Happy Green Halloween!
Hey everyone! It’s me Maria.
It’s almost Halloween – one of my favourite times of the year! You get to dress up, act goofy and get lots of candy! What’s not to love? However, Halloween, like many holidays, can be a very wasteful time. So Finlay and I are here to help you have a Happy Green Halloween.
Here are my top tips for ‘greener’ costumes:
- Re-use old costumes from last year – a change in accessory or face paint can make an old costume new again!
- Organize a costume swap with friends or in school.
- Up-cycle old costumes and clothes, for example my witch’s cape this year is an old black skirt my mum is finished with. I cut the hem into ragged strips and painted spiders on it.
- Last year I was a Zombie School Girl and all I did was rip up and splash red paint on my already worn out and too small school uniform. Add grey-white face paint and voilá!
- Make your own costume from recycled finds around the house; cardboard boxes make great robot or lego brick costumes, scraps of fabric, paper, even bin liners (don’t go buy new ones!) can all be used to great effect. I made my witch’s hat from recycled black paper.
- Finally, don’t forget to store this year’s costumes for re-use next year!
For recycled costume ideas click here:
https://recyclenation.com/2015/10/crazy-halloween-costumes-made-from-recyclables/
Have fun trick or treating and remember to use reusable bags for your candy and recycle as many wrappers as you can. Speaking of candy, here’s Finlay our Food Fanatic. Over to you Finlay, or should I say Franken-Finlay!
Hi there, I’m stoked about going trick or treating with my friends! Tonnes of candy! Yay! Unfortunately, Halloween means lots and lots of food waste too. Did you know that each year around a quarter of all pumpkins sold for Halloween ends up wasted? That’s millions of pumpkins! People have forgotten that you can actually EAT them. A pumpkin is a winter squash and a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. It is also low in fat and calories. There are so many awesome dishes you can create with your carved out pumpkin – from pumpkin lasagne, to pumpkin soup, or sweet treats like pumpkin pie and pumpkin pancakes! Oh and don’t forget about the seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds make a great snack (spicy, sweet, salty…). My mum makes granola with oats, nuts and pumpkin seeds. Super tasty, and healthy too. For great pumpkin recipe ideas click here:
Of course if your pumpkin is past it’s best after being on display too long, you can still compost it, or donate it to a local farm for animal feed.
But enough about pumpkins. We all know the real star of the show is sweet, sweet candy! I know you feel that there’s no such thing as too much candy, but every year there’s always left-over candy in our house. Here are my top tips on what to do with left-over candy:
- Freeze it for use later.
- Donate it to charity, food banks, hospitals or your local labourers, street cleaners and domestic helpers
- Do candy themed crafts
- Use it in baking for birthdays, Eid, Christmas, Diwali etc.
- Use grated or chopped up chocolate candy instead of buying chocolate chips for recipes
- Re-gift it for birthdays, holidays or as a thank you, in decorated boxes, mugs or mason jars.
For great recipes for leftover candy click here:
https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/23-tasty-ways-to-use-up-leftover-halloween-candy/
It’s a sad fact that much of the Halloween candy wrappers are not recyclable, but some are, so check the wrapper to see. Fortunately there’s lots you can do with these wrappers from colorful beads and bookmarks to flowers, collage and some really cool origami. Click here for all these inspiring ideas and more!:
Happy Green Halloween everyone!
Maria & Finlay x