Green Scene

Greening Your Halloween

Local retailers have stocked up for Halloween, and while it’s out with Charlie Sheen and the old Kate Middleton pre-exposure, it’s in for Prince Harry (although you probably don’t need to be hanging out at the costume shop for that one), the Avengers and rapper Psy, along with all the expenses that go with the cosplay event of the year. Come Nov. 1, all those costumes will go to the dumps, and, according to Seattle-based Green Halloween, it will occur at the rate of 6,250 tons, equivalent to the weight of 2,500 mid-sized cars. Instead of tossing all that material out, why not get “CIDER” minded? That is, Craft, Imagine, Donate, Exchange and Resell.

You could start with Craigslist to find local sources for costumes or to resell or exchange those gently-used ninja jumpsuits or Star Wars pieces that have sat in your closet collecting dust these past few years. Families can also find gently-used costumes at Thredup (www.thredup.com) or at one of the many National Costume Swap sites (www.greenhalloween.org/CostumeSwap). Green Halloween organized the first swap back in 2010 and the event has since expanded to 27 states and two Canadian cities. Costume swaps mean less packaging, less waste and less toxicity to the environment. Plus, a swap is a good way to show off your “green” spirit while saving precious dollars. This year’s event is scheduled for Oct. 13.

Speaking of healthy and safe choices, the FDA’s lax oversight of Halloween cosmetics certainly makes the case for creating your own home-grown face paints and gory props. Low levels of heavy metals like lead, nickel or chromium were found in face paint tests conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=584) in 2009. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourages parents from using lead-based cosmetics on children. With this in mind, making your own non-toxic face paints and prop is fairly easy, and according to The Smart Mama (www.thesmartmama.com), all it takes are corn syrup, corn starch, gelatin, glycerin, shortening, flour and food coloring.

Save your health, your dollars and the environment and make Halloween a do-it-yourself holiday.

For more information about how to make non-toxic Halloween make-up, visit these additional websites: www.momsrising.org and watoxics.org.