How to Have a Green Halloween

Back in the day, Halloween was different. It was a low-budget holiday. We spent more time and effort on Halloween than we did money and energy. Decorations and costumes were not bought. They were fabricated out of old sheets and cardboard boxes. Treats were often homemade and eaten on the spot. Trick-or-treating was done on foot with protective parents in tow. Kids carried old pillowcases as candy bags. Back then, Halloween was green and we didn't even know it. Unfortunate changes over time have made a green Halloween harder to achieve, but it can be done. With these suggestions and ideas, you can do your part to help the environment while you have a good, old-fashioned Halloween holiday.

Green Halloween Decorations

Store-bought decorations for Halloween can be expensive. Making your own green decor out of recyclables is often cheaper and much more effective. Back in the day, the wide variety of Halloween decorations available now did not exist yet. My father crafted a horrid creature on our front porch one Halloween out of an old mask, a barstool and a trench coat stuffed with newspaper. He filled a tape recorder with eerie sounds and placed it in a window near the man-made monster. When younger children approached, he would meet them in the yard with the treats so they wouldn't have to brave the front door. When older kids came calling, he would just press play and watch them jump out of their costumes. Big cardboard boxes can be transformed into many a green Halloween prop.

A cardboard refrigerator box, spray painted black makes a good coffin and hiding place. Stuff the sleeve of an old shirt and leave it hanging out from under the top. A green cemetery is easy to construct, too. Cut tombstone shapes, out of cardboard boxes or Styrofoam coolers, paint them gray or white and make up crazy epitaphs to write on them. Pile leaves in front of the "graves" for a freshly buried look. I tape twigs to the back to hold the gravestones up. If the end is slightly pointed it will go easily into the hardest ground and the cardboard material is light enough to be held up by the short recyclable stakes. Pile more leaves around the back of the grave to cover the tape and the twigs that hold it upright.

If you're going for a cutesier Halloween theme, make black and orange chains out of strips of construction paper and scotch tape looped together. Witch hats and paper lanterns are quick and simple paper crafts for tables and patios. Painted pumpkins last longer than carved ones and have a more kid-friendly appeal. Green scarecrows are easily made out of old clothes and boots. Leave it headless for a fright or make a pumpkin head with a big goofy grin. Make hair out of yarn or pine needles and put it in a lawn chair in the front yard. Stuff your pumpkin man with leaves for a truly green Halloween display. Put an old pair of roller skates on your scarecrow's feet and turn him into a Skatecrow for a dose of Halloween humor.

All the required materials for these projects are not only green but affordable, saving money and saving the ozone at the same time. A truly green Halloween doesn't get any better than that.

Green Halloween Costumes and Accessories

Costumes are the high point of a green Halloween. Let your imagination run wild and see what green alternatives you can come up with. There have been several years when our only option was to create our own green costumes so we've had plenty of experience. Using objects we had on hand we have come up with some pretty unique ideas.

One year we had access to two cardboard boxes; one from a television and another from a bookshelf. My daughter and her best friend wanted to dress as something that went together. We decorated the television box to look like a TV and made an "antenna" for her head out of aluminum foil. We decorated the bookshelf box, which was long and narrow like a matchbox, with big buttons so that it looked like a remote control. Voila'. My daughter the TV and her best friend the remote control. The kids were thrilled with the neighbors' response to our green-genuity.

On yet another Halloween, a family friend came up with a very original green costume in a pinch when she decided to dress up at the very last minute. She threw on an old colorful house dress. Then she hung coat hangers, kitchen utensils and dish scrubbers all over her clothes. She had an almost empty bottle of dish soap dangling from a sleeve and fabric softener sheets pinned everywhere. She put on mismatched socks and house shoes, teased her hair until it stood up all over her head and stuffed it with plastic spoons, forks and knives. Once she painted her face white and darkened the area around her eyes, the transformation was complete. Our family friend became Mom Zombie with just a little bit of thought and a green resourcefulness. Every mom in the neighborhood could relate. When she got home most of it went in the dishwasher and the washing machine and then right back in the drawers. It was one of the most unique costumes that I have ever seen and she didn't have to spend a dime on it.

Old white sheets are versatile, green, costume components. They can be incorporated into a variety of green costumes from simple ghosts to toga-wearing Romans to the white robes of an angel. Aluminum foil can be used to create cute accessories like a silvery crown or a magic wand with a big silver star on the end. Cover a piece of cardboard with tin foil and make a shield for a knight in shining armor.

Here's a green Halloween bonus. Two absolutely *No-Cost* Halloween costumes that anyone can use comprised of common items you probably already have. The first requires only black eyeliner or dark gray eye shadow, an old, hand-me-down t-shirt or sweatshirt and a magic marker. Black out one eye with the makeup. Draw a capital P on the back and the front of the shirt. Now you have an Instant Black-Eyed *P* costume made out of materials likely to already be in your home. A piece of paper, a pen and a length of yarn are all that is needed for the echo costume. Write the word "echo" on a piece of paper or an index card. Attach the length of string and hang it around your neck. Proceed to repeat everything that is said to you and you are an echo. It is a funny little costume, perfect for outgoing personalities who like to get into character for the biggest make-believe night of the year.

Green Halloween Activities and Ideas

Halloween participation has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 20 years. What used to be viewed as a holiday for children has become a celebration for everyone. Here are some ideas - some gruesome, some goofy - to celebrate a green Halloween with all your friends and family.

Instead of forking out more money on a trick-or-treat bag, dig through the linen closet and grab some old pillowcases. Pillow case candy bags are far more durable and strong than those picked up at the local dollar store. At first, my kids got the biggest kick out of this green method of candy collecting because they were the only ones that did it. Now they get a kick out of it because it caught on and quickly became not only a family tradition but a neighborhood tradition as well. All the kids in our small community prefer pillow cases to store-bought trick or treat bags.

One green Halloween idea to consider is bobbing for apples. Odds are high that your kids have never done it before as it is a somewhat forgotten Halloween tradition. Be sure to provide lots of supervision for this one or it can be a frightful mess to clean up. Set up outside and give small prizes for the winners. Let the kids keep the apple they sink their teeth into as a healthy treat. Clean up consists of pouring out the water, cleaning out the cauldron and throwing the apple cores into the compost heap. Hang onto some apple and pumpkin seeds and plant them at the appropriate time adding an additional green element to your Halloween holiday.

You can also set up a pumpkin bowling alley in your yard. Use ten, two-liter soda bottles filled with a little bit of water for stability. Mark the lanes off with a line of pine needles for a cool fall decorating twist. Have a variety of pumpkins on hand to roll down the bowling lane. See who can get a strike first. This activity is entertaining for everyone as a pumpkin is surprisingly difficult to roll in a specific direction. Clean up is easy as everything can either be tossed into the dumpster or recycled.

Last but not least, make a commitment not to drive on Halloween night unless absolutely necessary. Not only will this small step make a difference as far as the environment but, it is also a safer alternative for the kids. Remembering back when I was young, traffic was very light in the neighborhood that I grew up in for that very reason. I can even recall my mother and other neighborhood parents commenting as such.

If you trick-or-treat in a neighborhood other than your own, drive to it and park. Use the tradition of trick-or-treating on foot as an opportunity to get some exercise for yourself and for your child. Carry a flashlight to make yourself more visible to passers by and visit only houses that are obviously participating in the festivities. Bright porch lights, open front doors and decorations are good signs of trick-or-treat friendly homes.

We have a responsibility to our children to make our holiday celebrations not only fun but safe and responsible. Any holiday can be used as an opportunity to teach our children how to be more environmentally aware. Traditions that we pass on to them will be passed onto their children as well. This year, start a new tradition. Commit to having fun and raising awareness about the vastly important green movement. Start planning early to have a memorable, happy, green Halloween.