The spookiest thing about Halloween might not be the horror movie marathons, haunted mazes, or even the scarily accurate Pennywise costumes, but the amount of candy wrapper waste.
Although this may not sound scary, the sheer amount of trash from Halloween candy is horrifying.
Americans spend nearly $3 billion buying about 600 million pounds of candy each spooky season. And after Halloween, those candy wrappers burden our overwhelmed landfills, our local communities, and even our oceans.
But one candy company is helping to minimize all that candy wrapper waste.
Mars is the conglomerate responsible for some of our favorite Halloween candies, from Snickers, M&Ms, and Twix to Skittles, Starburst, and Life Savers.
This year, Mars is working to minimize the waste produced from candy wrappers by partnering with Rubicon for its Trick or Trash recycling campaign.
#SpookySeason often comes with extra waste. It's why we're offering returnable, recyclable trick-or-treating bags, part of @Rubicon's Trick or Trash™ campaign. The bags come with prepaid postage and once returned, each is fully recycled! Lean more at https://t.co/fB2y58VbZc. pic.twitter.com/RGg6rtu6pt
— Mars, Incorporated (@MarsGlobal) October 6, 2022
Thankfully, the process is really simple. Here's how you can make this Halloween less wasteful, but equally delicious and sugar-filled:
Request a free recyclable candy bag from Mars (which can double as a trick-or-treat bag).
Fill this bag with empty candy wrappers.
Seal up the bag, use the prepaid shipping label, and drop it off at your local post office, so these candy wrappers can be recycled.
The only downside to this program is how popular it is. In just two weeks since their release, these bags sold out online. But there are other options for a less wasteful Halloween.
For one, Mars and Rubicon have announced that they'll be distributing bags in person at local Halloween events in cities across the country, including:
- Cleveland, Tennessee
- Henderson, Nevada
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Hackettstown, New Jersey
- Topeka, Kansas
- Waco, Texas
- Oak Park, Illinois
- Newark, New Jersey
- Yorkville, Illinois
If you can't grab a bag at one of these events, you can still order a free Trick or Trash box for your school or local organization.
Follow The Cool Down on Instagram and TikTok.
Cool Picks
