by J. McDole

Created on: October 12, 2009

Halloween is a holiday rich in history and tradition. It has also become the second most expensive and one of the most wasteful holidays. Is it possible to throw a great Halloween party while avoiding the traps of plastic throw away dcor and costumes without spending a fortune on fancy "green" products? Yes, your Halloween Party can be festive, eco-friendly, and inexpensive.

INVITATIONS

Ideally, invitations will be handled by e-mail, text, or phone. If you insist on traditional paper invitations, use paper that can be composted. Advise your guests to bring their invitations to the party. Use the invitations to draw prizes. Afterwards, compost the invitations. An alternative method would be to use recycled paper for the invitations.

DECORATIONS

Some of the best Halloween decorations come from nature. Pumpkins or gourds make excellent dcor. The gourds can be dried and used year after year. Take dried branches and put them in vases you have around the house, or get inexpensive vases from a thrift store. Tie a piece of orange or black ribbon around the vases, and you have wonderful table centerpieces.

Old sheets can be tea-stained and placed over furniture to give a derelict look to your home. Place soy or beeswax candles in empty food cans that have been rinsed and have had the labels removed. Buy decorations second-hand at thrift stores or consignment shops. This is a very green method of shopping, as no products need to be manufactured.

Let the food be a part of your decor. Fashion a skeleton out of various pieces of vegetables, and put a bowl of dip for the skull. It's a great decoration, at least until it is eaten.

Non-toxic water soluble paint can be used to decorate windows. The paints are easy to wash off, and there's nothing to throw away.

COSTUMES

Thrift consignment shops are great places to find Halloween costumes. Give a prize for the best costume made up entirely of thrift shop pieces. Another option is to have everyone bring old items of clothing, and the guests can make their own costumes out of the pile. Afterwards the clothes can be donated to charity.

FOOD

Food can be the most expensive part of your party. Organic groceries can be expensive. One option is to purchase food from a local farmers market. Many of the vendors grow their food organically.

Look for candy with the least amount of packaging. Purchase something made locally. Lots of bakeries have home-made confections and pastries. This cuts down on fuel for delivery and fancy packaging.

The less total processing that is done on your food, the more eco-friendly it becomes.

GIFTS AND PRIZES

Any gifts to be taken home should be placed in reusable containers. For kids, consider prizes such as coloring books, crayons, and pencils. They can be used over and over, and there won't be a lot of packaging to be thrown away.

Purchase locally, pick up what you can second hand, and pick food with the least amount of processing and wrapping. Happy Green Halloween!

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