Here's a spooky Halloween fact: Consumers spent $1.4 billion on Halloween decorations in 2007, including everything from plastic ornaments to throw-away utensils. As the 2nd biggest holiday for decorating after Christmas, Halloween negatively impacts the environment by generating a lot of waste.
17 year old Ally Maize, LA's resident "green" teen and founder of local nonprofit, the Green Youth Movement, is urging communities to reduce their environmental impact this Halloween with some simple, easy-to-do tips.
Here are a few things that Ally, along with the help of GreenHalloween.org, is doing to ensure every step of her Halloween preparations are "eek-o" friendly:
Top 5 Tips for a Green Halloween:
1. Shop your friends' closets. Costumes are half the fun in Halloween. Instead of heading to the mall to find new costumes, get creative and reduce your environmental impact by hosting a fun costume swap meet with your friends to trade and borrow threads from Halloweens past.
2. DIY (Do It Yourself). Give your Halloween festivities a personal spin and make your own decorations and treats. Acorns, pumpkins, and apples are great for "Hallogreen®"-friendly embellishments and make less of an environmental impact than store-bought decorations. You can even make your own natural face paint from corn starch, water, and organic food coloring!
3. Offer environmentally and socially responsible treats. Make a true green statement this year by handing out environmentally and socially responsible treats, like fair trade certified chocolate, raw honey and/or agave sticks, and organic fruit roll-ups. Better for the planet, better for the community, and better for you.
4. Recycle. Before you head to the store to buy Halloween supplies, take stock of what you already have. Everyday household items can be cleverly recycled into spook-worthy decorations. For example, pillow cases, table cloths, brooms and cans lying around the house are great for turning into Halloween ornaments. If you don't have the items you're looking for, head to a local thrift store - one man's trash is another man's treasure!
5. Use reusable bags for trick-or-treating. When you head out the door to trick-or-treat, opt for reusable grocery bags or pillow cases as an environmentally-conscious alternative to wasteful plastic/paper bags. They're also likely to hold more candy!
For more information on how to reduce your environmental impact beyond Halloween, go to http://www.greenyouthmovement.org/.
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