The Ecolectual Wishes you an Eco-friendly and Happy Halloween! I love Halloween so I thought I would share some helpful tips and tricks sure to make for an eco-friendly Halloween. Where should we start?  I say we start with the pumpkin.

There are great free printable pumpkin carving templates available at www.ehow.com.  If it is a Wizard of Oz pumpkins you are after, you can go to www.wendyswizardofoz.com. No matter what design you choose here’s a great tip: rub cinnamon on the inside of the lid of the pumpkin (when using a candle) as it will make the area around the pumpkin smell of cinnamon. What better way to welcome trick-or-treaters or friends to your door on Halloween then with the inviting scent of cinnamon. Another helpful hint is to cut out the bottom of the pumpkin so you can simply place it over the candle or light of your choice.  That saves you from having to cut the top off and your pumpkin has an untouched look.

Now that we have carved our pumpkin, what do you do with the seeds? First off, there is an easy way of separating the “guts” from the seeds – simply soak them both in a bowl of water and the seeds will separate on their own. Want to make those seeds more interesting than just clean, wash, dry and toast with a little oil and salt?

Here are three links to recipes courtesy of Rachel Ray that are sure to kick those seeds up a notch:

1) a sweet and spicy pumpkin seed recipe that is like a candied version of the popular snack

2) a smoky chipotle pumpkin seed recipe

3) a curried pumpkin seed recipe

Remember these snacks are an eco-friendly alternative to packaged snacks and there is no waste because you are using everything from the pumpkin.  It all can be either consumed or composted.

When it comes to decorating for Halloween, I know it’s hard not to give in to allure of giant inflatables with flashing lights and other energy wasting decorations but please try.  A great way to have an eco-friendly Halloween is to make your own decorations.  If crafts are not your thing be cognizant try to buy decorations made of sustainable materials that can be reused and don’t consume excessive energy.

Most people throwaway the cotton they use for a home-made spider web after Halloween but it actually can be reused year after year.  Seeing as how reuse is one the big three R’s you know it’s an eco-friendly practice.

What’s left?  Ah yes, the costume.  Here are some interesting and easy costumes for you to make with stuff you may already have at your disposal:

1) First up we have one inspired by the musical The Sound of Music, more accurately the famous song  “Doe a Dear”.  Just wear all black then cut out a tear drop shape of yellow construction paper, pin it  to your shirt and you are Ray a drop of golden sun.

2) For an eco-friendly look you could pin candy bar wrappers (that you have collected from friends and family etc…) to yourself and you can be the Ghost of Halloween Past Waste. Wearing all white will help this look, but it is optional.

3) You could also go as mother nature.  Wear a long BOHO chic skirt and peasant blouse and get a flora wreath or stick flowers in your hear (Birkenstocks are optional).

4) Be a tree hugger…literally.  Get an old hoodie or other shirt and cut out armholes underneath the existing arms. Stuff the sleeves with newspaper (which you will recycle afterwards) cross the stuffed arms across the chest and sew to the shirt (it should look like hugging oneself). Then put some kind tree in crossed arms (it can be a sapling you will plant later or a fake tree branch etc.) and there you have it.

5) Get any old slip you have lying around the house and write “Freudian” on it and you can go as a Freudian Slip

Here is hoping you have an eco-friendly, safe and happy Halloween.  The Ecolectual will.