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Easy Eco-Halloween
Here are some things to keep in mind for Halloween. Taken from aboutmyplanet.com
Add up the candy wrappers, the odd fabric costumes, the burning porch lights, the cut up pumpkins, the stop and go driving, and by the end of the night (every year) Halloween has a huge negative environmental impact. Does this mean we have to stop celebrating Halloween? No! It just means we have to find environmentally friendlier ways to enjoy it.
Costumes:
Avoid buying new costumes. Instead: rent a costume, pass on your older costumes to someone else’s kids or have someone else’s kids pass down their costumes to your kids. You can also make new costumes out of old sheets, freecycled fabric or vintage clothing (your old clothes) still hanging in your closet.
Pumpkin
Organic pumpkins are the way to go. Carve it as you wish. Wash pumpkin seeds in water, spread out to dry on a screen or paper-towels, then place outside for animal treats or you can bake them at 300° with light seasoning and eat them yourself. When the Holiday is over add your pumpkin to your compost bin.
If you don’t already have one it’s a good time to start. Then add your pumpkins, your neighbors’ pumpkins (after asking them) and all your raked leaves and food scraps. Don’t have time to mess with a compost…give your pumpkin to a fellow composter. Or just sit your pumpkin outside with bird food inside and let them eat.
Bags and Baskets
Take out an old cloth bag (ex. rice bag), bucket, pillowcase or basket and decorate to match your kid’s costume. You can choose to leave the candy carrier plain too. Then reuse it for trick or treating. It’s that simple. Avoid using plastic bags. Aside from their negative eco-impact they can also tear or snag easily dropping all the hard earned candy inside. Reuse your bags next year, throughout the year, and for years to come.
Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 2:03 pm and is in Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed.
