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Published 27 Oct 2025

Love the Halloween fun, hate the waste?

Sometimes being green can seem a bit, well, earnest and worthy and a bit too sustainable to have silly fun.

Nothing wrong with having silly fun. Just pick up your mess and recycle it all afterwards.

Seriously, there’s a ridiculous amount of completely unnecessary waste involved with Halloween. Those big orange pumpkins you get at supermarkets, have you ever tried eating one of them? They’re revolting. They are grown for being big orange things that can be scooped out then chucked in the bin a few days later. If they’re not composted then they go to landfill, where they release methane gas for 20 years. About 20 million of them in the UK alone.  Now THAT is scary.

Carved pumpkin decomposing on top of a compost heap

So, best thing is to try to source a delicious pumpkin grown at a local farm, or sold in the supermarkets in the food section. That way, when you’ve finished with the Halloweeny things, you can cut it into more bits and cook it. There are loads of recipes, eg here, https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/pumpkin-recipes  . My favourite is just to roast it. You can chop it into biggish chunks and put it in the oven still attached to the skin. Cook it for a bit, then it will come off the skin more easily, then you can chop it into smaller pieces and put it back in the oven with some olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander – any spices you like really – and when it’s nearly ready chuck in some pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds to toast at the last minute.

Have you seen our wool garden fleece? It’s thin and woolly. You can pull it apart to look like giant cobwebs. You can hang it from a tree to look floaty and ghosty. You can cut eye holes in it and dress yourself up like a mummy, or, I don’t know, dribble red colouring on it and stuff. I’m sure there are lots of gruesome and spooky things you can do when you give your creativity free rein. 

Giant toy spider in sheep wool fleece alternative to synthetic Halloween webbing

Then you can use it in the garden when Halloween is all over.

As with all annual events and festivals, at Halloween we are bombarded with stuff to buy then chuck away. But the best fun and the best memories are made from getting creative and doing stuff. Have you ever played the bat moth game? It’s silly kiddy fun and educational too. Oh look, I’m sounding earnest again. Honestly, it’s fun. Have a brilliantly spooky Halloween time.

Children playing the bat moth game

 

Sally Phillips, Owner and Director of Chimney Sheep

Sally Phillips

Inventor of Chimney Sheep

biodegradable
children
compost
eco-living
garden fleece
sustainability
PlanetCare Microfibre Filter Starter Kit

PlanetCare Microfibre Filter Starter Kit

How does it work?

This ingenious washing machine microfibre filter kit uses cartridges to physically catch and retain the fibres that come loose when you wash your laundry. Each cartridge will last around 15-20 loads of laundry and is easily replaceable in just a couple of minutes.

Fibre retention is based solely on physical retention with the help of clever patent-pending technology.

You can also send the used cartridges back to us and we'll forward them on to PlanetCare. They will ensure that they are reused or recycled.  This ‘closed loop’ system ensures that there is minimum wastage throughout the whole process.

Something to think about:

Doing the laundry can have a huge environmental impact, whether that be using tons of energy running the washing machine and tumble drier - or the pollutants that are released from the products you use. Using a microfiber filter is just one way of reducing that impact. Why not make a few more changes - we've tons of handy tips in our blog.

 

What's in the box?

You'll get everything you need to fit your PlanetCare washing machine filter with these handy starter kits, meaning you can get it in place and start catching microfibers straight away.

The Mini Starter Kit includes:

  • 1 housing top with a cup, 1 holder, 4 screws, 1 tube (1.5m), 1 silicone lubricant, 1 counter, and 3 filter replacement cartridges.
  •  3 cartridges. These can last up to 60 washes.

The XL Starter Kit includes:

  • 1 housing top with a cup, 1 holder, 4 screws, 1 tube (1.5m), 1 silicone lubricant, 1 counter, and 3 filter replacement cartridges.
  • 13 cartridges. These can last up to 260 washes.

    Note: All the filter cartridges are 100% recycled and refurbished for use again and again via a closed-loop service.

       

      Is it easy to install?

      The microfiber filter is very easy to install. In fact, for most washing machines this process takes less than 10 minutes. The filters are compatible with all types of washing machines.

      There's actually a handy how-to video and a useful installation guide  you can take a peek at if you need a little bit more guidance.

      It’s a good idea to position it high enough above the floor/surface so the cover can be removed to change the filter and position the device so that it is easy to screw the cover back after each filter change.

      Please note: you will need 13 cm on the side of the washing machine and approx. 60 cm in height clearance so that you will be able to easily unscrew the housing and change the filter comfortably.

      The filter must be placed outside the washing machine on the drain hose. It should not be raised above the height of the drain hose exiting the washing machine. The hose length should be held to a minimum. Raising the filter and a long drain hose will both reduce the efficiency of pumping and filtering and should be avoided.

       

      What are the dimensions of the filter housing?

      The filter housing alone, without any attachments, measures the following:

      • height 325 mm, width (hose attachment direction) 122 mm, and depth 130 mm.

       

      Is the microfiber filter easy to use?

      For the first load, just make sure the filter cover is replaced correctly and screwed tight before using the washing machine. Try a short wash and make sure all connections and covers are fixed and watertight.

      It’s also a good idea to hold the top of the device when replacing the filter cover to avoid putting pressure on the bracket fixings when unscrewing the cover.

      After that, you do not need to do anything until the cartridge is full.

      >Easy!

       

      How does the closed-loop system work?

      When your cartridge is full you can send it back to us directly, simply go onto the delivery website Parcel2Go and produce a label to send the cartridges to us, don't forget to include your order details as we'll refund you the postage cost. We then send these off to PlanetCare who disassemble the cartridge and remove the fibres and filtering medium.  This is done in a controlled environment, ensuring that caught fibres do not pollute water or the environment.

       

      What does Planetcare do with the fibres?

      >At the moment PlanetCare is safely storing the used filtered materials. Once they have sufficient quantity, they will reuse/recycle it all. At the moment they are planning to reuse the materials by converting them into insulation mats. But, they're always on the lookout for viable solutions and will choose the best available option to reuse/ recycle the fibres.

      The waste will never be burned or sent to a landfill!

      The remainder of the cartridge is cleaned, and fitted with a new filtering medium ready to be used again.

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