Spooked by Halloween Waste, Junk?

Halloween can be a scary time for the green-minded, and it has nothing to do with the community haunted house or spooky movie week on TV.

The days and weeks leading up to Oct. 31 can be a minefield for anyone trying to celebrate in an environmentally friendly manner. All those five-pound bags of "fun-size" candy (all those wrappers!). All those inexpensive ghost and skeleton decorations for the Halloween party (all that paper waste!). All those elaborate children's costumes hanging from racks in the big-box stores (all that plastic and fabric for one night's use!).

Sure, every holiday poses its unique challenges when you're trying to avoid waste, support eco-friendly businesses and make sustainable choices. But Halloween -- with its focus on lots and lots of goodies handed out to lots and lots of kids -- can seem especially tricky. Here, then, are some ideas for celebrating an Oct. 31 that's both good fun for everyone ... and better for the environment:

Costumes. Rather than spending $10, $25 or $50 on a costume you or your child will wear only once, dig through your closets or roam the vintage-clothing stores, resale shops and flea markets for Halloween gear. You can find plenty of ideas for homemade costumes online at sites like Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas, Halloween Ideas That Don't Cost a Fortune and Kids' Halloween Costume Ideas.

If you don't have the time or inclination to make your own costumes, post a "looking for Halloween costume" request on your local Freecycle list or craigslist. Those are also great sites to post on if you've got some old costumes you want to pass along to someone else.

Treats. This is a part of Halloween that poses a special quandary for green-minded adults. You'd like to give out healthful, low-waste treats (think granola bars or home-made fruit leather), but you know most kids will leave those goodies rotting at the bottom of their Halloween bags while they inhale the collection of brand-name chocolate bars, gummy candies and sugary gum. Plus, many parents who check their children's treat bags before letting the kids eat anything tend to throw away unwrapped, obviously home-made or other "weird" looking snacks.

Fortunately, a growing number of environmentally aware companies are producing small treats like fair-trade chocolate, organic cookies and other treats appropriate for Halloween giving. Global Exchange's Fair Trade online store, for example, features bags of fair-trade gold chocolate coins while Endangered Species Chocolate sells organic milk-chocolate Bug Bites. You can find other ideas for eco-friendly treats at the National Geographic Society's Green Guide feature on healthier Halloween candy.

If you'd prefer not to give out candy of any kind, you have plenty of other options. Some people choose to hand out coins, while others stick with pencils, stickers (stickers of endangered animals are a good, educational idea), small coloring books, seed packets or other trinkets. Even flea-market finds and freebies sent to you by charities or picked up at special-events fairs (pens, pencils, little gadgets, stamps, stickers, etc.) can make fun Halloween giveaways, if you keep children's tastes in mind.

Food and decor. Try to decorate your home with locally grown pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn or attractively colored, natural fall leaves; they're more attractive than most cheesy plastic and paper decorations, and can continue to provide season-appropriate spirit all the way through Thanksgiving. For party food, think organic-pumpkin pumpkin pie, sweets made with local apples, and other dishes that emphasize ingredients of the season where you live.

Here's hoping you all enjoy a fun -- and green -- Halloween!

Jack o' Lantern

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