October 30, 2007

Planning an Eco-Friendly Halloween

Props to Ask Umbra and NatureMoms for offering suggestions on how to plan an eco-friendly Halloween.

Ask Umbra's column from this year focuses on green, safe, economical alternatives to Halloween candy or plastic toys:

You need something cheap that is easily available in bulk, and that is acceptable to children. What do kids want, if not silly toys and tasty candy? Pens and pencils, and tiny boxes of crayons, are a traditional, sort of academically focused item. You could also buy several boxes of fat markers and strew them about in baskets; if you combined all these drawing utensils, children of varying ages will be able to choose one they like. Small musical instruments like kazoos, mouth harps, and whistles could be fun, if they aren't made of toxic Chinese plastic. Stickers, temporary tattoos, and trading cards are small and cheap. You could look up a variety of knock-knock jokes at the library, pick 10, and print each one on 30 business card-sized papers. There, that's my big idea -- knock-knock jokes.

Last year's Halloween column, also a favorite, dished up this advice:

(M)ake a collection of things that you own and are ready to get rid of, like CDs, books, jewelry, trophies, trinkets, and the like. Put them in a treasure chest of your own devising and let the children choose one item each. Ooh, sparkly.

NatureMoms' article includes a list of eco-friendly Halloween candies, trick or treat bags, party treats, decorations, and Halloween costumes. Read more at NatureMoms.