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Daughter in Halloween picture by: Lisa Racz

Ahhhhh. It’s the time of the Goblins and for Witches to be dancing around the fires singing, “Double, double Toil and Trouble…….as their cauldron bubbles and ghostly figures fill the dark shadows of night!  Each year, the celebration of All Hallow’s Eve begins at nightfall on  October 31st  but, are you keeping it GREEN?? I don’t mean the slimy green or the green toad green. I’m talking environment-friendly GREEN.

You can have loads of fun on Halloween and be environmentally conscious as well. Don’t be a Vampire, sucking up unneccessary energy or Frankenstein stomping your carbon feet around! There are efficient Halloween lights, recycling ideas for costumes and green-friendly ways to decorate that reduces the use of energy which in turn uses less of our city power plants that disrupts our carbon foot print and keeps us more earth conscience.

There’s that old saying. “Waste not, want not.” That should be a moto for all who care about leaving less of a carbon print on this planet to live by!  

As decorations are put up do you consider energy-saving Halloween lights such as C6 LED Energy Saving Orange Indoor/Outdoor Halloween Lights? these are relatively inexpensive and last a little longer than the normal string of yellow and green Halloween lights. These can be purchased at your local home store such as, Home Depot or Lowes. You can also check out your super stores or your nearest pharmacy stores and check out the Halloween section or purchase on-line such as this site: http:///www.amazon.com/String-Forever-Bright-Outdoor-Halloween/dp/B001PL7XA8

Soy Candle By Lisa Racz

            

Want to create a little mystery or a scary ambiance? Then candle lighting is the thing. Halloween luminaries are a tradition anyways and they look good! You can lead your little goblins to your haunted door with a path of lit luminaries,using soy candles, of course. This give a cleaner burn and with Soy, there is no chemicals released into the atmosphere. If you don’t have rowdy pets, you can use your soy candles inside as well instead of using electricity and racking up that utility bill. Just be careful of your cats tales. I had a scary incident of my older cat swishing her tail too close to a candle and almost caught it on fire. I put a form of screening over my candles now. Lesson learned!

Home made Kimono costume Photo by: Lisa Racz

 and are you putting out decorations that you can reuse over the years to cut down on garbage that continues to pile up at your local dump. How about creating your Halloween costume? There are many re-sale stores that have a variety of costumes in good condition or create your own Halloween creation! Recycling clothing is just that. Recycling and we all want to participate in cutting down on waste. You can also make a costume. I have put together many costumes make from old bed skirts and sheets and a used wig that I sanitized with salt water, which is a natural sanitizer as salt eventually turns into natural bleach without harming your clothes but, that’s for another article.

           

Go out with re-usable bags for your Trick-or-Treat bag! You can paint those reusable grocery bags with food coloring to create a custom candy bag or buy burlap bagsat a craft store or even your local Home Depot or Lowes in the garden section. Now that’s a GREEN  idea! Burlap is sturdy, recyclable and you can paint it with eco-friendly non toxic paints. How do you paint those canvas bags? Read here. http://www.ehow.com/how_4792752_paint-canvas-bags.html

You have to do a litte homework to find some earth-friendly paints but, there’s plenty of options out there. You jus need to know what to look for.  

1. First look for earth-friendly paints that has few or no volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.  Those are harsh chemicals that create harmful fumes  into the air that cause those  headaches that you get with conventional paints.
2. Second, get in the habit of using water-based paints.  Read the label and look for GREEN words such as, biodegradable  or phosphate-free and specifically VOC-free. 

Do Not Litter - Stop ”Werewolfing” around and quite littering the ground! For all you parents out there, including myself, we need to make sure our children know not to litter when their out Trick-or-Treeting and eating the candy they receive and to recycle their candy rappers  when they get home or throw them in the trash. I have no doubt that has already been told to them considering there is a law against littering and you can also receive a hefty fine of $500 per littering incident if someone makes a complaint. If the wind picks up, wrappers can be blown into the backyards or in nearby preserve lands and animals my=ight mistake the sweet-smelling wrappers as a tasty morsel, eat it and become sick or worse, choke and die. So, no littering please!

If you choose to follow a few earth-friendly tips such as these, you are on your way to having a green and clean Halloween! If you have a few green ideas of your own, please leave a comment and share your green Halloween ideas! Have a Happy and GREEN Halloween!!

“Make not your traditions a tradition of uncaring — One Earth, One Home.”

Sincerely.

Lisa Racz - Queen of Green

Your local Environment Writer