Scary season has begun!
2023 has continued the running theme of the 2020’s, and there doesn’t seem to be a huge amount to celebrate… but as we come to the end of the year, we can enjoy the traditional fun, family and antics of festivities, starting with All Hallows Eve…
In NZ & around the globe, Halloween celebrations are increasing in popularity.
Throughout October and the lead up to the 31st, retail, e-commerce sites and grocery stores cast spells over customers to make them buy mass-produced Halloween food, candy, costumes, decorations and other paraphernalia.
And this is only the beginning.
No sooner do we get through Halloween but we have Guy Fawkes, the endless stream of end of year parties, Christmas and New Year. Oh, and then there’s wedding season, music festivals… all the things we’ve missed the last few summers of The Plague.
The Holiday season creates a form of escapism. For a little while, we can put aside the ‘normal, everyday cares’ and put on the hope of better things to come. Holidays also give us a point of comparison, and it’s easy to fall into the cycle of expectations that mean we keep pushing ourselves to keep up with the way we remember it ‘back when’, or to go above and beyond and make ‘this year the best XYZ ever!’. Especially with every marketing agency bombarding us through every medium to spend, buy, consume… insidiously linking consumerism with happiness, relaxation, well-being, quality family time, and social popularity. (Maybe that’s the real plague of modern life?)
“With Halloween on the rise around the globe, in my opinion it has now joined the ranks of Black Friday and Christmas as the commencement into the season of cultural hyper waste that’s exacerbated during Christmas. ”
We do have a choice!
Several really.
We can decide that a celebration isn’t meaningful to us personally, and sit back and relax and let the world go on around us. Totally valid point!
Or we can make the festivities our own and show how it can be done differently. Whether you sit at home and open doors to trick-of-treaters, arrange neighborhood open-homes, or plan a night out with friends, there are always ways to do things differently that are lighter on your wallet, and the environment.
Here are some great sites for more inspirational ideas for Halloween…which can easily be adapted to any theme for your celebrations this summer (and for many years to come):
https://www.thefiltery.com/sustainable-eco-friendly-halloween-decorations/
