Eek-o Friendly Halloween Tips

Trick-or-Treats: For healthy candy options that kids love check out Natural Candy Store's trick-or-treat candy selection, Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops and fair trade chocolate coins or mini bars from Global Exchange. If you are in a safe and close community, hand out little cups of hot apple cider as an alternative to more candy. In cold weather the kids will love it.

Lighting: Create a spooky atmosphere and save energy by using blacklight and orange compact fluorescent light bulbs, colored LED light strings and solar energy-charged flashlights. Use soy or beeswax candles to illuminate pumpkins.

Halloween Parties: Avoid disposables such as tablecloths, plates and cups. Also eliminate the waste of individually wrapped candy by serving bowls of snacks. 365 Halloween has great recipes that are both healthy and spooky. Send electronic invitations via sites such as Sendomatic and Evite to avoid paper and postage waste and delivery.

Decorations: Resist all the plastic stuff and go for natural accents such as gourds, pumpkins, leaves, branches, hay and fall flowers. Make decorations with your kids out of recycled materials such as egg carton bats and milk jug pumpkins.

Treat Bags: Again, forgo the plastic and opt for pillowcases, cloth sacks, purses, reusable shopping bags or last year's bag. If you need something new opt for fair trade or organic bags such as this cute Halloween ChicoBag whose proceeds go to TreeSwing.

Costumes: Reuse, trade, borrow, DIY or buy used. Host a costume exchange, shop at resale shops and forage through your closets. Still can't come up with anything? Surf the web for eco-friendly costume ideas such as these on Green Daily's site.

Trick-or-Treating: If possible, walk from house to house instead of driving.

Next Year: Store costumes, bags, lights and decorations in one box or area for a head start on next year.

((photograph by Toby Ord))