Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Hallow-"Green"

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, mainly because of the candy.  I also was a theater dork in high school so I happily use any excuse to get dressed up.  However, with most commercial holidays comes the chance to be extremely wasteful, so I thought up a couple ways to keep Halloween green.  (Hallo-Green?)

1. Thrift those Costumes


No-sew costumes are easy and painless to put together.   There are so many websites/Pinterest boards that offer ideas and these costumes are easily more clever than any plastic nonsense you'd buy at a Halloween Store.  Also, most cheap store-bought costumes are made of the material polyvinyl chloride, a soft plastic that releases harmful toxins in it's creation and breakdown.  So stay away from those costumes.

Once you've picked which outfit you want to wear, head over to your nearest thrift store to find the clothing items you'll need to compete the ensemble.  Thrifting is a great way to give gently worn clothing a second-chance and keeps them from being tossed into landfills.

Verily Mag had a cute article on "no-sew costumes"

Example: Margo Tenenbaum from Wes Anderson's film "The Royal Tenenbaums"

2. Trick-or-Treat Responsibly


Use canvas totes, reusable shopping bags, or an old pillowcase for collecting candy instead of the plastic pumpkins that take FOREVER to breakdown in landfills.

Most of us may be past the age to trick-or-treat, but encouraging kids to start using reusable shopping bags is never a bad idea!  Another fun way to incorporate clothing bags into Halloween would be to decorate them to match the outfit of the trick-or-treater.

I am a huge fan of this Eco-Friendly Candy Monster homemade bag where the candy fills up the monster's belly.


4. Be Good to Your Pumpkins!


Use every last bit of your pumpkin decorations!  Choose real pumpkins instead of plastic ones as you can allow them to compost in your compost bin after the festivities.  (Fun story, my family did this and the very next year we had our own pumpkin growing in our backyard thanks to the remains of the decomposed pumpkin)

Also when you are carving your pumpkin, collect the seeds and clean them off before roasting them. Roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious and can then be used at a Halloween party as a treat!

5.  Smart Decorations


Next to Christmas, Halloween is the biggest holiday that calls for decorations.  I'm lazy and usually only get around to carving a pumpkin, but for those of you who like to go above and beyond for decorations be smart about what you choose.  So many decorations are made of plastic or use plastic fibers for their fake-spiders webs (all harmful to the environment)

Using recycled materials for decorations is the best way to go.  A couple years ago I got some of my dad's old work clothes and stuffed them with the leaves I had just raked.  I made the head out of a brown paper bag stuffed with leaves and drew on a face and added a hat on top.  I then set this "home-made man" out on my front porch since my family wasn't going to be home for Halloween and I wanted to scare kids who walked up to our porch.

I love the example to the left for a couple reasons.  1) Dia de los Muertos is a colorful alternative to the usual Halloween options 2) They use old paper & tissue paper to make the flowers. 3) They lit the path with old mason jars with candles inside them and used christmas lights as a decoration as well.

6. Party Eco-Friendly


For those who are hosting a Halloween Party remember to keep the decorations plastic free and try to use paper cups over red solo cups.  Send invitations out online to keep them paperless.

There are a million and one ideas on Pinterest for Eco-Friendly Halloween Parties.  So I'll let you all explore and decide how your want to party this Friday!

Final note, pick up wrappers stupid people throw on the ground.  Recycle all your beer bottles.  Have a Happy Halloween!

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