by Becky Smith Gallops

Orange and black are the traditional colors of Halloween, but it's 2009 and families are looking for ways to put a little green in their Halloween, not only by keeping it fun for the kids without all the sugar, but also by making it an earth-friendly holiday.

Healthy Halloween Treats

This year, why not offer healthy, organic treats such as granola bars, snack bars, fruit leather, raisins or other dried fruits. There are also snack and trial size packages of popcorn, organic cookies and crackers and sunflower seeds available that make the perfect alternative to large quantities of sugary treats.

Replace Treats with Treasure

In recent years, both Crayola^® and Play-Doh^® have had small packs of their products packaged for Halloween giving. These make excellent replacements for candy. Other non-sugary treasures include polished rocks, whistles made from recycled plastic, pencils, temporary tattoos, stickers and coins. If you spend $15 - $20 on candy, why not go to the bank and get 2 rolls of quarters? If you don't have a vast number of trick-or-treaters, you can give them each a quarter. I must admit, as much as my own children love candy, they are awfully big fans of cash too!

Eco-Friendly Costumes

Avoid costumes that are made from petroleum products or contain toxic dyes. Be the ultimate recycler and head for the attic or second-hand store to look for items to make a costume. For instance, an old skirt, peasant blouse and scarf partnered with loads of costume jewelry makes the perfect gypsy costume. There are also an infinite number of costumes that can be constructed from cardboard boxes. Think of a robot, jack-in-the-box, dice, a Lego^®, a gift, train, or a Rubik's^® cube. Pull out sweats, leotards and tights to put together costumes like a black cat, duck or turtle.

Decorate

Those of us in Oklahoma and Texas find ourselves in a largely agricultural area, which gives us the perfect opportunity to use some of nature's abundant bounty to decorate for Halloween. Apples, pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks and hay bales will lend a festive fall feel to your décor. Don't forget to compost these items when you are finished using them. Being green is also about reducing waste, so if you buy decorations, save them for use in later years or recycle them.

Halloween Recycling

Recycling, of course, is a core component of green living. Holidays should be no exception to the recycling rules. If the kids create paper spiders and pumpkins that won't make it through more than one Halloween, be sure they go into the recycle bin. This would also be a great time for your children to make crafts from recycled objects they find around the house such as old boxes, newspapers, buttons, fabric scraps and even leftover party napkins from last year's Halloween soiree. A papier-mâché candy bowl is a fun and easy way to use up old newspaper.

It's not hard to green up your Halloween celebrations and not only will you be glad you did, so will Mother Earth. For more helpful tips on how to go Green this Halloween, check out the web site at www.greenhalloween.org.