9 Eco-friendly tips for a green Halloween

Halloween, like many holidays, can be a fun and memorable experience for both kids and adults. It can also create a ton of waste. With some planning, these eco-friendly tips will make this one a green Halloween.

1.   Take a walk.

Most people decorate for Halloween and fall well in advance. Take a walk with your kids around your neighborhood during the day and at night to enjoy your neighbors’ spooky Halloween decorations and festive fall décor. Don’t get in the car!

2.   Be creative with your decorations.

Think outside of the box or packaging. Avoid buying plastic decorations from the store and have your kids help you decorate your home. Send the kids outside to look for leaves and branches and pick up pumpkins, gourds, and apples at the local farmers market or pumpkin patch. Use pumpkins as planters or to display carved jack-o-lanterns with natural candles. Turn to the internet for some Pinterest-worthy inspiration.

3.   Get the most out of your pumpkins.

My kids look forward to carving jack-o-lanterns every year. Purchase locally grown, organic pumpkins. In the spirit of the season, look for tasty pumpkin recipes. Instead of throwing out the guts of the pumpkin, make a tasty treat of pumpkin seeds and pumpkin puree to use in pumpkin butter, muffins/cakes/breads, and pie.

When Halloween is over and it’s time to get rid of your pumpkin shell, add the pumpkin to your (or a neighbor’s) compost pile.

4.   Recycle your Halloween costumes.

Whether you or your kids are looking to be Spider-Man or a 1920s flapper, go vintage, baby! It’s all the rage! Maybe Spider-Man isn’t vintage, but renting or purchasing like new costumes will help to reduce waste this Halloween. After all, most people wear their costumes only once. Try swapping costumes with friends or making costumes from old clothes. Second hand clothing can be used for costumes or as fabric for creating this season’s Halloween costumes.

Better yet, go for a green Halloween costume made of natural fabrics and materials and avoid toxic Halloween costumes made of non-recyclable petro-chemical based plastic and synthetic fibers.

If your kids can’t stand the idea of parting with their costumes, allow these items to become part of your child’s play space. Your kids can have fun dressing up any time of year.

Check the ingredients of your face paint or Halloween makeup and find nontoxic, hypoallergenic alternatives. Fake blood frequently includes unsafe dyes in a petroleum base, so enlist your kids in helping you whip up a batch of your own fake blood with starch and beet juice or other natural food coloring.

For help in planning a Halloween costume swap, visit: GreenHalloween.org.

5.   Choose organic, non-GMO Halloween candy or other useful items.

Protect your kids’ health and the environment by choosing organic, non-GMO Halloween candy free from high-fructose corn syrup, chemical coloring, and artificial flavors. Your local health food store or online retailer offers a variety of options including honey sticks, organic gummy treats, raisins, lollipops, or granola bars.

Instead of offering traditional candy, hand out useful items like colorful pencils, stickers, note pads, bookmarks, small boxes of crayons, erasers in fun shapes, or other inexpensive little toys and party favors that kids can use for more than one evening.

And after Halloween night, learn the trick to managing the treats.

6.   Reuse Halloween bags.

Your kids definitely need a bag to carry around their Halloween loot. You might think it’s easier to purchase that $1.99 plastic pumpkin tote, but surely you can find something in your home that can be used as a trick-or-treat bag. Have your kids try using their school backpack, that wicker basket in the corner of the closet that never gets used, or even a pillowcase. If you choose to purchase a Halloween themed bag or container, save it in the same box you store your Halloween decorations to reuse each year.

7.   Choose eco-friendly safety and décor lighting.

Safety is a huge priority for an enjoyable Halloween evening. Light the pathway to your front door with LED or solar-powered lamps and use LED flashlights while trick-or-treating. LED light bulbs are more energy efficient, have a longer life span, help you save money on your electricity bills, are non-toxic and greener than other alternatives, and flexible in color and design.

If you’re decorating with candles, select fragrance-free soy candles instead of paraffin, which is a petroleum product and releases toxic compounds when burned.

8.   Plan a green Halloween party.

Use real plates, cups, and utensils, or purchase compostable party products. Put out recycling bins for bottles and cans and let your guests know where the bins are located. Head to your local farmers’ market and buy party food that is organic and locally grown. If your party is small, use your own cloth napkins, plates, and utensils.

9.   Be green every day.

You may think one person can’t make a difference, but we need to show our children how to make less of an impact on our environment. As parents, we are training the earth’s future caretakers. Purchase organic food and products that contain natural, non-toxic, biodegradable ingredients and reuse and recycle items year after year to reduce the amount of trash being sent to the landfills.

Charmin Calamaris

Charmin is a wife, mom of two boys and creator of the Momiverse. The Momiverse is an online magazine for busy moms (is there any other kind?) dedicated to helping moms make time – and take time – for themselves. She traded in her career in land use planning and environmental policy to become Chief Executive Navigator of the Momiverse. You can connect with Charmin in her "online office" on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

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