Cozy up and enjoy the magic of autumn with these 17 sustainable fall activities!
From food waste to single-use products to unwanted gifts, our society creates so much waste during the last three months of the year!
While I love fall and the holiday season, I find it’s such a shame that we do not honor the planet, particularly at this time of the year.
It’s incredible how beautiful nature becomes in autumn!
Not that it isn’t magical during other seasons, but there is something breathtaking and cozy about the warm, autumnal colors.
Watching trees let go of their leaves and observing the changing colors one day at a time is very meditative and heartwarming.
The good news is that we can enjoy the magic of fall while being sustainable.
Here are 17 sustainable fall activities to celebrate autumn and the planet!
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How can we be sustainable in the fall?
We can be eco-friendly in a variety of ways in the fall.
Of course, we can do the same things we do all year round to minimize waste and reduce our environmental footprint.
We can take action to save water and energy at home and avoid impulse buying and overconsumption.
We can also choose to be more conscious with our choices and only buy sustainable products.
To learn more, check out these 11 sustainable fall essentials for a cozy, yet eco-friendly autumn!
Finally, we can indulge in fun and cozy activities to welcome the fall season.
But let’s make it eco-friendly with these 17 sustainable fall activities!
17 sustainable fall activities to celebrate autumn and the planet
1. Visit a forest
If you live near a forest, take a few hours during the weekend to visit it.
Walk slowly and observe all the beautiful autumnal colors around you.
Pay attention to how nature is slowly changing and letting all those leaves go.
If you don’t have a forest nearby, that’s okay: you can observe nature even in a park in the city!
2. Decorate your home with elements from nature
For many of us, fall is the perfect season to decorate and make our homes as cozy and welcoming as possible.
If you like decorating for the season, try not to buy those plastic decorations at the store.
They are very wasteful and poorly made!
You can find gorgeous decorations for free in nature.
And these won’t cost you anything!
Go foraging and see what you can collect (without disturbing the local wildlife).
For instance, you can create a lovely wreath using leaves and twigs!
3. Enjoy a pumpkin spice latte
When the weather cools down, I’m always up for a warm cup of tea or hot cocoa!
If you too like warm beverages, take advantage of the fall to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte in a local coffee shop.
Drink it in a reusable mug at the café or ask them to pour it into your reusable to-go cup.
You can also make it yourself at home.
To make it even more sustainable, replace cow’s milk with oat or soy milk, and prefer vegan whipped cream.
4. Go thrifting
If you need anything new for your fall wardrobe, go thrifting before buying new.
Buying clothes second-hand has so many environmental benefits!
What’s more, you will find unique pieces and save a lot of money in the process.
You can also buy your fall decorations there, so it’s always worth going at the beginning of autumn.
Read more: 14 things to look for at thrift stores
5. Go apple picking
One of my favorite sustainable fall activities is apple picking!
Find a local orchard (preferably organic), and visit it with your family or friends.
It’s a super fun activity to do with other people, and you get to stock up on delicious apples for the season!
6. Make homemade apple cider
If you’ve gone apple picking, chances are you came back home with lots of apples.
You might even have so much you don’t know what to do with all of them.
If so, make some homemade apple cider!
Enjoy sipping this fresh, vibrant beverage while watching tree leaves falling; you’ll love it!
7. Read books when it’s raining
What’s cozier than reading a book next to a window when it’s raining outside?!
There’s something so comforting about being warm and relaxed inside when it’s raining cats and dogs outside!
Make sure to cozy up under a soft blanket and listen to the raindrops from time to time.
8. Donate warm-weather clothes to a local shelter
The change of season is a great moment to reevaluate what we own, declutter things, and make space in our homes.
So go through your closet and see what you can donate to the local homeless or women’s shelter.
These people will get a lot more value out of your unused clothes, and it will give your pieces a new life!
Read more:
- How to build a minimalist wardrobe you love?
- Closet declutter checklist: 17 things to get rid of in your closet
9. Carve a pumpkin
One of the best sustainable fall activities most of us love is pumpkin carving.
Unfortunately, doing this can be very wasteful: every year, more than 1.3 billion pumpkins end up in landfills in the United States alone!
But thankfully, we don’t have to contribute to this.
To make this activity more sustainable, visit a local pumpkin patch instead of traveling farther to a larger farm.
Even better if it’s organic!
Once there, only buy what you need to avoid overconsumption.
After you’ve carved it, roast the seeds and use the pulp to make puree or a pie.
It will make a nutritious meal for you and your family!
If you have too much to eat, freeze it to prevent food waste, and you’ll be able to enjoy it later.
Finally, at the end of fall, compost the pumpkin skin so it returns to the earth.
10. Make our own Halloween costume
If you dress up for Halloween, try not to buy a new costume at the store.
Instead, see if you can create something out of the clothes you already have or with pieces you’ve borrowed or found at the thrift store.
With a little creativity and imagination, we can DIY and create amazing costumes using what we already have.
You can find great ideas on Pinterest or the internet.
This will help you save a lot of money!
11. Bake some treats
One of the coziest sustainable fall activities is baking yummy treats using fall spices.
Doing this will leave a heartwarming smell in your home, and it’s perfect for satisfying anyone’s sweet tooth!
So refrain from buying them at the store, and enjoy the simple joy of baking them yourself.
12. Make eco-friendly, non-toxic candles
As the days get shorter in the fall, lighting a candle in the evening is a delightful experience.
Unfortunately, most candles at the store are made of paraffin wax, which is derived from petroleum, so they’re not sustainable at all.
What’s more, burning paraffin candles releases toxic substances into the air.
One of them is benzene, a carcinogenic compound we should stay away from!
Thankfully, we can still burn candles healthily and sustainably if we choose ones made with soy wax, beeswax, or carnauba wax.
Making them yourself is a great sustainable fall activity you might want to try!
You can learn how to do it on this website.
Read more: The 8 best non-toxic candles to create a cozy atmosphere in your home
13. Learn to knit
When fall rolls around, it means that sweater season is back.
While we can buy sweaters in an eco-friendly way by getting them used or from a sustainable clothing brand, we can also learn to knit them ourselves.
Knitting is a mindful activity that will help you slow down and enjoy the present moment.
Read more: 14 sustainable sweaters to keep you warm and cozy all winter
14. Go to the farmers’ market
One of the most impactful things you can do to help the environment is to buy your food locally.
An easy way to do that is to go to the farmers’ market if you have one where you live.
You will be able to stock up on delicious seasonal and local food, which has not traveled thousands of miles to arrive in your home.
Some farmers’ markets even sell organic produce, which is even better!
15. Make soups
To warm both your body and soul, get into the habit of making good hearty soups at least once a week during the fall season.
They will keep you cozy and toasty warm, especially during cold rainy nights.
If you’ve gone to the farmers’ market, you’ll be able to make them using locally sourced ingredients!
16. Go foraging for mushrooms
If you know how to identify edible mushrooms, why don’t you go foraging for them this fall?
Mushrooms are incredibly nutritious and contain many important minerals and vitamins.
Foraging food in the wild is one of the most sustainable ways to get food, so take advantage of your knowledge!
17. Have a sustainable Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
Unfortunately, this holiday often comes with a lot of food waste.
About 200 million pounds of turkey meat are thrown away at Thanksgiving each year!
This fall, make Thanksgiving as sustainable as possible by not going overboard and not cooking too much food if you’re hosting.
Ideally, use local and organic food, and serve your dishes on reusable plates with metal cutlery.
Also, consider reducing the amount of meat there is in your dishes.
Replace it with plant-based food to minimize your environmental impact.
After dinner, put away any leftovers so you can eat them the following days.
You can also freeze them, or offer guests to bring them home in reusable glass containers.
Final thoughts on these sustainable fall activities
I hope this list of 17 sustainable fall activities inspired you to welcome the season in an eco-friendly way.
With these fun ideas, you should be able to enjoy fall to the fullest and cozy up before the cold winter months arrive, all without harming the planet!
If you liked this blog post, you will also love reading:
- 16 sustainable winter activities to enjoy the colder months
- 18 sustainable spring activities you’ll love
What are your favorite sustainable fall activities?
Let’s share them in the comment section!
Don’t forget to share this article with your friends to inspire them to live more sustainably while they indulge in cozy, exciting fall activities!