by John Oystein

Created on: September 22, 2010

            Since everything likes to “go green” these days, why not make Halloween a “green” holiday as well? Come to think of it, Halloween’s always been a little greener than other holidays. The holiday’s roots grow out of ancient nature-worshipping pagan harvest festivals. Somehow, it involved into an occasion for little kids to dress up in costumes and plunder their neighbors for sweets, and now it’s getting corrupted into a party day for drunken college girls to dress like a “sexy” something-or-another but instead just look like a cheap stripper.

            But that’s another article.

            Making your Halloween a green holiday comes down to the three simple words: reduce, reuse, recycle. Let’s start with reducing.

            First, reduce the expense of the holiday. There’s absolutely no law that you need to spend big bucks redecorating your entire house as a haunted house or slaughterhouse or whatever. This alone saves you the time and effort and electricity used make and power these displays.

            You can also reduce your gasoline use and subsequent carbon emissions in your vehicle by not ferrying your trick-or-treaters to many different neighborhoods. Let him stay in your own neighborhood, and walk to each house.

            Reduce the inevitable waste of Halloween by not passing out candy, but rather something healthy and without plastic wrapping. Try homemade candies or cookies wrapped in biodegradable material like tissue paper, or fresh fruits. Oh yeah, you can’t do that, you might by putting fishhooks or used needles into an apple! (Did you ever hear of that really happening to some kid?)  

            Reusing Halloween is easy. Don’t waste time, money, and materials buying costumes from a store. Back when I was a kid, it was a mark of shame to wear a Chinese-made store-bought costume. Your mother helped you make your costume, or you just didn’t wear a costume. Bring back those good old days, but don’t bother Mom. Do it yourself. A little brain power and a little rummaging around the house, and you can make a decent costume on your own. And speaking of turning back the clock, where’s it written you can’t wear the same costume twice? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not written anywhere!

            If you’re interested in going green, you should be gardening. What I am saying here? Well, grow your own pumpkins, obviously. The good thing about pumpkins is that they’re pretty easy to grow, and have more than one application. Obviously, pumpkins are cut up into jack o’lanterns, but the story doesn’t need to stop there. Wait until Halloween to carve your lantern, and after Halloween’s over, you can carve up your lantern and peel it into a pie or bread. Most Halloween nights will be cool enough so they won’t spoil. Meanwhile, you can make a jack o’lantern and still consume pumpkin seeds, after you’ve saved some of the seeds for next year’s crop. If you jack o’lantern has spoiled, or you just don’t like pumpkin bread, recycle it! Toss the pumpkin into your compost pile or worm box. (You do have one, don’t you?)

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