My 2 Pollen Jock (from The Bee Movie)

Did you ever think about all the waste that goes into celebrating Halloween? When I found out that swapping half the costumes kids wear at Halloween would reduce annual landfill waste by 6,250 tons, I knew I had to do something to help educate my community. I found this amazing site called Celebrate Green and noticed all the wonderful eco-friendly choices they had for celebrating not only Halloween but all holidays.

Celebrate Green was started by the mother and daughter team Lynn and Corey, and now they are making it their mission to show parents and children that we can celebrate just as much without candy and material things as we did with them. Celebrate Green has grown into a wonderful yearly event called National Costume Swap Day, a partnership of Green Halloween, Swap.com and Kiwi magazine, launched in 2010 which is celebrated every year on October 8th.

 Costume swaps not only mean less resources are used to make new product, it also means less packaging, less transportation of the product and less waste (from products being trashed as they sadly often are!). It’s incredibly exciting to be involved in Green Halloween and through it, to help bring my community together.

I am overjoyed to be working again this year with Jessica from Delco PA Moms and the Swarthmore Community Center on our 2nd Annual Costume Swap in the Philadelphia area. We’re also hoping that this initiative will support a larger goal--to create affordable and accessible ways to bridge commerce and environmentalism during traditionally un-eco-friendly holidays. With time, we expect that the ideas we generate will inspire parents to create green traditions during all holidays from birthdays to Christmas. Halloween is just the beginning. In addition to educating parents on the benefits of reducing and reusing we are also giving back to one of our favorite local charities. All leftover costumes will be donated along with any dropped off items to the children supported by Cradles to Crayons.

 Philadelphia Area MNO Costume Swap EventWe hope that Green Halloween® will inspire YOU to think outside the candy-box®. Green Halloween is dedicated to offering fun, healthy, affordable, not-too-time consuming ideas that will support your goal of creating a Halloween that is happy and healthy for your kids and the planet we all share. In addition to launching Green Halloween, Lynn and Corey founded The Green Year™, LLC and authored Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family.