Friday, October 10, 2008

Have a "Green" Halloween!

And, as the three-day-weekend loometh, our thoughts turn to..what else! "Home For Halloween" and keeping the Castro save on All Hallow's. And, while we're keeping things safe, let's keep them "green". Below -- a contribution from James David of Goodwill Industries on planning for a "Green" Halloween. And remember - like last year, no party in the Castro. So, keep it at home, and keep it green!


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A Green Halloween

Halloween is one of those holidays that could easily be eco-friendly by making a few tweaks and simple changes.

When it comes to decking the halls for Halloween fun, use locally grown organic pumpkins instead of plastic decorations. We live in California and have access to some of the best produce in the world. Swanton Berry Farm (
www.swantonberryfarm.com/) just south of the City has a stellar selection of organic pumpkins. Pumpkins look so much better than the tacky plastic decorations out there. Have you seen the talking McCain-as-vampire lawn ornament at your local drug store – truly frightening. Why add to landfill when real pumpkins are the best holiday decoration. When Halloween is over, you can use it for pumpkin pie or just compost it.

While you are at your local store, just breeze right past those plastic Halloween candy buckets. Remember the good old days when kids were content using pillow cases for their trick-or-treating. Pillowcases are the sturdy green solution for carrying candy. As for everyone’s favorite part of Halloween, look for organic and free-trade candy. If you have problems finding these environmentally friendly tasty treats, search Amazon.

Buying used costumes and then donating them back to the place of purchase is something we of course advocate at Goodwill (
www.sfgoodwill.org). Imagine how many costumes made out of non-recyclable material end up in landfill. We save all the costumes we receive throughout the year and have recently unveiled them to the public – diverting thousands of costumes from the trash heap. So why buy new when you can help yourself and the planet by buying repurposed. In these lean economic times, everyone is looking to make their dollar stretch when they can. Costumes can be really pricey especially if you consider that you wear them just for one night. Goodwill has a great selection to make you look great, help your pocket book and do some good for the environment.

In San Francisco especially, Halloween is huge and if we all do our part, we could turn Halloween orange green. All it takes is a few simple changes.


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Thanks James!


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