Night of the Unperishable

Though it's a hectic time of year for us here at Wintercroft, we love Halloween. Growing up in Tennessee, which is one of the most magical places you can be during Autumn, the earthy smells of copper leaves committing themselves to the soil infused with fires from the chimneys, as big orange pumpkin heads glared aglow from porches throughout the neighbourhood. The smells and atmosphere take us back to those exciting evenings as children. Carving pumpkins by the fire while dressing up to fill our bucket full of candy and then stay up way past bedtime watching old horror films with the siblings.

We understand why it’s such a tradition, but unfortunately it has devolved into one that produces heaps of plastic trash, which unlike the lovely swirling Autumn leaves, won’t decay for thousands of years unless we put a stop to it. As this continues year after year, the effects on the environment have become more terrifying than any monster. As Halloween becomes more popular and commercial here in the UK, the plastic monster grows larger and more hideous.

The other smell we associate with Halloween season is the pungent, sickly sweet waft of plastic that hits our senses when we turn the corner in the grocery store. It's trash before it's even thrown away. Aisles of plastic-wrapped tat, polyester pirate suites and generic rubber beasties glare at us with empty eyes - as empty as the imaginations behind their creation. Of course, their insidious purpose isn’t to stimulate our imaginations or add to treasured Halloween memories, they offer a convenience for as cheap a price as possible, but the real cost in one we can’t afford to pay any longer.

Creative imaginations can save the word. It’s a bold statement, but if everyone does their part to reduce the use of plastics, we can stifle the rapid destruction of the biosphere that gives all life as we know it on this planet. Through craftsmanship and innovation, our pre-industrial ancestors left behind mostly beautiful objects of purpose, made from the Earth’s natural materials. Let their ghosts guide us away from a legacy of litter.