Halloween is right around the corner, bringing about the excitement of dressing up in a costume, running through a corn maze, carving a jack-o-lantern, and bobbing for apples. But for many, the highlight of October 31 is collecting pounds of candy from trick-or-treating throughout the neighborhood.
In addition to the typical frights associated with Halloween — haunted houses, spooky movies and so on — Americans are starting to recognize the true nightmare of this holiday. Litter.
A National Litter Study conducted in 2020 by Keep America Beautiful found that food-packaging film, including candy wrappers, was the second most littered product in America followed by cigarette butts. The study also reported that nearly 2.6 billion wrappers were found alongside roads and waterways in the United States.
The EPA states many of these candy wrappers are also not recyclable because of materials like aluminum foil and polypropylene, which are not accepted at most recycling facilities.
Children may not understand the impact they have on the environment by leaving candy wrappers on the ground while trick or treating.
Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, a nonprofit organization and affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is challenging community members to make a difference this Halloween.
The new campaign, TRASH-or-Treat, encourages residents to pick up litter they see throughout their neighborhoods. Interested participants are encouraged to fill out the litter supplies request form on the Keep T/LC Beautiful Instagram page. The organization will provide bags, gloves, and litter tongs to anyone interested in keeping the community litter free this Halloween.
Since 1988, Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful has provided environmental education and community programming for litter prevention, recycling, and composting with the goal of establishing greener communities. In 202,1 they received the Keep Ohio Beautiful Community Award which recognizes their success in improving environmental stewardship throughout the year.
