painted pumpkins

Photo: R.N. Dominick, Flickr

The holidays can sometimes be a season of consumption and excess. Beginning with Halloween, we start buying, consuming and often wasting resources. But the start of the holiday season need not mean all our efforts to eat healthy, go green and protect the planet should fly out the window. Yes, you can enjoy Halloween and be good at the same time. Here's a few ideas to get you started:

Candy
There are literally hundreds of companies committed to promoting Fair Trade, organic and vegan foods. Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates sells Fair-trade discs of milk or bittersweet chocolate and Sunspire offers Fair Trade Certified Milk Chocolate Earth Balls. Sjaak's has peanut butter cups that are organic, Fair Trade and vegan. College Farm and Yummy Earth both offer organic hard candy in a wide variety of flavors. And Candy Tree has organic, wheat and gluten free cherry laces. All of these are available in individually wrapped portions and are perfect for handing out to trick-or-treaters.

Party
Save a tree and send out invites to your Monster Bash via email instead of snail mail. Or use an online service like Evite or Sendomatic to get the message out. Offer your guests healthy snacks and skip the bottled soft drinks in favor of home-made organic fruit punch. Use degradable eating utensils and instead of balloons, decorate with items that can be re-used again next year.

Decorations
Decorate your organic pumpkin with reusable wooden facial features or, get out the brushes and go to town with non-toxic paints. Make homemade ghosts with old sheets and use pumpkins, gourds and hay bales to give your home a festive look.

Costumes
Instead of purchasing a store-bought costume, try shopping your own house first. Thrift stores and garage sales are also good places to find unique costume ideas. If you are the least bit handy, try making your own costume using organic fabrics and then re-use it or pass it on for next year.

Black and orange may be the unofficial colors of Halloween, but that doesn't mean we can't make it green and healthy, too. What are your ideas for a healthier, more eco-friendly holiday?