The real fright of Halloween costumes and decorations? The environmental cost of these holiday purchases [Video]

While the holidays are usually for spreading kindness and cheer, many are also spreading waste and filling the landfills.

As the City of Toronto struggles to deal with wastefulness, Christmas and Halloween decorations and costumes add to the problem.

“It’s a huge concern … and not just during the holidays,” said Assistant Prof. Simon Appolloni from School of Environment at the University of Toronto (U of T).  

In 2021, the City of Toronto claimed they managed more than two billion pounds of waste every year.

“We consume too much, and in itself is problematic, but we don’t do anything but just throw away all the garbage. And that’s problematic,” said Appolloni, who specializes in environmental ethics and humanities.

Halloween waste adds up to around 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste. Celebrated by 68 per cent of Canada’s population, citizens spend nearly $1.64 billion dollarson the holiday …