Articles > Eco Halloween
Eco Halloween – Boo!
With just a few weeks to go, there is enough time to prepare for Halloween. And to think about how to give it some eco twist, without missing out all the fun. Here are some tips on having a “green” Halloween – from Trick-or-Treating to hosting a Halloween party for the neighbour kids.
Pumpkin
There is no Halloween without pumpkins. Organic ones are the way to go. Use your imagination to carve it. Wash pumpkin seeds in water and air-dry the seeds by spreading them out on a screen or paper-towels. Place dried seeds outside for bird feed – they’ll love it! You can also grow your own organic pumpkins in your children’s garden. If you decide to buy one, purchase just one pumpkin per household. Although pumpkins might seem like decoration only, pumpkins are a food crop for both humans and animals and to throw out millions of pumpkins each year is excessive and unnecessary.
Costumes
Rent a costume, or borrow from a friend, rather than buying a new one. You can also pass on your older costumes to someone else’s kids. Crafts time? – Why don’t you try and make new costumes out of old dresses and sheets you have almost forgotten in your wardrobe? Here is an idea for a Pumpkin costume: Start with a large orange sweatshirt. Cut eyes and a mouth shape out of black or yellow felt and glue them on the front of the shirt. Put the shirt on your child, fold up the sleeves, then stuff the belly and back area with newspapers or quilt batting to make it look nice and round like a pumpkin. Top it all of with a green cap. You can even cut some leaf shapes out of green felt and glue them to the top of the cap. Your little pumpkin is ready to go trick or treating.
Another eco idea: after Halloween donate your costumes to local charity shops stores where they’ll re-sell them next year and raise money, too. Or ask local children’s hospitals if they would like them for the kids to have.
Eco-friendly Candy
Not quite sure what eco-candy is? Well, it does exist. Organic chocolates, cereal bars, organic lollipops, organic cookies, and organic dried fruits are perfect for the occasion. They are not only healthier than regular candy, but they are also environmentally friendlier. Find them at local organic groceries or health food stores, or even better – prepare them yourself.
If you go with the ready-to-eat option, buy treats that use as little packaging as possible or treats that use eco-friendly packaging, as made from recycled paper.
Decorations
Throwing a Halloween party at home? – Consider using biodegradable bamboo dishes, biodegradable plastic dishes or your regular everyday dishes and then wash them with eco – friendly soap. Use recycled napkins or cloth napkins. Light up eco-friendly candles. Wrap-up a glass with an orange-coloured sheet of paper, carved as you wish, and stick it with some glue. Place a candle inside, and voala – you have a great Halloween lamp to add some extra “feel good” feeling. Scary music and soy (not petroleum based) candles help create spooky, but environmentally friendly Halloween ambiance. Keep your decoration, so you can use it the following years.
Get inspired by some toddler Halloween crafts ideas.
Bags and Baskets
Avoid using plastic bags – they are very bad for the environment. Instead, take out an old cloth bag, a basket or even a pillowcase and decorate as per your taste, and also to match your kid’s costume. Reuse the candy carrier for trick or treating. Or if buying bag, get a reusable one made from hemp, cotton or canvas. Then reuse your bags next year, throughout the year, and for years to come. Simple, isn’t?
Walk or Drive?
And you guessed it – the eco-friendly choice it to walk. What’s the point to drive from house to house? Get some good exercise and leave a lighter carbon footprint as you do it.
Battery Operated
As a rule, avoid a Halloween decoration that needs electricity or batteries, like a moving hand in a candy bowl. But if that’s your kids’ favourite and you don’t want to disappoint them, then use rechargeable batteries to keep it going.
Halloween Party Invitations
If you are having a party send out online invitations attached to emails – they are free, they are environment-friendly and can be very creative, too. If online invites is too impersonal for you, buy invitations made of recycled paper, make some yourself, or even go further – recycle the paper first and then get creative!
Treat your family for Halloween with some tasty homemade
Pumpkin Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cups unbleached white flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup pureed pumpkin or winter squash
2 cup milk
3 tbs sunflower oil
Stir (and sift) together all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the pumpkin and vanilla. Beat in the milk and oil until smooth. Add to the flour mixture. Then cook the pancakes in a pan as usual.
Try out some more healthy pumpkin recipes for babies and toddlers in our recipe section.
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