Halloween is coming! If you’re like me, you’re pretty darn excited about making it fun, spooky, and most importantly, green! There are many ways to have a green Halloween, but the number one trick is this: let nothing go to waste! Having a green Halloween is all about learning to think differently about how you celebrate. Here are my favorite green Halloween tricks:
Green Halloween Costumes
Swap! Costume swaps are the number one way to have a green Halloween disguise. Hurry – the National Costume Swap is taking place on Saturday, October 12th 2013! If you’re busy on the 12th, host your own neighborhood costume swap!
If you’re not into swapping, raid a friend’s closet. Better still, raid the closet of an elderly neighbor. Chances are they’ll have some vintage fashions that will get your green Halloween off to a groovy start.
But if you feel like really challenging yourself, check out these cardboard costumes. A costume made out of recycled cardboard? If that’s not a green Halloween, then I don’t know what is! You can also learn how to make an awesome paper doll costume out of cardboard and brown moving paper! Creativity is the number one ingredient to a successful green Halloween costume! Creativity… and probably some kind of glue.
Green Halloween Treats
Sometimes I like to take green Halloween literally, so make your own organic, natural food coloring and give your sweets the true green Halloween treatment. You can use this coloring to green up your pumpkins, create a spooky green ‘bog’ for apple bobbing, or give the right tint to a special green Halloween cocktail.
With all your edible treats, just remember to use locally-sourced fruits and vegetables, all natural ingredients, and as much biodegradable packaging as you can find!
And here are 10 great ways to re-use your leftover green Halloween pumpkin! Salty toasted pumpkin seeds are a delicious snack that will keep your green Halloween celebration going well into winter. I also love this vegetarian pumpkin seed “puppy chow.”
Green Halloween Shopping Bonus Tip: Always check labels and read ingredients. Buy only organic goods in certified biodegradable packaging.
Green Halloween Decorations
Hanging old sheets or moving blankets from the ceiling can create a great spooky ghost effect and they exemplify the green Halloween buzzword – reusable!
If you’re not married to carving – don’t! Use old milk jugs for a fun, spooky, green Halloween craft. Or, stick with pumpkins, but go no-carve! Green Halloween can transform into green Thanksgiving when you decorate a pumpkin with old newspaper or fabric. Just change the outer-cover when November rolls around. If you’ve got some old, stubby crayons lying around, you can use them to make your green Halloween more colorful with this fun melting crayon pumpkin project.
If you’re absolutely positively sure you need to carve a pumpkin, make sure you reserve the pumpkin guts for one of those delicious green Halloween baked treats. While we’re on the subject, use the fabric scraps or leftover cardboard from your green Halloween costumes to decorate. When we’re talking about doing a green Halloween, everything’s connected! Go forth and be green!
How do you have a green Halloween? Share your green Halloween tips in the Comments section!