Have A Spooky Green Halloween

My pal Stacey who writes a blog you should visit at this time of year; Wee Ghosties :: A Beginner’s Guide to Ghost Hunting, sent me this great link to a very nice Green Halloween site.

Green Halloween is a Washington based website but the tools and ideas offered can be used anywhere to green up your Halloween. Halloween is a pretty trash filled holiday and that’s a good place to start thinking when planning your green Halloween. What can you do to lesson the waste that occurs this Halloween and still keep it fun for kids (and adults). Last year at my house we had a huge adult-kid party and because of that we were able to keep the excess waste to a minimum.

Having a green Halloween party vs. trick-or-treating can be an excellent way to control the amount of garbage produced. You can bake and make food items and serve loose candy in bowls and more. Still, we all know that for some kids NOT trick-or-treating just won’t fly. In that case here are some trick-or-treat ideas and more from Green Halloween (and a few from me):

What to hand out to trick-or-treaters:

What to hand out that’s edible for Halloween can get tricky if you’re green-minded because you have to give wrapped items. Unless you have a super close-knit neighborhood (you likely don’t) than items need to be wrapped or they’ll just be tossed. Try to find items in small boxes or packaging that can be recycled. You can go healthy or less so — kids need candy sometimes. Green Halloween has some excellent ideas for edibles including…

• “Individually wrapped organic Tea for kids
• Organic juice boxes
• Organic apple sauce snack packs
• Organic fruit leather
• Boxes of organic raisins and, where available, other organic dried fruits.
• 100% honey sticks“

NOTE: if you hand out honey sticks make sure to have something else for the tiniest critters because babes under one years of age can’t have honey (ever). Other ideas I have for food items include…

• Organic bananas
• Animal crackers in cardboard boxes (recyclable)
• Natural granola bars

If you’re looking for organic Halloween candy here are some links:

• Natural Candy Store
• Equal Exchange
• Endangered Species Chocolate

It’s easier to control waste when you consider handing out non-edible items such as…

• Marbles (like the Earth marbles from Moon Marble Company)
• Seashells (from the beach — not bought)
• Tattoos! Green Halloween has a great link to recycle tattoos.
• Art supplies (crayons, markers, etc)
• Modeling clay
• Playing cards (you can buy bulk decks fairly cheap at party supply stores).

NOTE: If you’re going to give out non-edibles just make sure to have one bowl for the littlest kids and one for older. For instance every mama and dad in the neighborhood will be on your doorstep if you hand out marbles to their three year old.
Green Halloween has a HUGE list of ideas for non-edible items.

What else can you find at Green Halloween? Well… oodles of Halloween fun for parents, kids, and ideas on the way for schools.

• Costumes
• Save some green
• Games
• My Green Halloween Treasures, a FREE Green Halloween e-book
  
• And so much more.
  

Pay Green Halloween a visit and make this Halloween fun for both families and the earth.