COSTUMES & SUSTAINABILITY
FOOD
Have a green Halloween in 2016 Investigating steak and lobster dinner By Jessica Chaiken Collegian Staff
It’s that time of year again when the leaves start to fall, the pumpkins make their debut, and the spirit of Halloween is in the air. It’s also the time of year when Americans spend nearly $8.4 billion in consumer sales for Halloween, roughly $83 dollars a person according to The National Retail Federation. According to the same article at the NRF, 69.1 percent of people are planning to celebrate the holiday in some degree whether it be by handing out candy, decorating their home and yard, dressing up, trick-or-treating, or throwing or attending a party. Regardless of the festivities, it’s plain to see that costumes tend to be what Americans, and many college students, seem to dish out the most cash on an outfit they’ll most likely never wear again. So why spend so much money on one day of the year? That average of $83 spent per person could go to so much more, such as 20 cups of coffee, or even 10 burritos. So if
you’re looking to deliver on your Halloween costume this year without breaking the bank, the most efficient solution would be to wear a sustainable costume. Sustainable costumes are both cheaper for consumers and better for the environment. Instead of going out and spending a fortune on your costume, you may already have everything you need right under your nose. One convenient place you can start your search is in your own closet. Many costumes can be achieved by wearing simple articles of clothing. If you have a striped shirt, you could easily be a mime, a bandit, or even a pirate, requiring little other accessories. Even a flannel could serve as a useful costume, possibly a lumberjack or a cowboy. Many costumes depicting characters from TV shows or movies are often simple to recreate with clothes you already have. If you have a suit, you could even go as one of the presidential candidates, an all too popular theme this year.
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GREEN on page 2
A deep dive into ‘All Treats, No Tricks’ By Emily Johnson Collegian Staff
It’s a typical sight on Halloween: college students in costumes planning an evening of festivities. But at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, October 31 also marks the annual “All Treats, No Tricks” dinner, when all of the dining commons transform into a spirited, spooky affair and serve lobster. On Monday night from 5 to 9 p.m., the dining commons will host a special dinner with lobster, grass-fed grilled steak, chicken chesterfield and baked macaroni and cheese. New to the annual dinner, retail dining locations Blue Wall and Roots Cafe will offer special meals as
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Another, maybe less appealing, place you can look is your trash. I wouldn’t recommend trying to use a banana peel or last weeks’ dinner, but the plastic and cardboard in your trash can come in handy. The cardboard boxes from 30 racks can be very useful. Secure together enough cardboard, add some paint, and with a little artistic talent you can be anything that is rectangular. Using this idea, you can easily be anything from a juice box to a robot. Plastic bottles can be utilized as well. If you take two liter bottles and strap them to your back, you can have a makeshift jet pack. Or to be even lazier, you can just go as “garbage” and wear whatever you can salvage. Pun costumes are also an easy way to get away with wearing what you already have. You can use a cereal box from the trash and be a “cereal killer,” cover a sweatshirt in candy wrappers to be a “candy rapper,” or even be witty enough
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LOBSTER on page 2
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well. But the question remains: why lobster every single year? UMass Dining and fishermen in Maine teamed up 15 years ago to serve the first lobster dinner. According to Executive Director of Auxiliary Enterprises Ken Toong, other universities celebrate the holiday with festivities in the dining commons, but no other school has a lobster bake. UMass’s dinner is one of the biggest celebrations. “It is an urban legend that someone sponsored this; it is not the case,” Toong said. Some students still seem to believe the rumor that Bill Cosby sponsors the event, despite the fact that there is no truth to this claim. Cosby is an alumnus of the university, but has no involvement or relation
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