GREEN LIVING

Sustainable Fall Trends (Non-fashion)

By Bria Zegarelli

September 18, 2025

Spooky season is coming up, which means fall decor and trends are on all of our minds. 

It’s tempting to buy new items every year, especially with the cute holiday marketing that occurs during this time of year. However, there are so many ways to participate in fall trends while also being environmentally-friendly. 

If you want to be more sustainable this fall season, check out the following 7 tips:

If you’re using pumpkins for your fall and Halloween decor–which you probably will be–you can reuse the pumpkin in several different ways afterward, which can help reduce your holiday waste. 

For instance, roasting your pumpkin seeds and eating them as a snack is a classic way to make extra use of your decor. You can also substitute pine nuts for pumpkin seeds if making homemade pesto, and you can roast any extra larger pumpkin pieces to eventually blend into a puree, which can be used for many fall recipes. If you like to garden, look into how to compost your apple, gourd, and pumpkin scraps so that you can use the extra parts as fertilizer.

A sustainable fall trend I’ve been seeing recently on Tiktok has been DIY leaf and pinecone decor. People are using actual leaves from trees in their yard and covering them with mod podge, flattening them with books, or ironing them between wax paper so the leaves last. They are then using that for fall decor instead of buying fake leaves. Using real pinecones instead of plastic ones is another classic way to incorporate more sustainable practices into your DIY decor.

If you have extra pumpkins that have not gone bad but you no longer have any use for them, it is possible to reach out to local farms and see if they could use the pumpkins for their animals. There are also specific organizations such as Pumpkins for Pigs that connect you to farms and donation sites that will use your pumpkins, gourds, fruit, and vegetables as food for their sheep, cows, goats, and pigs.

Instead of buying a new trick-or-treat bag, you could decorate an old pillowcase, paper grocery bag, or tote bag instead. Not only is this a fun fall crafting activity, but it also prevents you from buying something you may not actually need. Plus, DIY trick-or-treat bags hold much more candy than many store-bought ones anyway!

This is the time of year when you’re probably going through more candles than usual. Instead of throwing out the candle jars, you can clean them out and use them for storing small items. You could also use them as candy jars, especially for Halloween parties.

If you’re looking for tasty fall treats or produce, consider supporting local farms and vendors by visiting farmers’ markets as well as participating in apple- and pumpkin-picking. Simmons Farm is my go-to, but research which farms are closest to you!

Instead of buying new fall decor, try looking for some timeless pieces at local vintage markets or thrift stores. These types of stores usually have really cute, traditional items that could work for both Thanksgiving and Halloween. Obviously, the best sustainable decor practice is just using what you already have, but thrifting is one of the next best options.