Halloween is not exactly associated as being eco-friendly. Between buying a costume that will be used most likely once and buying a bunch of individually wrapped candy, it can be downright wasteful. At least I know you are already recycling that pumpkin instead of throwing it out!
But there are some things you can do to be a little less wasteful this around time next week.
Now, if you're anything like me, you have zero idea what to dress up as this year. However, I'm not one to start planning costumes out in August, so most of my costumes end up being green in some way, because I just don't feel like going out and spending money on an outfit.
True stories. One year, I dressed as Miss Teen South Carolina and brought out an old prom dress and plastic tiara. All I had to buy was a party store sash and black paint (so the sash could read THE IRAQ, obviously.) Another year, I went as the Griswold house, involving a red t-shirt and a random battery-operated strand of Christmas lights I owned. And in my piece de resistance (aka, another craft idea I didn't execute as well as I imagined, I went as Tinkerbell's treehugging sister. I spent the better part of two weeks crafting the weekly junk mail into a skirt and top and covered a princess wand from an old Halloween costume with newspaper. It was a great idea and cost nothing, and I managed to put it on...and then wondered how I would sit down for the rest of the evening. That was probably the most effort I have ever put into a costume.
Image: The VertBlog
So, um, anyway, green costume ideas. Look around your house and your closet and see what you've already got. I tend to go to the pop culture world for ideas, because it's easy to scrounge something up from what you already own. The Daily Green and Inhabitat have some green costume ideas, but I really can't say I would do any of them. The VertBlog has great tips on how to come up with an eco-friendly costume. You can always look around for regular costume ideas, then figure out how to recreate it with things you already have.
Image: TimesUnion
What about the candy? There's simply no way you can avoid individually wrapped candy if you actually want to give candy out at all. And you probably don't want to be That Person who gives out pencils or erasers or seed packets. It's great, and it's more eco-friendly, and healthy, but let's face it. Kids don't want that on Halloween. You could look for organic or fair-trade candy, as suggested by Forbes, but you may either have trouble finding it at your grocery store, or not want to pay extra for candy being given out to children who won't know the difference. So think simply. Look for candy in the least amount of packaging possible. Think about those fun size packs of Starburst. You get two individually wrapped Starbursts inside another wrapper. Three things to waste for one treat. Or you've got all that candy wrapped in cellophane plastic. Definitely not recyclable. Go for something wrapped only once (think, pieces of Hershey chocolate, or other kinds of chocolate candy), in something a little better than plastic. It's kind of just one of those "less bad" situations, rather than "good".
As you take the children out to trick or treat, you could reuse a
plastic bag to hold their candy, or you could forego plastic and use a
cloth bag or a basket you already own.
If you're looking to make eco-friendly Halloween decorations, FaveCrafts has a list of 10 ideas. And for all kinds of resources, there's a whole organization dedicated to a Green Halloween.
So give it a little thought, and you'll be able to find a way you can make your Halloween a little more earth-friendly!
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