12 Tips for Making Halloween Eco-Friendly

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but unfortunately, the standard celebrations are often out of line with my ethics. For example, almost everything associated with Halloween is disposable, single-serving, or synthetic. Eek! To me, needless waste is a whole lot scarier than ghosts or goblins.

If you’re like me and interested in making your All Hallows’ Eve more environmentally friendly, then read on. I’ll show you how to infuse your orange-and-black with a little splash of “green.”

1. Homemade costumes.

I’ve been doing this for years, scrapping together costumes from my own or secondhand clothes, but it seems especially important now that I’m a mother. I love to make my son’s costumes via creative repurposing. For example, on his first Halloween, he was only 7 months old, so that year I painted an old bike helmet to look like a turtle shell, and strapped it to his back. He had just mastered crawling and it was perfect! Last year I sewed him a little owl outfit out of old sweatshirts, and I made myself a “Freudian Slip.” I love these homemade costumes and I love that we’ll always be one-of-kind.

2. Costume swap.

If you do desire a specific or pre-packaged costume (maybe you’re short on time and making one just isn’t in the cards – understandable, we’re all busy people!), consider setting up a pre-Halloween costume swap with a group of friends. This is also a good event to coordinate the week after Halloween, and you’ll be all prepared for next year.

3. Conserve: save or donate.

In lieu of a costume swap, make sure you save your costume to be used again, either by you or another family member. Alternatively, you can donate it to a local theatre or charity. Whatever you do, don’t throw it away!

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Read more: Children, Conscious Consumer, Conservation, Crafts & Design, Crafts & Hobbies, Eco-friendly tips, Family, Food, Fun, Green, Green Kitchen Tips, Halloween, Holidays, Home, Household Hints, Life, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse, Smart Shopping, eco friendly halloween, eco-friendly, green halloween, green Halloween costumes

By Sayward Rebhal, Networx

Source : care2[dot]com

8 Creepiest Halloween Candies

I love Halloween. It’s the rare chance to embrace all the frights (guts! gore! death!) we usually sweep under the carpet, as well as a time to play out some fantasies. (And no, that doesn’t mean I’ll be dressing up as Sexy Cookie Monster this year.) And best of all? Ritualized extortion! When else can you demand treats, and then perform feats of mischief if the order isn’t met?

Unlike some holidays, Halloween wasn’t born in the conference room of a marketing department–it stems from the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain which celebrated the end of the harvest season and the ensuing preparations for winter. The Gaels believed that at this time, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased could reach back into life and wreak havoc such with disease or ruined crops.

With our typical American chutzpah, however, we have steamrolled the more subtle attributes right out of the holiday for…lots and lots of candy. We spent nearly $2 billion dollars on the spooky sweet stuff last year. This year, more than 35 million pounds of candy corn alone will be produced. That is equal to nine billion pieces—enough to circle the moon nearly four times if placed end-to-end.

But our appetite doesn’t stop at miles of candy corn and a bagful of wax lips. Not even close. Our kids have developed a taste for the creepiest of treats conceivable. In twisted Halloween spirit, the following examples embrace the goriest, goopiest, grossest ideas that transcend what is usually deemed appropriate during the rest of the year. And although some of them are seriously cringe-inspiring, the creepiest part may simply be their ingredients…

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Read more: All recipes, Children, Desserts, Diet & Nutrition, Food, Fun, Halloween, Holidays & Gifts, Life, candy, Halloween, HFCS, slideshow

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Trick or Treat: Between a Rock and a Sweet Spot

Remember Charlie Brown’s disappointment when he received a rock in his trick-or-treat bag? Nobody wants to disappoint the little ghosts and goblins that show up on Halloween. But there’s no need to load the kiddies up with mountains of sugar, either.

There is a happy medium between sugar-laden traditional Halloween treats and Charlie Brown’s rock. Without depriving  the little ones of Halloween or sweet treats, you can mix it up by offering some healthier alternatives that can still be called treats.

Devin Alexander, Celebrity Chef and NY Times Best Selling Author of The Biggest Loser Cookbook Series, suggests these fun treats:

• Juice boxes or water bottles (if your budget can handle it). You might worry that your house will get egged or TP’d, but think about it: kids are going door to door, often racing to collect tons of candy. They get really thirsty. Handing out a beverage may actually be much better received than you think.
• Boxes of pretzels or baked chips. Though they are not as great as water or 100 percent orange juice, they’re relatively low in calories and fat, and they aren’t pure sugar.
• Bags of nuts or dried fruit. Though they are calorie dense, they contain “good” fats and natural sugars. Just be sure to buy the dry roasted nuts, not “roasted,” which have added oils.
• Fruit snacks. They’re sweet and seem similar to gummy candy, but with a fraction of the sugar and fat.
• Tootsie pops or other lollipops (great if you’re on a tight budget). Though they are virtually pure sugar, they take a long time to eat, so people tend to eat fewer. Plus, they are very low in fat.
• Sugar-free gum is another great, virtually calorie-free option. Kids LOVE gum.
• Inexpensive toys. Head to your 99 cent store. They often carry big packs of plastic rings (as in kid-friendly jewelry), necklaces, military figurines, etc. Play-Doh ^(TM) is always a great option that might be found there as well.

Prime your taste buds, because Ms. Alexander will also share a delicious pumpkin-based recipe in an upcoming article on Care2.

Next: More Trick-or-Treat Ideas, plus How to Handle Your Kids’ Deluge of Treats

Photo copyright: Getty Images – Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock

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Read more: Children, Conscious Consumer, Diet & Nutrition, Family, Food, Fun, General Health, Halloween, Health, Holidays, Home, Life, Teens, trick or treat

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