Halloween and Trick-or-Treating
Halloween is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the time dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
Major Halloween activities are trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, dressing up in variety costumes and attending haunted attractions etc.
Children going door-to-door to collect treats is synonymous with modern-day Halloween.
In olden days Trick-or-treating used to be poor people visiting the homes of the rich and getting "soul cakes" in exchange of praying for the souls of their departed ones. But, slowly trick-or-treating has belonged almost entirely to the kids and parents passing on candys as treats to the children.
Passing out candy has become so popular that, many big candy companies started their advertising campaigns and from then onwards trick-or-treating became commercial.
Countries that celebrate Halloween around the world
Halloween is observed in many countries around the world, and it is growing in popularity. In some countries it is celebrated alongside traditional holidays or in a different form.
According to World Population Review, 37 countries in the world that celebrate Halloween.
Trick-or-treating is very popular in United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. It is gaining popularity in countries like Australia, India, South Korea etc.
US Halloween spending statistics
Number of Americans planned to participate in 2022 Halloween reached pre-pandemic levels.
Halloween 2022 spending has reached an all-time high of $10.6 billion according to the National Retail Foundation.
According to statista, a staggering $3.1 billion is spent on candy in 2022.
With the record price increase of candy and chewing gum, Halloween costs are continuing to trend upwards and are unlikely to come back down.
According to Consolidated Credit, nearly 7 out of 10 Americans plan to take part in the festivities this October and the average house hold spend is around $100. 99% planned to buy candy, and the average cost per household for candy is around $29.51
It might seem that US spends more on Halloween celebrations than any other country in the world, but other countries are quickly catching up and it is estimated that there will be exceptional increase in the coming years as per YUQO
Impact of Halloween on people and environment
Be it the excitement in dressing up as your favorite character or decorating the house or fun in collecting bucket full of trick-or-treat candies, Halloween surely is a celebration that kids and parents look forward to every year. Halloween encourages kids to be creative through pumpkin carvings and designing their costumes. It also brings comradery and bonding between people.
Now that we have covered the pros of the Halloween, let's look at some of the cons. Halloween poses safety risks for children, tampered treats and environmental issues.
Halloween decorations, costumes that are made of single use plastics and candy wrappers which are non-biodegradable are harmful for the environment. Also, excessive candy consumption during Halloween poses health and Dental issues in kids.
Nowadays, Halloween has become a pretty much commercialized celebration, with too much spending on decorations, costumes and ever-increasing candy prices.
Bitter truth about Halloween Candy
According to U.S.News , The U.S. loaded up on an estimated 600 million pounds of Halloween candy worth $3.1 billion in year 2022.
As per ngpf , around $400 Milion is wasted in uneaten candy, which is a lot of food waste.
Approximately 50 M pounds of the Halloween candy is dumped in to the garbage.
One of the things that everyone loves about Halloween is the sweet treats. But these Halloween treats have many tricky problems.
- Candy wrappers remain non-biodegradable and cause carbon emissions. They end up in ocean causing pollution and threaten marine life.
- According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about 30 percent of municipal solid waste in the U.S. comes from packaging, including those pesky Halloween candy wrappers.
- Candy wrappers are harmful for the environment and cause carbon emissions.
- $400M+ worth of uneaten sweets from trick-or-treating are thrown away every year. A single trick-or-treater generates around 1 pound of trash.
- According to BusinessInsider approx. 3 cups or 160 cubes of sugar with harmful artificial colors and flavors is consumed per child during Halloween. Too much added sugar has been associated with cardiovascular disease and lack of essential nutrients. Children would have to play for two days straight to burn off these 7,000 calories in the average amount of candy collected on Halloween.
- Important ingredients in candy are sugar, cocoa and palm oil. Palm oil trees and cocoa trees are grown on cleared forest lands converted to farmlands by burning or slashing the forests. Most candies are made with unsustainable palm oil.
- The act of burning forests for palm oil plantations can cause deforestation and results in harmful greenhouse gases (GHG) which are harmful for the environment.
- Some Halloween candies contain harmful substitutes, artificial colors and flavors. You can check what is in your Halloween candy here
Child food poverty
According reliefweb, 1 in 3 children under five – or 202 million – live in and suffer from severe food poverty, meaning they are fed extremely poor diets that include at most two food groups, often a cereal and perhaps some milk.
These children don't have access to nutritious food which is very much required for their development. Children facing severe food poverty are vulnerable to life-threatening forms of undernutrition.
As per Worldcounts, A child dies from hunger and related causes every 10 seconds. Poor nutrition and hunger are responsible for the death of 3.1 million children a year. The children die because their bodies lack basic nutrients.
Global food crisis is worsening due to the conflict of the climate change and impacts of the covid-19 pandemic.
Summary
Halloween is a fun and enjoyable day for sure and it has become an important celebration for children as well as adults. We should also keep in mind the food wastage and pollution this single day event is causing which is impacting the environment.
A single candy that ends up in trash can provide a healthy meal for a child in dire need.
We should think of ways to make Halloween fun and at the same time environment friendly and generate compassion in kids towards the needy.
