Green Halloween Tips You May Not Have Thought Of

Each year Americans spend billions of dollars on Halloween candy, costumes and other Halloween related décor-type items (over $3 billion was spent in 2006 alone). They're shelling out $20-50 a piece on costumes and $10 and up on bags of candy.

But, this year more-so than in years past, people have enhanced awareness of health issues like cancer, obesity, and diabetes rates, of environmental health, and this year less people have the luxury of spending their hard earned dollars on store-bought costumes so they're being forced to look elsewhere for their ghost and goblin attire.

All of that brings us to my five tips for throwing a greener Halloween...in ways you may not have thought of.

(1) Think outside the store-bought box.

Forget the costly, typical, polyester costumes that you find at those pop-up Halloween superstores. This year, recycle what's already in your house for a more eco and original approach.

Here are four ideas that I shared recently on CNN.com/LIVE
# Skunk: Wear a black turtleneck & tights and paste a white strip down your back

# Spider: Wear black leotard & tights, and attach 4 extra sets of "legs" - tights stuffed with paper.

# Ragdoll: Wear a sleeper with patches, a stocking cap, rosy cheeks and freckles

# Jack in the Box: Wear bright tights and shirt. Attach a brightly painted box with a crank.

(2) Aluminum foil makes a costume and makes any costume better.
# Good old aluminum foil like Reynolds Wrap from 100% recycled aluminum is the obvious choice. It can become the star on your daughter's fairy godmother wand or the sword in your young Jedi hand. Simply cut a star or sword from cardboard and cover both sides with aluminum foil. For the star, attach it to the top of a short dowel rod, tie on some ribbon, and voila!

# It can become the face of your child's futuristic face mask. Cut out the mask from cardboard. Cut holes for eyes and the mouth, then cover the mask with foil and use paint, or glue on feathers or glitter to decorate.

# Cover 3 boxes in cascading sizes with foil to make a robot costume

# Cover cardboard fins for a Nemo-like shiny fish

(3) Carry two bags: one for treats and a bag for trash

Your treat bag doesn't need to be some synthetic polyester pumpkin. Instead use a reusable grocery bag or a decorated old pillowcase.

In addition to your treat bag, carry a second bag for litter. Each November 1st, people wake to streets and sidewalks littered with candy wrappers and discarded costumes. This Halloween, walk with a trash bag in hand and help keep our streets clean.

(4) Choose a walking neighborhood

Forget about stop-and-go trick-or-treat driving, walking is the more carbon-neutral, eco-friendly choice. If you don't live in a "walking" neighborhood, try carpooling, picking a different neighborhood where you can walk, or trick-or-treating at the mall.

(5) When it's all over, donate!

Take this year's costume and host a swap party with neighbors or school friends so you'll all have something new to wear next year.

Or, better yet, donate your costumes to a local children's hospital. They're always so grateful for any donated books, toys, and costumes for dress up days.

From Playgrounder.com:

"Green Toys Tea Set

Host your next teddy bear picnic with this Green Toys Tea Set ($16). This adorable set is made entirely of recycled milk jugs and contains no phthalates or BPA. It comes packaged in a recycled cardboard box, and best of all, it’s made in the USA. But let’s not forget why you’re buying a tea set in the first place. Your kids will love this colorful service for four, with cups, saucers, and spoons for everyone at the tea party, which are even safe to actually drink from and can go in the dishwasher for quick cleanup" -jL

Greenhound Meeting This Sunday

Hey Greenbriar Greenhounds!

Just another reminder...

The meeting this Sunday will be at my house, at 1951 Redwood Lane, between Meadow and Keystone.

The time will be 2:00 for new members and 2:30 for returning members.
Here is the tentative agenda:


2:00-2:30 Discussion of Greenhounds 2009-2010 Action Plan & Sign ups

2:30-2:45 Introductions

2:45-3:00 Discussion of Statement of Purpose/Goal

3:00-3:15 Trashless Lunches Plans and discussion- Gayle

3:15-3:30 Projects Updates and discussion- Jennifer

3:30-3:45 Earth Day- preliminary discussion- Emily

3:45-4:00 Web site, Education Coordination, Job Assignments and future meeting plans- Rachel

Peeing in Public Saves Water - But is it Gross?

Is Peeing in Public Green?
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA


Peeing in Public Saves Water - But is it Gross?
I seem to be in the habit of sharing my bathroom habits with the world - whether it's the Selective Flush or the Navy Shower. (Perhaps worryingly) people seem to enjoy reading about what I get up to in the privacy of my own home - or at least it usually stirs up a vigorous debate. So here's another one I've been musing about lately - peeing in public is an environmentally responsible thing to do.

OK - so maybe I'm not really talking about peeing in public, but rather peeing outdoors. I mean, the folks that dirty our underpasses and stink out our phone booths are hardly paragons of treehugging virtue. But it seems to me that a discreet pee behind a bush is in many ways more sensible than spoiling perfectly good drinking water and then whisking it away for expensive, energy and water intensive 'treatment'.

So what can we do to remedy the situation? For those of us in the country, the at-home solution is easy enough. I regularly pee in my yard. Not only does this save water - but it has other uses too. A quick sprinkle of the compost heap helps start the decomposition process, and let's not forget that urine is an important source of phosphate. I also pee around the flower beds and chicken coop to keep deer and raccoons away. And if you want to do more, check out how to use urine as a fertilizer.

But what about townies? I actually know plenty of town folk who occasionally use a secluded corner of their yard as a temporary toilet. And I see nothing wrong with using our parks for relief when you are caught short - though you probably want to find some dense undergrowth to spare the social outrage (and any possible legal issues!). And in large crowds, it's probably best to stick to the toilets - eutrophication of waterways is a real problem at major events like music festivals etc.

Back in my home town of Bristol in the UK, and many other cities in Europe, where Friday night revelers are not always the best behaved bunch, they often set up temporary public urinals in the street, saving shopkeepers the unpleasant task of cleaning up after anti-social drunks. (I'll save readers the unpleasant sight - head over to LIFE if you really want to see what temporary urinals look like). But what if those urinals were not just glorified (and wall-less) chemical toilets, but rather a method for collecting a valuable resource that could be distributed to phosphate hungry farms in the region? After all, the New York Times has already identified "yellow as the new green" - arguing for urine separation in all of our toilets.

It looks like Umbra has been exploring some similar philosophical issues over at Grist - pondering whether it's polite to let it mellow when not at home, and putting her support behind peeing in public. It must be OK then...