Have A Green Halloween

Are you wanting to make this Halloween better for the planet and your kids?  I want my kids to enjoy Halloween but I also want the Halloween experience to be Eco-friendly.  This year we are going to have our greenest Halloween so far with 5 easy tips 

I’m sharing with you what I have done and plan to do this Halloween. I hope this inspires you to have a more Eco-friendly Halloween!

1. Reuse Costumes:

This year my 4 year old and 18 month old will be wearing old costumes and my 7 year old will be an army man dressed in camo pants and shirts I found at the thrift store.  My boys have many costumes to pick from because once I buy a costume I like to hold on to it for dress up and to reuse for my younger boys.  If you do not have hand be downs to use for your child consider checking out thrift stores, resale shops and ebay.  Also, I have heard of people organizing Halloween swap parties and events.  Check to see if there is a Costume Swap Event in your area. 

2. Safe and Non-toxic Face & Body Paints:

Certain costumes are not complete without face or body paint. For instance, my son just has to have face paint for his army man costume. If you have to use face paint be sure you are using paints that have non-toxic ingredients.  I  am making a homemade face paint for my son this year but their are safe body paints available to buy. 

• Use Homemade Face Paints (link to Mommypotamus DIY recipes)
• Purchase Safe and Eco-friendly Paints
  

3. Eco-friendly and Reusable Trick-0r-Treat Bags:

Please avoid those plastic one-time use Trick-or-Treat bags.  Instead, use a bag that can be used year after year or even throughout the year.  This year my boys will be using Chicobags Halloween Bags that can be used for trick or treating or for when I go to get groceries!  I love Chicobags because they hold up to 25 pounds and when not in use can tuck back into their attached pouch and fit in any bag!  I got my boys the special edition Halloween Chicobags (3 pk on sale for $14.99), but you can use their solid colored shopping tote if you plan on using them year round.  I really don’t mind sporting a Frankenstein or Skull bag year round at the market!

Ideas for Trick-or-Treat Bags:

• reusable Halloween bags
• reusable grocery bags
• backpacks
• pillow cases

 

4. Give Better Treats or Prizes:

One of the scariest part of Halloween for me is what is inside my child’s trick-or-treat bag.  I would love to find all organic and non-gmo snacks in there but sadly that is not the case.  My house will be one of the houses giving out candies the kids will still like but are not filled with all those scary ingredients.  You can check out the Non-GMO projects page of verified Candy, Chocolate, Desserts & Sweeteners here. 

• Candy and snack ideas: (amazon affiliate links)
  • YumEarth
  • Annie’s Homegrown
  • Glee Gum
• Give stickers, pencils or other non-food items as a treat

If you are giving out non-food prizes you can participate in the Teal Pumpking Project, which indicates you have treats for kids with food allergies! I think this is great way to support and raise awareness for food allergies.  I will be putting a teal pumpkin on my porch this year!

5. Trade your Child’s Halloween Haul:

Every parent is different when it comes to how much you let your child indulge on Halloween.  I heard about the Switch Witch from Mama Natural this year and I will be switching their candy this year using this idea.   I hate just throwing away their candy because it feels very wasteful and I know people who have no problem eating it so my husband will take the candy to work for his co-workers. 

Ideas to trade your kid’s candy:

• Have a visit from the Switch Witch   (Link to Mama Natural)
• Halloween Candy Buy Back. Find a participating Dentist in your area here. 

 

How are you going to have a Green Halloween this year?

 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.