Green Your Halloween

Everyone is going Green these days often out of a growing concern for the environment. Why would Halloween be any different?

You can green your Halloween with Green Halloween Costumes, Recycled Costumes, Green Halloween Decorating Ideas and serving or passing out Green (Healthy) Food Ideas.

There are many ways to "Go Green" on Halloween.

Make eco-friendly, earth-friendly and healthier choices with the types of costume we wear, the types of foods we serve and how we choose to celebrate.

This lens takes a look at the growing trend of going Greener at Halloween and how you can reduce, recycle and reuse a lot for your Halloween festivities.

Green Jack a Squid created from Microsoft Clipart

Green Halloween is a growing trend being encouraged by people trying to Live Green to apply the 'green' concepts to Halloween.

The main focus is of Greening Your Halloween is to be making eco-friendly, earth-friendly and healthier choices when it comes to the food, the costumes, the decorations and the activities people are choosing to celebrate the Halloween Holiday.

Green Halloween

• Food - Focus on Healthier and Organic Treats
• Costumes - Reused, Made from Reused or Recyclable items
• Decorations - Reusable or Recyclable ones
• Activities - Carnivals, Trick or Treating with emphasis on the 'treats' (treating others or volunteering)

Orange Halloween

• Food - Lots of Candy and Sugar
• Costumes - Store Bought
• Decorations - Store Bought
• Activities - Trick or Treating, with emphasis on the 'tricks'

Go, Go Green!

Orange all the way!

What is Your Favorite Halloween Color?

There are several different areas that you can make eco-friendly, earth-friendly and healthier choices to Green Your Halloween.

1. Food

   Focus on Healthier Foods, Making Healthier Foods more fund to eat.

   For Treats consider Organic candies, Dark Chocolate and low fat foods like licorice.

2. Costumes

   Reuse your costume from before. Create a costume from Reused or Recyclable items or clothes.

3. Decorations

   Decorate with reusable items or recyclable ones like newspaper, leaves, sticks, branches, cornstalks, cardboard boxes.

   Use Fluorescent light bulbs and LED lights.

4. Activities

   Attend Local no cost Carnivals or Halloween Festivals. Focus on treating others rather than 'treats' or volunteering your time to fundraise for a good cause (like UNICEF).

Image of Pumpkins by Weetabixx.

Greening Your Halloween is as easy as practicing the three "R's" of Going Green - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

1. Reduce - reduce or limit the amount of money spent on Halloween food, costumes and decorations.
2. Reuse - find clothes, decorations or other items that can be reused for Halloween. If you have to purchase something, make sure it can be reused from year to year.
3. Recycle - look for clothes and decorations that can be recycled, or use recycled items (boxes, leaves, clippings, branches, newspaper, packing supplies, fabric, yarn) to create costumes, decorations and activities.

1. Halloween Food

   Reduce the amount of money spent on candy and empty calorie foods.

   Focus on making healthier foods more spooky and fun to eat.

2. Costumes

   Reducing amount of money spent on costumes.

   Find ways to Reuse or Recycle costumes instead.

3. Halloween Treats

   Buy the healthier candy or treats such as chocolate covered nuts or raisins.

   Choose ones that use the least amount of packaging.

4. Decorations

   Reduce the amount of money spent on decorations.

   Find ways to Reuse or Recycle decorations or decorating items instead. Fill bags with leaves or newspaper, decorate with natural items such as pumpkins, cornstalks and branches.

   Use Fluorescent light bulbs to decorate the house and an LED tea light for the pumpkin.

5. Activities

   Reduce the amount of money spent on elaborate activities.

   Find ways to have fun that don't involve a lot of money or resources such as going to free carnivals, walking around and looking at Halloween decorations, bobbing for apples or Trick or Treating for UNICEF or Sight Night (and do a good deed in the process).

6. Transportation

   If possible walk, ride a bike or using public transportation to get to Halloween parties or if trick-or-treating.

   If you have to drive, carpool to help reduce traffic and air pollution.

Some healthier Halloween treat options that will help your children and children in your neighborhood have a healthier Halloween with fewer empty sugar calories.

With all of the individual packaging look for the options that have the least amount of additional wrapping.

1. 100% Fruit-Roll Ups or Fruit leather
2. Boxes of raisins
3. 100% Fruit juices
4. Small packages of nuts or sunflower seeds
5. Mini-bags of microwave popcorn
6. Small bags of pretzels
7. Organic Candy

   It's still sweet, but more environmentally friendly.

8. Mini granola bars
9. Snack-size graham crackers, animal crackers or goldfish
10. Mini dark-chocolate bars with nuts
11. 100 Calorie Packs

    Portion controlled packages it helps to keep kids from going hog wild.

12. Packages of Cheese and Crackers or Peanut Butter and Crackers
13. Pre-packaged apple slices or carrots sticks

Make Halloween count and do a good deed by Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF. By raising funds for UNICEF you can help us get water, education and medicine to the children who need it most.

Start with a UNICEF box or canister. Order boxes online, or create your own using the UNICEF canister wrapper at the link below.

Then go door-to-door on Halloween-or create your own fundraiser-and ask everyone to help you raise money for kids around the world.

Once you've collected the money, send it to UNICEF to help save kids lives.

Halloween Night is "Sight Night' for the Gift of Sight Foundation. You can reduce and recycle by participating in this worthwhile cause.

Each year on Sight Night, girls and boys collect used eyewear during trick-or-treat. All the eyewear collected on Sight Night is then cleaned, repaired and hand-delivered to underprivileged people in developing countries who couldn't otherwise afford them.

Since the program began in 1999, more than 1,000,000 pair of eyewear have been collected -- enough to help approximately 30,000 people on 30 separate missions!

In 2008, the Gift of Sight Foundation has 20 International missions planned and will need to recycle 1.2 million pair of used eyewear to make these missions a success.

Here are six key tips to help you plan ahead for your Halloween Sight Night.

1. Step 1: Get Your Group Together!

   Sight Night is a great service project -- the perfect opportunity to give while you receive. So plan ahead to collect alone or get a group together. To organize your group, start by downloading the Collection Guide to share with friends, classmates, scout troops and others. This will help get your team excited about collecting used eyewear on Sight Night.

2. Step 2: Promote Eyewear Collection Through the Media (optional)

   Three or four weeks before Halloween, contact your local or community newspaper, radio or TV station to promote your used eyewear collection by asking the community to join in on Sight Night. The more people who know about your involvement in the program, the more used eyewear you'll collect! Spread the word by using a sample news release and Public Service Announcement (PSAs).

3. Step 3: Place Doorhangers Along Collection Route

   The week before Halloween, distribute doorhangers on your trick-or-treat route to give your neighbors time to find their used eyeglasses and sunglasses. Keep a list of addresses where you left doorhangers so you can return to them on Sight Night for pick up.

4. Step 4: Ghost Hunt for Used Eyewear on Sight Night!

   The big night is here, so put your official Sight Night volunteer sticker on your costume and get out to collect prescription eyeglasses and non-prescription sunglasses.

5. Step 5: Enter Your Results Online at the Sight Night Website

   Enter your results online, November 1-9 -- and don't forget to tell us about your experience.

6. Step 6: Turn In Collected Eyewear to:

   1) Your local LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical, Sunglass Hut store or participating optometrist. Find a store near you.

1. Reduce on Costumes

   * Reduce the amount of money spent on costumes by

   • Reusing something that is already hanging in your closet.

   Reusing clothes that are in storage.

   Reusing someone else's clothes. Check with family members, friends or thrift stores.

2. Trick or Treating

   * If Trick or Treating, let the kids use a pillow case. It doesn't cost anything and holds a lot.

   * Reduce the amount of candy children eat by letting them pick their favorites and toss the ones they don't like.

3. Reduce Energy

   Halloween is a great time to reduce energy usage from lights, by turning them out!

   You can also use Fluorescent light bulbs. Look for ones in Halloween colors.

Fluorescent and LED light options for Halloween. The decorations can help you reduce your energy this year and be reused for next year.

1. Costumes

   Create your costume reusing your own clothes, thrift store clothes or clothes that have been stored by other family members. (The attic or storage is a great place to find Halloween costumes)

   If buying clothes for a costume pick or create costumes with items that can be reused.

2. Trick or Treating Bags

   This Halloween Trick or Treating Bags are being made that can be reused as shopping bags. (Or shopping bags are being made that can double as trick or treating bags.)

3. Decorations

   If buying decorations, look for energy efficient lights and decorations that can be reused for several years.

   Reuse Halloween decorations the same way that Christmas ornaments are reused from year-to-year.

4. Party Supplies

   Use reusable utensils, plates, napkins and tablecloths instead of disposable ones.

   Use reusable anatomical or candy molds year to year to create scary looking foods.

The key to reusable Halloween costumes is to find items that are being reused or can be reused after the holiday.

If you have to purchase them, to find clothes that can be reused as a Halloween Costume. Solid-color sweats can be turned into many different adult or children's costume imaginable - frog, ladybug, spider, banana, Q-tip, carrot, giraffe.

Make sure accents like ears and tails are easy to remove afterwards, and you'll get a set of play clothes or weekend wear to reuse.

1. Zombie Kid, Zombie Cheerleader, Zombie Prom Queen, Zombie Slayer

   * Takes old clothes, old cheerleader outfit or an old dress.

   * Cut with scissors.

   * Add scary dark makeup.

2. Secret Agent

   * Wear a suit and be Agent 86 (Maxwell Smart).

   * Wear a stunning dress and be Agent 99.

3. Professional(s)

   * Wear a set of Scrubs go as a nurse or a doctor.

   * Wear a lab coat and go as a doctor, lab assistant, chemist, make-up artist.

4. Sports Star

   * For those who play sports wear your favorite sport clothes - soccer, hockey, basketball, football.

5. Teacher

   * Grab a stack of textbooks.

   * Add an apple.

   * Carry a ruler and a calculator.

6. Sports Fan

   * Wear your favorite sport clothes - soccer, hockey, basketball, football.

   * Decorate your face as a fan.

7. Armed Forces

   * Raid the closet, borrow some fatigues or go to a thrift store and go as your favorite armed forces.

8. Hawaiian Traveler or Tourist

   * Dig out the old Hawaiian shirts, shorts, flip flops and beach wear.

   * You could even become a Zombie Tourist.

9. Camper or Hiker

   * Wear camping gear or Hiking Gear.

   * You could even become a Zombie Camper.

10. A Giant Marshmallow

    * Create holes in the bottom and sides of a white trash bag.

    * Stuff with newspaper or old packing materials into the shape of a Marshmallow.

    * Bring or add a stick, you can be a roasting marshmallow.

11. Arachnid (Spider) or other Bug

    * Create holes in the bottom and sides of a black garbage bag.

    * Stuff with newspaper, old packing materials.

    * Cut more black garbage bags length wise to create legs.

    * Roll up garbage bag length wise and stuff.

    * Create eyes, black widow hour glass out of paper and add.

12. Giant Q-Tip

    * Start with white clothes or sweats.

    * Add a hat covered with quilt stuffing or batting.

    * Wear with white face make up.

13. Ladybug

    * Start with red top or sweats and black pants.

    * Add black spots on the back cut from paper, fabric or felt. Tack into place with a few removable stitches.

    * Add black to stomach.

    * Wear a red hat with more spots.

1. Food

   Recycling the Halloween Pumpkin by cooking the seeds and making pumpkin pie.

2. Costumes

   Find costumes that can be recycled. Share or swap old costumes with other parents.

   Make costumes about recycling.

   If you have to buy a costume, buy regular clothes that can be recycled as costumes.

3. Decorations

   Pick decorations from existing items (cardboard boxes, packing materials, sheets) and items that do not create any new waste using natural items such as pumpkins, leaves, branches, newspaper.

   Decorate with something that you'd use anyway, like trash bags. Fill them with leaves or newspaper.

   Use biodegradable lawn bags, draw scary faces on the bags and use them as outside decorations.

4. Activities

   Find ways of raising awareness about recycling as part of your Halloween or Fall Festival activities.

Decorated Lawn Bags filled with leaves that you have to rake and eventually dispose of can double as your Halloween decorations.

Choose from friendly pumpkins to scary skeleton heads.

To go truly Green this Halloween you can use biodegradable lawn bags, draw scary faces on the bags and use them as outside decorations.

The Squidoo Squid dresses up in a collection of different Halloween masks.

1. Recycle a Box into...

   An old box can be turned into many different items. Let your imagination run wild.

   A Television set

   A Computer screen

   A Box of Cereal or Crackers

   A special delivery package

   A Dice

   A "Jack or Jill" in the box

   A Squid in the box

2. Recycle Sheets into...

   Old sheets and shirts can be painted, marked or torn and used to create different costumes.

   A Ghost or Spirit

   * Cover your head in a recycled sheet.

   * Remember to add eyes.

   A Mummy

   * Find an old sheet or old white shirts.

   * Tear the sheet and shirts into pieces.

   * Attach the torn sheets to top and pants.

   * Wrap some of the sheets around your arms, legs and head.

   An injured person

   * Tear an old shirt.

   * Add some red stains.

3. Recycle old Clothes into...

   The closet, attic or storage place is just filled with old clothes waiting to be made into Halloween Costumes.

   A Retro look from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's

   A Secret Agent

   A Zombie Kid, Zombie Cheerleader, Zombie Prom Queen, Zombie Slayer

   A Professional - Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher, Nurse, Veterinarian

4. Recycle Leaves and Nature items into...

   Old leaves, branches, cornstalks and clippings are great items to use to create costumes.

   A Tree or Bush

   * Find a brown top and pants.

   * Attach recycled leaves branches and twigs (preferably those that have already dropped.)

   A Camouflaged Soldier

   * Start with fatigues, helmet or other field wear.

   * Attach leaves branches and twigs

   A Trash Bag Decoration

   * Fill a White Trash Bag with leaves and clippings.

   * Decorate with Black Marking Pens.

   * Turn it into...A Spider and spider web, a ghost, a spirit or a Jack Skeleton Head.

   A scarecrow

   * Put on a plaid shirt, jeans and boots.

   * Stuff old cornstalks into the top of the pants, the shirt sleeves and boots.

   * Add a straw hat.

5. Recycle Old Packing Materials into...

   Packing materials like peanuts, bubble wrap, newspaper or packing paper can be turned into different costumes.

   A Special Delivery Package

   * Put on Clothes

   * Wrap Yourself in Bubble Wrap

   * Mark with "Special Delivery"

   Fragile Handle with Care

   * Put on Clothes

   * Wrap Yourself in Bubble Wrap

   * Mark with "Fragile Handle with Care"

   All the News Fit to Print

   * Put on Clothes

   * Wrap Yourself in Newpapers

   * Mark with "All the News Fit to Print"

   A Giant Marshmallow

   * Create holes in the bottom and sides of a white trash bag.

   * Stuff with newspaper or old packing materials into the shape of a Marshmallow.

   * Bring or add a stick, you can be a roasting marshmallow.

   Arachnid (Spider) or other Bug

   * Create holes in the bottom and sides of a black garbage bag.

   * Stuff with newspaper, old packing materials.

   * Cut more black garbage bags length wise to create legs.

   * Roll up garbage bag length wise and stuff.

   * Create eyes, black widow hour glass out of paper and add.

Ways to reuse and recycle costumes from "365 Ways to Live Green: Your Everyday Guide to Saving the Environment"

Before splurging on a costume that may only be worn once, consider what is in the closet.

1. See if there is anything that can be modified and mixed up to be used as a costume.
2. Left over 1980's clothes or an old sport coat can be the beginning of a retro-theme costume.
3. Overalls and a plaid shirt can be the basis for a farm or scarecrow costume.
4. A common theme for teens is dead anything - from a dead prom queen to a dead baseball player. All it takes is an old dress or uniform and some scissors and makeup.
5. If your closets aren't serving up any costume ideas, visit a local consignment or thrift shop.

Green Halloween is a non-profit, grassroots community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween.

It is hosted by Treeswing, a 501(c) 3 committed to improving the lives of children through nutrition, exercise and healthy environments.

It began in the Seattle area in 2007 with backers such as Whole Foods Market and was such a huge success that in 2008, the initiative is going nation-wide. In cities across the country, volunteer coordinators are not only working to turn their city's Halloween holiday healthy and eco-friendly, but they're also raising money for their own, local non-profit beneficiaries.

There are many different ways that you can go green for Halloween and for year 'round by Greening your skull (your head) and your skeleton (your body).

1. Green Your Skull

   Change your outlook and perspective and be on the look out for ways you can "Go Green" at home and at work.

   Make "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" part of your everyday lifestyle.

   Teach your family how to "Go Green."

2. Green Your Skeleton

   Look out for ways you can "Live Green" at home and at work.

   Wear 'Green' clothes.

   Use 'Green' cleansing and cleaning products.

   Drive a 'Green' car.

This will be the third year that I've volunteered in my daughters' classroom to teach them a bit of bone anatomy and also to be less afraid of skeletons.

I started using skeleton puzzles to teach children about bone anatomy in 2006 so for another year will be recycling the puzzle and reusing ideas that I've come up with as teaching handouts.

So far, I have taught bone anatomy to preschool children, Kindergarteners, First and Second graders.

This year I'll be adding in third graders to the list of students. We'll be reusing a skeleton that the school already has in storage.

Get Hip Get Green brings reusable shopping bags to a forefront of both "E"s: environmentalism and education.

This sturdy, yet lightweight, reusable bag makes going green a little hipper. It is sleek black with a green goth skull on both sides.

Each sale will also mean a donation to the children's environmental group, The Green Ambassadors.

Image Source: Pam Roth. Halloween Mask. Royalty Free Use.

Even the skeletons have gone Green for Halloween.

Image Source: Linda Ãslund. Skull. Creative Commons. Some rights reserved.

I really enjoyed creating lenses in the SquidBoo format. Here is the collection that I've created, some for costumes, some for Halloween ideas and some for having a healthier Halloween.

On October 24, Green Your Halloween was one of the featured lenses on the Giant Squid Community Showcase.

It tied with my "Easy Halloween Costumes" lens.

This is what was said about the lens:

• At Green Your Halloween find out how you can celebrate Halloween the eco-friendly way. This awesome lens contains information and ideas for recycling Halloween costumes, green Halloween decorating, and healthy green foods your family will love.

This lens benefits Save the Children, the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world.

What will you be doing this Halloween that is Greener?