LiveGreen: A green Halloween

While it’s probably a little late to grow your own pumpkins, LiveGreen has some tips for you to ‘Green your Halloween.”

• Costumes: Use items from home or from thrift stores to make your own. Save them for future years. Kids outgrowing costumes you already have? Gather friends, family, and neighbors and organize your own costume swap. Most costumes are still in good shape and classics can be used for future Halloweens or dress-up.
• Make-up: Most make up contains toxic chemicals. Consider making your own by following the instructions on this page (scroll all the way to the bottom).
• Pumpkins: When carving, save the seeds for a fun and healthy snack. After decorating, place them in your compost pile or small pumpkins (non-carved) can be used for baking.
• Candy: This one is tough. Individually wrapped candy is why most kids go trick-or-treating, but it is the least green (and least healthy) option. Consider homemade treats for kids you know and/or non-candy items like bracelets, polished rocks, crayons, or temporary tattoos. If you do buy treats look for fair trade and/or organic chocolate made by companies that don’t use child labor.
• Bags: Use re-usable bags or go old school and use a pillow case for collecting treats. If you have purchased a plastic pail, reuse it for years to come — or treats and decorating.
• Energy: Don’t be an energy vampire! Add to the scary effect by turning off the lights inside your home. While you are at it, don’t forget to unplug those vampire devices — items that suck energy from your home while not providing any function. These are items that are plugged in but not turned on, yet still using energy, things like cell phone chargers, radios, small kitchen appliances, etc. The average US household spends $100 a year on vampire loads! Use powerstrips to make turning off appliances easier, unplug and store some items, or get rid of items you don’t use.
• Trick-or-treating: Stay local. Halloween can be a great community event, so stay in your community. Leave the car at home, save yourself some gas, and enjoy the night by walking your kids to houses and talking to neighbors.
• Decorating: Set the mood by using petroleum free candles (beeswax burns cleanest), put LED bulbs in any light-up displays, and turn items from your house into something new. The possibilities are endless: just ask Google.