Sustainable Bucket List For Fall: 10 Eco-Friendly Activities To Do This Autumn
Photo credit: Mat Porporato Photography
Autumn is my favorite season. Even though I live in Miami now, where seasons hate authenticity and try to emulate each other, I remember the trees turning yellow and orange while growing up in Buenos Aires, and how this change seemed to happen gradually, and then all at once. That’s the main reason why I love fall. There’s something about the colors of these months that warm my heart in ways that the sun in summer and the spring flowers can’t.
But there’s another side to it: everything you can do during this beautiful season–the numerous activities that have a certain uniqueness in autumn. However, because enjoying them consciously is so important, I made a bucket list for you with sustainable and eco-friendly activities to do this fall. This way, you can enjoy this colorful season, and take care of the world at the same time!
ACTIVITIES TO ENJOY SUSTAINABLY IN AUTUMN
LEAF-WATCHING AT YOUR LOCAL PARK
Since I started this post confessing my endless love for autumn’s leaves, let me begin the sustainable bucket list with this outdoor fall activity. Walk to your local park, and just stay there, admiring the trees (totally zero waste and sustainable!). You can even make a picnic there and enjoy being outside in nature’s colors. Carry your own food in reusable containers, and clean after yourself, leaving the place in better condition than when you arrived. If you’re traveling, I recommend going to a National Park to watch the red leaves cover the mountains and meadows. Last year my partner and I spent a few autumn days in the Great Smoky Mountains, and it was one of the most breathtaking scenes I’ve ever seen in my life. Remember to check when fall colors reach their peak in the place you’re going to, since higher elevations reach their peak earlier (around mid-to-late September), while places in lower elevations tend to do so in October.
Photo by Sustainable Rookie. The Great Smoky Mountains in autumn
2. ORGANIC APPLE PICKING
One of fall’s favorite activities is going apple picking. If this is on your list, make sure you find an organic orchard, so that you can enjoy this activity in the most environmentally conscious way. Buying from organic farmers is a great way of supporting eco-friendly agriculture, which reduces pollution, avoids harmful pesticides and fertilizers, and manages water in more efficient ways. In addition, your local organic orchard will lower your environmental impact, in contrast to the large carbon footprint associated with fruits and vegetables found in the grocery store, which travel for miles to reach it.
3. COMPOST OR EAT YOUR PUMPKINS
Did you know that every year 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkin get tossed out and rot in America’s landfills? According to The Guardian, 40% of consumers buy fresh pumpkins to hollow out and carve, but 60% of those don’t use the flesh, which contributes to the approximately 63.1 million tons of food waste generated annually in the U.S. Avoiding food waste is a part of embracing a more conscious lifestyle, especially during the Halloween and Thanksgiving season, when billions of people massively buy this fruit. If you’re going to buy pumpkins, buy them organic when possible. Most importantly, to be sustainable this fall season, be careful with what you do with them afterwards. Use the flesh to cook some yummy recipes like soup or pudding, if you’re going to carve it, and bake the seeds for a few minutes in the oven to eat as snack. Once the season is over, instead of throwing the pumpkin or its rind away, compost it. When left to decompose in a landfill, pumpkins will produce methane gas, a greenhouse gas with a much higher potential than carbon dioxide, whereas composting it will create a nourishing humus for the soil. For a pumpkin to be compostable, don’t paint it or put glitter on it (you can find sustainable and compostable alternatives for that instead), and remove candles and wax.
Photo by Sustainable Rookie
4. COZY UP WITH THE SWEATERS YOU ALREADY OWN
Autumn and sweaters are two words that could be used as synonyms. A colder weather allows you to dust off your sweaters that have been hiding in the depths of your closet. They’ll make you stay warm while you cuddle up with a book and a coffee (I’d add my cat into the formula too). To make this activity a sustainable one, use the sweaters you already own. Outerwear usually lasts many years, so there’s no reason to buy new ones every year. If you’re truly tired of the sweaters you own, or they’re in a bad condition, you can swap them with your family or friends and buy second-hand pieces. In case you really need to buy one, opt for eco-friendly and cruelty-free materials, like organic cotton or recycled fibers, and choose timeless pieces that you think you could still use in ten years.
5. DRINK A VEGAN PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE (IN A REUSABLE MUG!)
One of this season’s favorites, pumpkin spice lattes carry with them the smell of fallen leaves. To check this off your sustainable bucket list, drink it vegan. Replace cow’s milk with soy or oat milk and top it with vegan whipped cream. The taste will be the same, but your environmental impact will be lower, considering that a plant-based diet is more sustainable. On the other hand, to make it a zero-waste activity, take your reusable mug to the coffee shop if you’re ordering it to-go. Other options would be to sit down at a cafeteria that serves it in mugs, or to prepare it yourself at home.
Photo by Sustainable Rookie. My bamboo reusable mug. Halloween themed. I use it year-round.
6. START GETTING READY FOR AN ECO-FRIENDLY HALLOWEEN
The spooky holiday is right around the corner, which can be exciting, even though it’s also a time in which eco-anxiety worsens for some. An estimated 2,000 tons of plastic waste (equivalent to 83 million bottles) is generated from throwaway Halloween clothing in the UK only. An 83% of the material used is polluting oil-based plastic likely to end up in landfill. Add to this the millions of candy wrappers that are also thrown away. The best eco-tip is to not buy a new costume every year. What I usually do is get creative and assemble one with clothes I already own. Another low-waste alternative would be to swap costumes with friends or rent one.
Additionally, the most sustainable options for candies are probably not buying them (always the lowest-impact option) or baking some sweets yourself. You could prepare homemade caramel apples with the fruit you picked at your local organic orchard! If this doesn’t suit your needs, choose vegan candies like Hu’s Chocolates, Skittles or Nerds, and buy in big bags when you can, to reduce plastic wrapping.
Don’t forget to use the decorations you have from previous years. Having a minimalist approach to Halloween and just having a few items that you can store at your place is a great eco-friendly alternative to buying new stuff each year. You can also make your own decorations with things you’d usually throw away or put on the recycling bin, like carboard boxes and toilet paper tubes.
7. BUY LOCAL AND SEASONAL VEGGIES AND FRUIT AT YOUR FARMER’S MARKET
Since local seasonal produce requires less energy to produce and transport, they are a great sustainable choice for your meals. During Autumn, you can delight yourself with organic ginger, grapes, cranberries, spinach, winter squash, and brussels sprouts, among others, which are all in season. By buying at your local farmer’s market, you will make sure everything you buy is local and has therefore a low carbon-footprint.
8. HOST A PLANT-BASED FRIENDSGIVING
With all the delicious fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, plants in general, that you buy at your local farmer’s market, you can host a vegan Friendsgiving dinner. It’s a great opportunity to cozy up with your loved ones, spend some time indoors eating homemade food, sipping hot vegan cocoa, and telling stories. There are millions of vegan recipes (you can try one of mine) you can choose from, and you can mix cold and hot dishes, as well as some cinnamon desserts! Cooking is also a great way to spend some time indoors when the weather starts getting colder and is also an eco-friendlier alternative to take-away, as you would be avoiding containers and plastic in which food is delivered.
9. SPEND TIME OUTDOORS TO CONNECT WITH NATURE
Okay, it’s not all about locking yourself at home, watching Netflix, drinking gallons of pumpkin spice latte, and forgetting to breath fresh air. You can find a balance between both. The truth is autumn is a perfect time to be outside: the temperatures aren’t yet that low, and it’s not burning hot either. To embrace a more conscious lifestyle it’s very important that we spend time in nature to appreciate it and respect it, so that we can take care of it. The more you distance yourself from something, the more difficult it is to care for it. Admiring the leaves from your window can be nice while you read a few chapters of a book but getting closer to the masterpiece makes you see things from new perspectives. Walk around town; ride your bike to a park or your favorite coffeeshop to grab a hot drink; go camping, set a tent on top of the dry leaves, so that the next day you can wake up to a crisp weather, surrounded by orange, yellow and red.
Photo by Mat Porporato Photography. That’s me walking around Blue Ridge Parkway.
10. MMAKE A PILE OF LEAVES TO JUMP INTO
I believe the sound dry leaves make when you step or jump on them is one of the most beautiful sounds in this life. The world would be a better place if everyone jumped into a pile of dry and colorful leaves before starting their day; it’s just as cathartic as walking on them. Make your own pile and have some fun! When you have let go of all your worries and buried any sign of bitterness under the pile, just leave the leaves on the ground. This way, they can break down naturally and add organic matter to your soil.
Which sustainable activities will you enjoy doing this autumn?
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Hi, I’m Melina,
I’m the creator of Sustainable Rookie, and my goal is to share what I learn throughout my sustainability journey, so that I can help other people live a more conscious life.
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