Having a “Green” Halloween..is it possible?

My LOVE and HATE relationship with Halloween

Reasons why I LOVE Halloween: My boys think of some amazing costume ideas, last year they were Pollen Jocks from The Bee Movie. I love making their costumes and getting their input with the details, then they use them (until they fall apart) as dress up costumes when playing.  It’s amazing to see them use their imaginations and express themselves without hesitation.

Reasons why I HATE Halloween: in one word C-A-N-D-Y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I spend all year trying to feed my boys healthy foods and then all we see from September on is Halloween candy in our faces. I miss those days of everyone making their own costumes, friends throwing parties, bobbing for apples, crafts and just enjoying the holiday season and being a little more eco-friendly in the process.

General ideas for having a Green Halloween

It’s really not about the candy. Kids have fun when their parents get involved and have fun themselves. Part of being green is focusing on people instead of things, so try to reduce the amount of ‘things’ you incorporate into your Halloween by increasing the focus on fun. Here are some ideas for making your Green Halloween fun for your kids and for you:

• Make a big deal of your child’s costume – getting dressed, taking pictures, etc.
• Have a charity-themed party. Instead of giving out prizes for games, allow children to pick from a list of charities and make a donation in their name.
• Show your Green by displaying your own Green Halloween sign and ask your Green Halloween neighbors to do the same. Turn looking for the signs into a hunt for treasures. The Green Halloween sign on your own door will announce to trick-or-treaters that they’re in for a great surprise!
• Give kids a full, healthy meal before they go out trick-or-treating so they are not hungry.
• Talk to your kids about what is in candy and why it is not healthy. Ask them to come up with creative, kid and Earth-friendly alternatives that your own family can hand out and feel good about.

If your child does collect candy:

• Invite the Halloween Fairy to come to your home. Tell you child a story,  about how the Halloween fairy turns candy into magic fairy dust and so needs as much candy as she can get her hands on. Explain that if a child leaves his bag of candy outside on the porch, the fairy will gladly come to take the candy, and because she will be so grateful for the help with her fairy-dust-making, she’ll leave in the candy’s place a very special gift. Some parents make the exchange while their child is brushing their teeth, others wait until their child is asleep. Either way, make a big deal of it! Act surprised! You may also want to consider letting your child keep a small amount of candy and leaving the rest out for the fairy. Please don’t donate your leftover sweets to charity, though. Other people’s kids don’t need the candy either.
• Have a candy trade: let your kids trade their candy towards other little gifts or give them a “pumpkin point” for each piece of candy they collect. Use pumpkin points to “buy” a toy or do a special activity with your child.
• Let them choose a limited amount of candy to eat (for example, one piece for each year your child is old). In many cities, the leftover candy can be recycled and turned into compost! Just be sure to remove candy from its wrapper first.

Have you thought about throwing a Halloween Party?

Green Halloween food can be fun to prepare as well as to eat. When purchasing food for your Halloween party, look for foods that are organic, whole and, if possible, local. Going meatless also reduces environmental impact on the planet. Be sure to compost or recycle or compost scraps, including your leftover pumpkins (which can be cooked and eaten if they are not left out on your porch for too long). When deciding on your menu, think seasonal and color! Finding foods that are in season and that naturally come in shades of black, orange and green is a fun activity that kids will enjoy.

Black: olives, black beans, poppy seeds, raisins/currants
Orange: bell peppers, oranges, carrots, squash, sweet potato/yams, tomato
Green: green apples, herbs, bell peppers, leafy greens, broccoli, kiwi, celery, avocado, peas/beans
Seasonal: pumpkins, acorn squash, butternut squash, sweet potato, cabbage, apples, pears

Looking to Recycle old costumes and reuse old ones instead of buying new?

Try hosting a Costume Swap, did you know that National Costume Swap Day is on October 9th. All throughout the country people are hosting these parties in their communities. It’s a great way to educate your community on recycling and reusing old goods, making holidays a little more eco-friendly for their children and their whole family. To view these parties please go to Green Halloween.

If you live in the Philadelphia area O’Boy! Organic will be hosting (along with Philly Burbs Mom, Parentise and Delaware County Moms) a Costume Swap on October 2, 2010. We are making this great event just for moms, with local vendors with great mom friendly products, raffle prizes, amazing appetizers and it’s a BYOB event so bring a bottle of wine to share with your gal pals. We will also have an jeweler there taking all unwanted gold and giving you cash instead…great way to save money for all those holiday gifts!

All we ask from the attendees is that you bring at least one costume to swap out, so check out our invite and RSVP or check out our flyer with details of the vendors with websites.

For more ideas on how to celebrate green this holiday season go to www.celebrategreen.com.

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