Results: Now That's Scary

Forget vampires, witches, werewolves and mummies — the amount of garbage washing up on Nova Scotia's shores is far more terrifying. A Nova Scotia woman has created a Halloween display in the yard of her home made entirely of trash hauled from the province's coastlines in the last month. Angela Riley, founder of the shoreline cleanup business Scotian Shores, got the idea after seeing someone use a store-bought spider web decoration. Her yard decorations are made mostly of tires, old rope, cans and lobster traps. The display features grave markers, made from old lobster traps, for sea animals native to Nova Scotia that have gone extinct. Do you admire this woman's creativity and do you think it's a novel way to address the pollution problem in our lakes, rivers and oceans?

According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, about eight million tonnes of plastic waste enters the world's oceans each year. One of the biggest threats is "ghost gear," a Halloween-appropriate term referring to lost or abandoned fishing gear. While Canada plans to ban single-use plastics starting next year, experts have said much more work will be needed to address the issue of marine litter. Riley hopes her Halloween display will raise awareness for passersby who may not fully understand the scale of ocean pollution. Are you fully aware of how much garbage ends up in our waters?

And it's not the only frightening thing making news this Halloween. Millions of pumpkins are tossed in the trash every year after Halloween, clogging up landfills and adding to food waste. It is estimated there are more than 2,500 farms in Canada with pumpkin patches, using data from Statistics Canada. They produce 80 thousand metric tonnes of pumpkins. About 66 per cent of those are sold to customers, but most are never eaten, despite being a cost-effective and nutritious food source. There are, however, ways to reduce waste. Have you tried any of these things to reduce pumpkin waste?

Holidays in general produce a lot of waste. Do you and your family have any tips as to how to reduce the amount of waste during the holiday season that you would like to pass on?