(7) Eco-Friendly ways to celebrate Halloween

7  (Eco Friendly) ways to celebrate Halloween

Halloween is a holiday that comes with great fun and lots of ready to use decorations, costumes and candy. Instead of walking through stores and figuring out what would suit you best why not make the most out of your Halloween and go eco-friendly with your treats and goodies for your family? Make it a HallowGreen this year and enjoy longer lasting fun! You can spend a weekend to prepare everything with your family and have multiple DIY-projects that are healthy and eco-friendly. Luminous Being has gathered some ideas to make your Halloween into a HallowGreen, let’s be eco-friendly and organic together!

(7) Eco-friendly and Organic Halloween Ideas

1. Organic Pumpkin Halloween Cupcakes

Try a fun treat that is healthy and tasty like Organic Pumpkin Cupcakes. Bake them for your family and/ or trick or treaters.

What you’ll need:

•         2 cups all-purpose organic flour
•         1 teaspoon baking soda
•         1 teaspoon baking powder
•         1 teaspoon coarse salt
•         1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•         1 and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
•         1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•         1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
•         1 cup packed light-brown organic sugar (I made some with dark brown sugar, and they came out okay)
•         1 cup granulated organic white sugar
•         1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted organic butter, melted and cooled
•         4 large organic eggs, lightly beaten
•         1 can (15 ounces) organic pumpkin puree or avoid BPA in cans and make homemade organic pumpkin puree instead

Instructions:

1.       In a medium bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
2.       Use a larger bowl to whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and eggs until smooth.
3.       Add the dry ingredients form the medium bowl to the wet ingredients in the larger bowl, mix until smooth
4.       Mix in pumpkin puree
5.       Grease your baking pan with a light spray of olive oil or lightly spray some reusable silicone baking cups.
6.    Bake in a 350 degrees oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the tops spring back a bit when touched.
7.    Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely before glazing or decorating.

2. Vegan and Organic Pumpkin Soup 

Do you have leftovers from all that pumpkin carving, why not make a delicious vegan soup?

What you’ll need:

•         1 tablespoon organic olive oil
•         1/2 organic onion, diced (about 1 cup)
•         1/2 organic pumpkin, peeled and diced (about 8 cups)
•         4 organic cloves garlic, minced
•         1 organic tablespoon fresh rosemary, diced
•         4-5 cups organic vegetable broth
•         1/2-1 cup organic coconut milk
•         For garnish: 1/4 cup organic toasted sliced almonds

Instructions:

1.       Heat oil in pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add pumpkin and garlic and continue to cook for a few more minutes.
2.       Add rosemary and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until pumpkin is soft and cooked through. Add salt to taste.
3.       Puree soup in a blender (in batches) and return to the pot.
4.       Add coconut milk and simmer for another minute or two.
5.       Serve garnished with toasted sliced almonds, a drizzle of olive oil and fresh rosemary.

3. DIY Recycled Ghosts and Halloween Decorations 

If you have old white shirts, bandages or towels lying around, you can easily make ghosts out of those items.

What you’ll need:

•         old newspapers or paper
•         white shirt, bandage or towel
•         white yarn

Instructions:

1.       Crumple up old newspapers or misprints into a ball.
2.       Cut shirt, bandage or towel into squares. The larger the square, the larger the ghost.
3.       Cover the paper ball with the fabric square and tie with yarn right under the head/ball, leave enough yarn at the end. 
4. Hang wherever desired or make multiple ones and tie into a garland.

4. DIY Window Silhouette Halloween Scary Decorations 

Instead of simply putting stickers on your windows make it a fun activity with your kids to create some Halloween silhouettes out of paper. Just get black paper and your preferred designs, transfer the design on your paper and cut it out. Don’t forget to keep them for other Halloweens to come or for a cute memory of your child’s crafting skills.

5. DIY Halloween Bee Costume 

How about a simple Bee costume for you and your child? It’s easy, quick and you can keep and wear most of the items without it being Halloween.

What you’ll need:

•         Glue (removable glue)
•         Scissors
•         Black hair band
•         Two black pipe cleaners
•         Two small yellow pompoms (alternatively you can make some out of yarn)
•         Black and white/ black and yellow striped shirt
•         White felt sheet
•         Yellow tutu (alternatively tie pieces of tulle fabric around an elastic waistband)

Instructions:

1.       Glue each pompom on one of the pipes.
2.       Tie or glue the pipe cleaners on the hairband. Once your costume is not in use anymore you can remove the pipe cleaners and wear the headband on regular days.
3.       From the white felt cut two wings, and glue onto shirt. Remove when you or your child don’t want to be a bee anymore.
4.       Put on, hair band, shirt and tutu.

6. Halloween Superhero Costume DIY

Does your child want to be a particular Superhero character? Make a costume with your child and a few and easy items. You can choose organic and friendly materials and reuse them too.

What you’ll need:

•         Glue (removable glue)
•         Scissors
•         Piece of fabric (depending on your child’s height, shouldn’t go further than your child’s knees)
•         Two 13’’ strings
•         Different colors of felt (depending on the superhero)  
•         Elastic band/ waistband
•         PJs in a solid color

Instructions:

1.       Attach two small strings onto the top corners of the piece of fabric either by sewing or with glue, this will be your cape.
2.       Cut the Superhero’s logo out of the felt and glue it onto the middle of the cape.
3.       Cut out an eye mask and a small logo from two different colored felts. Glue the logo onto the mask.
4.       Measure your child’s head, and cut the elastic- or waistband according to that length, don’t forget to subtract the length of the mask itself!
5.       Glue or sew band onto the mask.
6.       Cut another logo for your child’s chest and put it on the pajama.
7.       Put on the pajama, cape and mask and your Superhero is done. You can make multiple little things out of the cape once Halloween is over.

7. DIY Recycle the Eco-Friendly Candy Tote Bag for carrying Halloween treats 

If you have used tote bags or shopping bags you can easily decorate them with your kids and use them as eco-friendly candy bags for Halloween. Turn the bag inside out so the store logo or other writing is not seen easily and draw with non-toxic marker a ghost or Jack O’Lantern’s face on it. Alternatively, you can cut eyes and mouth from felt and glue it onto the tote.

Halloween can still be fun while being eco-friendly and organic! You can experience a greater joy because you involve your family, friends and neighbors. Being healthy and using eco-friendly activities and projects to create your Halloween costumes and yummy Halloween cupcakes and vegan pumpkin soup. Creating a Halloween craft day for you and your family or big events such a costume swap with others, can make the Halloween holiday fun for anyone. Whether you chose to make everything yourself and recycle or you’re just watching out for things that are eco-friendly. Make this Halloween a HallowGreen!

Let your light shine!

Kathrin

Luminous Being