8 Bewitching Ways to go Green this Halloween!

1. Shop Second Hand:

One of the easiest ways to make your Halloween more Green is by shopping used for costumes and decor. Thrift stores, antique shops and garage sales are all great places to find unique items that can be used as part of a costume or decorative design.

Shopping second hand benefits the environment by limiting carbon emissions, water use and waste production reducing; eliminating the need to manufacture a new item saves resources. A quick online search can help you find your nearest second hand store! In addition to saving the environment you’ll walk away with a unique item, crafting project (to occupy yourself or the kiddos) and typically more money in your pocket than if you were to buy new!

2. Dust off the Cobwebs:

Use this holiday as an excuse to reach into the deep dark corners of your closet and dust out those cob webs! Look through old clothing items and think about what you may be able to reuse for a costume idea! Old clothing can even be used to make scarecrows or other creepy creations to decorate your home! Whatever isn’t used or is too good to slash can be donated to a local shelter; local shelters are always in need of clothing items especially as temperatures drop.

3. Decor you can Decompose:

If you are choosing to decorate your home, decorate with items that can decompose such as pumpkins, gourds, hay bales, etc. You can even up your green by shopping locally for these items and buying organic. If your little ghouls are going out to trick-or-treat avoid purchasing a plastic candy bucket and use a pillow case or reusable bag instead.

Having a party? Utilize reusable utensils, glasses, plates and table cloths – I would suggest black table cloths as these will be friendlier for use year after year – especially if you have particularly clumsy or messy house guests! Organize and label areas for separation of recyclables so clean up doesn’t zombify you. You may even consider renting dinner ware and paying a cleaner to come in and deal with the dishes!

4. Avoid Gorey Food Options:

When planning a Halloween party, focus on making dishes that are mainly plant based. In planning plant, you will likely serve more nutritious party treats your guests will thank you for (no one needs to start packing on holiday weight yet!), and decrease your parties carbon footprint. Meat, egg and milk production require considerably more land and natural resources than plant production [1], so consider leaving the dead animal and animal products off of the menu! You can find GREAT vegan, vegetarian and gluten free food options created by the Minimalist Baker!

5. Be that Horrific Healthy House – and encourage your neighbors to get frightening too:

Choose to give out treats like whole fruits that have skins, some examples include, apples, bananas, oranges, mango, dragon fruit etc. By choosing a whole fruit, you can avoid purchasing items with wasteful individual packaging! Additionally, you are doing a good deed by providing children with a nutritious option to snack on. Along with planetary sustainability, obesity is one of the largest challenges facing modern society. According to the CDC, 18.5% of children in the United States are considered obese.[2] Feel good about what you are handing out this Halloween.

7. Create more with your Carving:

Pumpkins are highly nutritious packed with essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phyto-nutrients, fiber and great flavor! Instead of throwing out your pumpkin seeds and rind you can create something delicious and nutritious… dare I say the options are smashing!

Save your seeds for planting or roasting – try out interesting spices and flavors with your kids like chili pepper, cinnamon sugar, garlic and more!

Steam or roast your cut out pieces to make pumpkin puree, add pumpkin to a fall salad, make a pumpkin butter or even a pumpkin body scrub! For more ideas, click here.

Ready to get rid of that Jack-o-lantern…Try cutting it up and adding it to your garden or compost, or even make a planter that will decompose!

8. Conjure a Wicked Good Home Spray:

Conventional scented products like candles (even those with “natural” or “organic” scent) and home sprays carry many toxins that can wreak havoc on your health. Chemicals in these products have been liked to hormone disruption, thyroid dysfunction, weight gain, cancer and a host of other issues.[3]

Ditch the toxins for something more natural and just as refreshing by making your own home spray! Grab a pump spray bottle (I like to save my old travel size product bottles), some distilled water, your favorite essential oil(s), put them together, shake and spray – it’s really as simple as that.

**Research the oils you are using before spraying them, diffusing them or applying them to your skin. Some essential oils can also be toxic to the body – just because its “natural” or “organic” doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous (think poison ivy – we wouldn’t want to diffuse or rub on those natural oils!).

Share your Green Halloween ideas in the comments below!

References:

1. Agriculture Must Change To Prevent Catastrophic Warming : The Salt : NPR [Internet]. [cited 2019 Oct 16]. Available from: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/08/08/748416223/to-slow-global-warming-u-n-warns-agriculture-must-change

2. Childhood Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC [Internet]. [cited 2019 Oct 16]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

3. Cleaning Supplies and Household Chemicals | American Lung Association [Internet]. [cited 2019 Oct 16]. Available from: https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/indoor/indoor-air-pollutants/cleaning-supplies-household-chem.html