Green Your Halloween With These Tips

Four Green Steps recently ran a Facebook competition called "Green your Halloween". We asked our Facebook followers how they celebrate Halloween with the planet in mind. Read the great tips on costume and decoration ideas, wonderful healthy recipes, and even leads on finding an organic pumpkin producer in your neighborhood below.

• When heading out the door with your kids to trick-or-treat this year, opt for reusable grocery bags or pillow cases as an environmentally-conscious alternative to wasteful plastic or paper bags. They’re also likely to hold more candy!

• Brainstorm about something other than candy to hand out to the kids to reduce waste with the packaging. If you can’t give up candy try finding one that has a paper package that can be recycled.

• Costumes are easily found in your closet with a little imagination and creativity. If you're hosting a Halloween party, make it a requirement that all costumes must be made from clothing and items already found in your guests' homes and the most creative costume wins a prize!

• Organize an event in your community where people gather and try to make costumes from a collection of old clothes, thrift store goodies and other things that otherwise would be thrown out.

• Rather than plastic decorations from the dollar store, make your own with fall-colored flowers, gourds and other seasonal veggies. There’s nothing better at a Halloween party than having real glowing, carved pumpkins around the house.

• When you've finished carving your Jack'o'Lantern, remember to compost the pumpkin insides - they are very nutrient rich and your home compost will love it! Some cities also have city-wide composting facilities that you can use.

• Or, make your own Halloween treats from the pumpkin seeds. Try toasting your pumpkin seeds and adding different spices: some get hot sauce, some get peanut butter and vinegar, some get salt and pepper, some get just olive oil. YUM!

• Getting an organic pumpkin for an eco-friendly Halloween is a smart green idea. Check out the Local Harvest to see if there are any organic farmers near you.

Check out our Facebook page to see all of the Green your Halloween fun! Who knew that there were so many fun and easy ways to make your Halloween a little more environmentally friendly?

What are your ideas for a greener Halloween? Share your tips with us in the comment box below!

Images courtesy of JD Hancock, Joe Shlabotnik and Randy Son of Robert on Flickr

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