An Eathkeeper's musings about at sustainable Halloween

Homemade costumes

As an Earth Keeper I am passionate about teaching others awareness of environmental concerns and sharing alternatives practices. From personal experience I know that always being mindful is difficult.  A person is less likely to follow their values when hungry, crunched for time, or stressed. To avoid such pitfalls a critical step is to be organized and think ahead. 

Let’s think ahead to Halloween. Will you decorate, wear a costume or somehow celebrate? In the past few years more and more plastic ghosts, ghouls, and giant pumpkins have popped up on yards. But where does that vinyl or plastic go when it’s no longer needed? What about the energy it takes to keep the giant pumpkin or ghoul pumped up? Ghosts made from old sheets, with a ball for a head and twine around the base of the head is a more sustainable way to decorate a porch or a tree. Kids can use pillowcases for trick-or-treating.

Ghosts decor made of cloth

“Although they are tempting, avoid the pull of cheap plastic decorative items,” say the writers of ExistGreen.comhttps://existgreen.com/eco-friendly-halloween/. “There are plenty of natural materials to use for decor. Examples include sticks, dried corn on the cob, gourds, and even dryer lint!

Avoid painted pumpkins – you don’t want those nasty chemicals mixed in with your compost.” A real bale of hay, corn stalks and homemade scarecrows or monsters can all go back to the earth as compost.
Hat tips to members of my church and my neighbors who had these sustainable Halloween ideas, which are illustrated in the photos. Credit or names are not given by request.

If you are painting faces look at the ingredients before purchasing the paint. See if you can find recipes online to make natural edible face paint. Remember if it’s on your skin it’s absorbed into your body. As we know, some medications are delivered subdermally.  Here is one example on how to make fake blood: use beet powder or cherry juice instead of artificial red food coloring Mix it with corn syrup and cornstarch. Hat tip to to ExistGreen and Greg Nicotero, special effects and producer of “The Walking Dead,” Chicago NBC Channel 5 "Walking Dead" FX Guru: How to Be a Killer Halloween Zombie”