A shopper shared an infuriating photo revealing why Halloween is the scariest time of year — and it has nothing to do with ghosts, goblins, and spooks. 

What's happening?

In the r/Anticonsumption subreddit, the shopper posted an image of themself holding a Halloween-themed tube of Reese's miniatures, which Hershey manufactures. About half the plastic packaging is filled with air, and a bulbous orange plastic pumpkin crowns the tube.

"All this plastic for 6 chocolates," the original poster wrote, sparking outrage among other Redditors. 

"This kind of stuff should be illegal," one commenter said. 

"This is so common and many people don't think twice about buying more and more and more plastic," another added. 

Why is this important? 

The Reese's miniatures packaging highlights the spookiest part of spooky season that often goes unacknowledged: plastic waste that overwhelmingly ends up in landfills or as litter, releasing heat-trapping gases such as methane and leaching toxic chemicals into our ecosystems.

In 2018, Vox estimated that the total candy sold for the holiday weighed 300,000 tons — the equivalent of six Titanics. In 2022, Forbes estimated the volume was significantly higher in the U.S. at 600 million pounds.  

While Halloween participation varies from year to year, the latest survey from the National Retail Federation suggested that number may have ballooned in the past several years. 

Many of those sweets come in single-use plastic that won't readily break down. Candy wrappers can take at least a decade to decompose (and one community cleanup volunteer in London found evidence they may take longer than that). Large plastic tubes could take more than 1,000 years.

Why would Hershey use so much plastic for Reese's miniatures packaging?

While several Redditors suggested that Hershey was engaging in shrinkflation — reducing product size while keeping the price the same — one person floated a different theory.

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"It's a lot of plastic because it's the same tube used for 50 different products," they said. Another believed it was a quality-control issue, writing: "We have these where I work. Some are filled, others are like this. Idk what's going on with Hershey but I wouldn't pay $4 for 6 mini cups."

On its website, Hershey says it plans to eliminate 25 million pounds of packaging by 2030, so it is worth monitoring its progress associated with plastic-heavy packaging. 

The company says it has already slashed 15.4 million pounds of packaging, and it is nearly one-third of the way to ensuring all of its plastic packaging is recyclable, reusable, or compostable.

What can I do to reduce plastic waste surrounding celebrations?

Even though Halloween festivities can cause a massive amount of waste, you can take steps to prevent the ghost of your celebrations from haunting future generations.

A growing number of manufacturers are introducing plastic-free wrappers and rolling out compostable packaging. 

And while the nonprofit Greenpeace warns that plastic recycling is overestimated as a solution to cleaning up waste associated with the dirty fuel-derived material, wrapper recycling initiatives are gaining ground — and are at least a step in the right direction.  

Reusing decorations (regardless of the event), selling or donating costumes, and choosing plastic-free alternatives whenever possible are all ways to celebrate more sustainably. 

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