Carve out new traditions: Ultimate autumn activities for eco-conscious families

Every autumn, approximately 18,000 tonnes of edible pumpkin is tossed away after serving time as carved-up, candlelit companions. That’s enough to make pumpkin soup for Britain’s entire population.

Yet it’s not just pumpkin going to waste. WWF’s Living Planet Report (LPR), released earlier this month, estimates 30-40% of all food produced is never eaten, representing around a quarter of total global calories produced, one-fifth of all land and water used for agriculture, and nearly 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In a scary sequel to the food waste story, the UK’s wet summer has resulted in one of the worst harvests in recent years. Extreme weather conditions, exacerbated by climate change, have affected pumpkin yields across Britain, with some farmers abandoning Halloween pumpkin-picking events altogether.

If you do decide to skip the pumpkin patch this year, it’s still important to carve out time for your daily dose of nature. New research from WWF revealed that spending time in nature is the ultimate mood-boosting brew, and just 20 minutes a day is enough to help ease anxiety and stress whilst promoting positive emotions.

Whether you’re green-fingered, the crafty kind or a sharp-sighted creature seeker, there are plenty of alternative, fun ways to enjoy autumn’s spooky season that don’t contribute to food waste and environmental harm.

Autumnal Wreaths

Why not hone your wreath-making skills with the warm colours of October’s outdoors? This DIY activity provides the perfect opportunity to get your daily dose of nature by foraging for your new autumn mantelpiece. Dried leaves, pinecones, feathers, seeds and berries all make great decorative pieces that you can secure to a circular wreath base. Take note of where you’re taking from, bearing in mind that removing certain natural elements, especially if protected, can cause harm to the surrounding environment. Ensuring you have the permission of the landowner or land management, collecting these materials can be a non-disruptive way to bring a little bit of nature to your front door – you might even like to add some dried moss or thorns for an edgy Halloween appeal!

Nature’s creepy crafts

As green turns to rich reds and golds in the autumn, it’s a colourful time to explore nature’s bounty and find crafty materials. Get your 20-minute, daily dose of nature before trying your hand at these wild creations:

• Stick spiderwebs: Gather your sticks and overlap to make the stokes of the spiderweb. Take some string or yarn and secure at the centre before interlacing yarn (closer together at first, then moving wider towards stick edges) diagonally between sticks. Tie off at the end after you’ve enjoyed some therapeutic weaving!
• Pinecone bats: Cut some bat-shaped wings and ears from black felt, slot into the grooves of the pinecone and secure with biodegradable glue. Do the same with recycled paper (or junk mail!) to form fangs and take a hole puncher to a spotty leaf for your bat’s eyes. Now you’ve created a pinecone bat, can you create a monster Franken-pine?
• Leaf ghost puppets: Become a wild ghost hunter for the day as you search for ‘ghost-shaped’ leaves, as well as a twig to support your puppet (tip: try for long-stemmed leaves so you can easily fasten your puppetry stick). Use natural based paints to coat the leaf in white, and marker to draw on your ghost’s eerie expression.
• Monster rocks: You might have had a pet rock before, but have you ever had a pet monster rock? Get scavenging for the perfect stone and bring it to life with bold-coloured natural paints. Use markers to give your rock its own unique facial expression. Repeat if you want an army of monster rocks to guard your home at Halloween.

Beeswax candle-making & ghostly glass-jar lanterns  

Skip the synthetics and try making your own beeswax candle to burn. You can source sustainable beeswax from local beekeepers, markets and online.  

Have a stash of upcycled glass jars sitting at home? Allow your imagination to run wild by painting spooky patterns on the glass exterior or covering in leaves and twine before placing your candle inside – then enjoy your homemade Halloween lantern.

Witchy herb garden  

Gardening is a fun, educational and rewarding way to spend time outside connecting with others or practising mindfulness. It’s also brilliant for boosting biodiversity and supporting the environment where you live. This Halloween, you might wish to fill your spooky soil cauldron with herbs long believed to have beneficial properties in traditional medicine. Here are some suggestions for plants that can survive the chilly autumn season, best planted inside as seedlings before being slowly introduced to the outside world:

• Witch hazel: Traditionally believed to have protective and anti-inflammatory properties, witch hazel blooms in late winter and produces bright yellow leaves in autumn, making now a great time for planting.
• Sage: With its lovely aroma, sage has long been used across cultures to cleanse spaces of negative energy. Planting sage in cooler autumn temperatures helps to reduce stress on the herb and allows it to establish its roots before becoming dormant in winter.
• Lavender: A spiritual symbol of purity and protection, planting lavender in autumn allows the roots to settle and strengthen before it flowers in warmer months.
• Thyme: A medieval emblem for bravery, thyme makes wonderful seasoning for your autumn veggie mix. Thyme is a hardy herb that can endure colder temperatures.
• Chamomile: Also known for its hardiness, autumn is an ideal time to sow chamomile seeds, giving them time to germinate before blooming in spring. Traditionally believed to promote emotional and spiritual balance, chamomile is still recognised for its natural remedial properties. 

Browse for bats or scout for owls

As we draw into autumn, darkness is starting to settle in earlier, but that also offers brilliant opportunities to spot nocturnal nature. You can dodge the autumn blues by getting together with friends or family, reconnecting with the natural world, and observing the UK’s night flyers in the crisp evening air.

Bats are an iconic figure of Halloween, and the UK is home to 18 different species of them, many of which are now protected due to threats from building and development, as well as domestic cat attacks and road kills. Autumn is a good opportunity to spot species including the Brown long-eared bat, with ears almost as long as its body, or the Common pipistrelle bat, weighing no more than a 20p piece.

Their nocturnal habits and haunting coo make owls another glowing emblem of Halloween lore. Autumn is an ideal time for owl spotting – UK species such as the barn owl, tawny owl, little owl, long-eared owl and short-eared owl becoming more active during autumn in preparation for breeding season.

Spiderweb and eerie tree photo challenge

Nature’s intricate beauty can give us a sense of connection to the wider world and can foster feelings of gratitude and belonging. What beautiful, haunting images can you capture by browsing your local area for silken spiderwebs or twisted trunks? You’d be surprised where they might pop up when you keep an eye out!

Nature is known to spark our curiosity and enhance our creativity. Get your crew together in the wild for a photo challenge – a dazzling predatory trap, what unique spiderweb shapes can you capture? As trees begin to shed their leaves, can you snap their skeletal silhouette against the sky?

Decorate your pumpkin, then turn it into a seasonal treat!

If you do get your hands on some scrumptious pumpkins but want to put them to sustainable use, consider decorating the pumpkin’s exterior before putting it on the table. Why not experiment with edible glitter or food-safe glow in the dark paint to jazz up your pumpkin? Then, when the spooky season is over, consider these delicious, waste-free pumpkin recipes from organic UK farmers Riverford to really savour the flavour:

• Pumpkin Puree 
• Thai Pumpkin Curry 
• Roasted Pumpkin Salad 
• Pumpkin Muffins 
• Spiced Pumpkin Soup 

Riverford have a range of other seasonal recipes for those that aren’t passionate about pumpkin - find inspiration from their autumn recipe list here. Cooking with seasonal produce limits food waste and reduces the need for carbon-emitting imports. It's also a great opportunity to educate about what foods grow during the changing seasons and collectively enjoy the reward of fresh taste.

As climate change and nature loss threaten supply chains, we can limit our own impact in areas such as food waste, whilst benefitting from the peace, positivity-boost and connection that nature provides us.

Enjoy these sustainable, no trick (just treat!) approaches to the spooky season, and find more ways to get your daily dose of nature this autumn at WWF’s ‘A Prescription for Nature’ online hub.