Green Tips for a Recycled Halloween

halloween treat bags

I know Halloween is not for another two months but it can be stressful if you don’t plan ahead. So I thought I’d list some creative ways to green your Halloween!

Start Early

You know how it is. You get busy with getting kids back to school, then, comes homework, school trips, school projects, and then BAM! It’s October and Halloween! Yikes! So plan now and get a head start on green Halloween crafts. You can dust off the old decorations to see which ones are for keeps and which ones can be donated. This is a perfect time to take the ones you don’t want to Goodwill for others to use. Fix any broken decorations or start early on new crafts.

Think Reuse

I’m sure you have everything you need to decorate and make costumes in your house. But if you don’t, check out your local thrift stores. Chances are, they’ll have plenty of items that you can upcycle, reconfigure, and reuse for a great looking costume.

Use reusable decor whenever you can. I am planning to make a decorative pumpkin that lights up using solar energy out of a fish bowl that I can use every year. When I am finished with the project, I’ll post it here. But the thought is not to buy a pumpkin every year, just to carve it and to throw it our after Halloween. I love supporting my local farms but I rather buy their apples than pumpkins. Also, make treat bags out of scraps (see above) instead of buying plastic bags. I’ve been handing out these bags every year. Even if they throw these out, at least they are compostable. Also, I’ve made “Trick or Treat” bags out of pillow cases when my kids were young and they used them every year to carry all their treats. I’ll also post the tutorial on how to make one of them too in the coming weeks.

Healthy Non-Plastic Wrapped Snacks

I’m sure you know this already but giving out healthy snacks – homemade or otherwise – rather than plastic wrapped junk food is not only better for the trick or treaters but also for the planet. I always give out boxed raisins and organic animal crackers because the packaging is compostable and snacks are healthier.

Costumes

Check out moolanomy.com and frugaldad.com for frugal Halloween costume ideas, thedailygreen.com for recycled costumes, and igiveugetgiveaways.com for homemade costume ideas.

Do you have any green tips for Halloween? Please share with us!

5 thoughts on “Green Tips for a Recycled Halloween”

    1. Halloween themed school supplies are great idea too! I gave out bagged carrots one year. My kids swore that the reason why we didn’t get as many trick-or-treaters the following year was because of my carrots. 🙁

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