By Kade Agan
Okay, so generally Halloween is all about Orange and Black, but an initiative started in 2007 by Washington resident Corey Colwell-Lipson has added green to the haunted holiday’s color palette.
When out trick-or-treating with her children a few years ago Colwell-Lipson realized how much she appreciated the houses that thought “outside the conventional candy box” when distributing goodies to children. The mother of two promised herself she’d remember those houses for next year, but alas, by the end of the night she had no idea who had given what. This inspired Colwell-Lipson to think how great it would be if people could hang a sign to indicate if their house was giving out healthy, even organic, earth-friendly treats that would benefit children’s health, the community and the environment. And so seed of a Green Halloween had been planted.
The idea led Colwell-Lipson to a conversation with her local Whole Foods Market in Bellevue, WA and things quickly grew into a movement with parents from all over the Puget Sound wanting to know how they could bring the benefits of a Green Halloween to their neighborhoods. A variety of organizations like Cascadian Farm Organic, all natural Glee chewing gum and ShoreBank Pacific, all of whom are 2009 Green Halloween sponsors, clamored to take part in this health-conscious, environmentally responsible spin on Halloween.
The response has been so encouraging that Colwell-Lipson’s website offers a complete list of sponsors, ideas on how to launch your own neighborhood Green Halloween initiative—stressing, of course, that any downloaded materials should be on recycled or printed on tree-free paper—and a map denoting communities across the US who have taken steps to enjoy a Green Halloween for themselves.
The marketplace listing on the site highlights eco-friendly, recycled and all-natural options for costumes and décor (she also suggestions a neighborhood costume exchange) ranging from fair-trade goods to LED Halloween decoration lights. Oh, and those signs denoting which houses are participating in a Green Halloween? You’re encouraged to either make your own out of recycled materials, download and print the template onto recycled paper or order them from a company that prints them onto recycled paper with soy ink.
It all sounds like a frighteningly good idea, doesn’t it?
Check out www.greenhalloween.org for more information.
