, caramels, and more.

Instead of buying a plastic pumpkin to hold your treats, look around you for household items that can double as candy bags. For an option with a lot of storage, use a pillowcase. For a more functional idea, use a reusable shopping bag.

6. Dress up as your environmental hero

Still out of ideas for what to dress up as? Turn yourself into an environmental hero! 

Dress up as your favorite activist, endangered animal, or even a made-up superhero who fights climate change. When someone asks about your costume, explain the meaning behind your character and why action on climate change is important to you. Tell them how they can make a sustainable costume, too!

Reduce your textile waste, one costume at a time

This Halloween, you can reduce your textile waste, one costume at a time. All it takes is a little curiosity and creativity to get started. Once you’ve picked out your costume, get yourself into the holiday spirit with five of the scariest, most bone-chilling facts about climate change.

If you really want to practice what you preach after Halloween, show your support to enact change in the fashion industry and check out our Sustainable Fashion Campaign for more information.

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According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere reached 419 parts per million in May. These are the highest carbon dioxide levels in over four million years.

The last time that the atmosphere held comparable levels of CO2 was during the Pliocene period, when the Earth looked completely different from what it does today. Sea levels were 78 feet higher, temperatures were 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer and large forests covered parts of the Arctic tundra.

What do these record CO2 emissions mean for climate change? The atmosphere acts as a heat-trapping blanket. Greenhouse gases, like CO2, keep temperatures on Earth comfortable for human survival.

However, we are emitting record amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere due to transportation, electrical generation, deforestation, agriculture and more. This excess amount of human-induced CO2 causes average temperatures to rise over time, resulting in what is known as climate change.

Climate change is already impacting life as we know it. Rising temperatures, changing seasons, altered rainfall patterns and stronger hurricanes are but a few of its tremendous effects.

“We are adding roughly 40 billion metric tons of CO2 pollution to the atmosphere per year,” said Pieter Tans, a senior scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory. “That is a mountain of carbon that we dig up out of the Earth, burn, and release into the atmosphere as CO2 – year after year. If we want to avoid catastrophic climate change, the highest priority must be to reduce CO2 pollution to zero at the earliest possible date.” 

We must also grapple with the CO2 already present in the atmosphere. Known as “legacy emissions,” this represents the CO2 that has been accumulating over the past 200 years.

Enter climate restoration. It would provide for removal and sequestration of the trillion tons of CO2 emissions previously emitted into the atmosphere. Restoration efforts could lower atmospheric carbon to pre-industrial levels.

We have the opportunity to turn a grim headline into an opportunity if we Restore Our Earth. We’re running out of time, but if we act now and act together, we can turn the tide on the climate crisis.

Sign up for updates on how you can take action year-round. Donate to help us Restore Our Earth.

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With environmental disasters like the Australia bushfires and Hurricane Dorian, it’s easy to feel helpless. Still, artist John Dyer shows us that there are positive things we can do for the planet.

His project, Last Chance to Paint, connects children to nature and indigenous cultures through art and music. Through the project, children can form lasting personal bonds with subjects, raising their awareness about and value for the environment.

“It’s important that the environment and biodiversity are celebrated,” said Dyer. “It’s not always about the disastrous things — it can be about simple things.”

Growing up on the coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, Dyer has always admired the environment. He began Last Chance to Paint in 2019 after realizing the positive effects that nature and art have had on his own children. With this project, children and schools can remotely explore new environments and cultures through art, music and video.

In June 2019, Dyer and the Last Chance to Paint team traveled to the Amazon rainforest to visit the Yawanawá. Paintings by Dyer, Amazon Indigenous Artist Nixiwaka Yawanawá and Yawanawá children depict the rainforest as a connected system of life, tradition and tribal spirits. Unfortunately, rapid deforestation of the Amazon is threatening Yawanawá traditions and other indigenous cultures.

In September 2019, Dyer and Last Chance to Paint travelled to Borneo to meet the Penan tribe and paint orangutans. The palm oil industry has deforested more than 80% of the Borneo rainforest, threatening the survival of these primates. Despite efforts to care for orangutans and return them safely to their habitat, Dyer believes this may be the last moment in time to paint them.

“What we do to the rainforest, to the Amazon tribes, we do to ourselves,” he said. “The way Last Chance to Paint is pitched is as an optimistic project that is celebrating what we all stand to lose.”

Music is also an important element of the trips. During the trip to the Amazon rainforest, the Last Chance to Paint team recorded Yawanawá music and played music as a cultural exchange. During a school assembly, students mimicked the sounds of a rainforest using only hand percussion.

Students anywhere can tune into 5-minute daily videos where Dyer vlogs his journeys and answers questions submitted by students. The videos let students experience these environments more closely, reinforcing their emotional connections to the subjects. Schools can also stay connected by submitting their art to Dyer’s World Gallery.

Along with student art, this gallery features paintings created on Dyer’s past trips and inspiration for his next trip to Africa, where he hopes to meet the world’s last two Northern white rhinos. By drawing or painting the environment, Dyer hopes that young artists will not only appreciate painting but also build connections with the subjects themselves that will inform the choices they make.

 “If you take [children] on a positive journey of art, color and life and meet amazing people, animals and environments, the overall impression or connection will be a positive one and one of love and caring,” said Dyer.

Dyer recently became an Artist for Earth for Earth Day Network. Artists for Earth is a global campaign that seizes the power of art to educate and inspire action to protect the Earth. Through this campaign, Dyer will have an additional platform to showcase his art to larger audiences.

Dyer looks toward Earth Day as a special moment to come together over our common love for the world and hopes to hold a 24-hour painting project which people can participate in live online.

Interested in becoming an Artist for the Earth? Register today.

Image at top: “Twilight Orangutans” by John Dyer. Credit: John Dyer.

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As a land with rich ecosystems and diverse species, Mexico has a rich environmental future to match.

Since the start of a new government administration in December 2018, Mexico’s environmental education has undergone many changes. Educación Ambiental México, a network of 15 environmental NGOs including EarthxMexico, Telar Social and Fundación EDUCA, is designing and implementing these changes across Mexican school systems.

Earlier this year, the Mexican government amended its constitution to include an understanding of and respect for the natural world as a basic requirement of education.

Presently, Educación Ambiental México is working with Mexico’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Environment to create a new environmental education law. This law would make both environmental education and education for sustainable development obligatory throughout schools in the whole country.

Looking forward, Educación Ambiental México is ensuring curriculums and school books reflect this law. According to Tiahoga Ruge, regional director of Earth Day Network Mexico, environmental education in Mexico has historically been overlooked, only mentioned in a superficial way or diluted within other subjects.

“It is very important to approach environmental education in a much deeper way, so the children really understand what climate change is and what biodiversity is,” she said.

By incorporating environmental education into classrooms, the subject will become a significant part of other courses such as chemistry, physics, biology and history. Educación Ambiental México plans to tie environmental education into history books through lessons on the environmental history of Mexico and of the world.

The organization hopes to have concrete results by April 22, 2020. As this day in April coincides with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the date represents an important milestone for international climate action. The Ministry of Education in Mexico will also work with all schools in the country to hold a celebration on this day.

Environmental education is nothing new for Mexico; over the past 50 years, much work has been done to develop this. Nowadays, most universities in Mexico have a sustainability component in their curriculum. Today’s efforts in environmental education are significant because they revive and update the activism that came before, including developments from the recent United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).

“I think we are getting to a stage of maturity and understanding that we need to change the paradigm,” Ruge said. “Environmental education is the basics. If we have the right to education, we can change many things.”

Ruge believes that this initiative will establish Mexico as a leader for environmental change in Latin America and set an example for other countries to follow. This will be a very important topic at the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference in Chile, where Educación Ambiental México will present it at a panel on December 6. There, they will invite the other countries that have signed the Paris Agreement — the U.N.’s international climate change agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions — to follow the example of mandatory environmental education.

By releasing a statement of support for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and joining the global movement of environmental action, Educación Ambiental México is taking large steps toward creating a healthy planet for all. Earth Day Network congratulates its friends in Mexico for their big-picture goals and concrete actions to achieve them. As we approach Earth Day in April 2020, now is the time to mobilize and set similar goals for climate action.

Photo credit for photo at top: Jeff Troth.

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On September 15, almost 25,000 people gathered near Chiba, Japan, to learn about the dangers of plastic pollution and what to do about it. At the event, people navigated a room filled with pictures and videos, almost as if walking around an art gallery — except they weren’t looking at normal pieces of art. The room displayed images of beaches and ocean wildlife polluted with pieces of trash.

After they viewed the displays, attendees wrote their feelings on notes and placed them around the room. One part of the room also displayed a step-by-step guide on how students could start a beach cleanup community at their own school.

This event was put on by International Circle, a community that aims to raise awareness about the issue of plastic pollution and create a cleaner world for future generations. For the past six years, local students in this community have come together to participate in weekly cleanups at Makuhari Beach. After they collect garbage along the shore, participants separate plastics and metals to ensure proper recycling of each material.

According to Meg Tanaka of International Circle, many students in Japan have no experience with cleanups. Many of the younger students involved became both excited and motivated to continue cleaning their environment.

Armed with an understanding of the harm of pollution and ways to make a change, many members of the club will regroup for three more beach cleanups in the next week. This is the first time in Japan that multiple schools will come together for a cleanup. International Circle hopes that events like this will continue and create the first beach cleaning community in Japan.

World Cleanup Day and National Cleanup Day are Saturday, September 21. Initiatives like these are great ways to take action on environmental issues. Beach cleanups are not the only thing you can do to end plastic pollution across the globe, though — check out other ways to get involved through Earth Day Network’s Great Global Cleanup and End Plastic Pollution campaigns.

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