Halloween is fast approaching, but scroll forward to November 1 the morning after.The garbage cans are stuffed with plastic treat bags, deflated latex balloons, soda cans and discarded Halloween knick knacks. There is also likely to be a trail of plastic and foil candy wrappers leading down the street.Celebrating Halloween is fun, but the environmental impact can be frightful. Here are ten ideas for greening up your Halloween. Most of them also turn out to be money-saving tips.1. Let’s face it, by next year your child is probably not going to fit into that peacock or super hero costume. And even if they do, they’ll probably be bored of it. Either a couple of days before Halloween or a couple of days after (in anticipation of next year), arrange a costume exchange with your friends. If you have toddlers and pre-schoolers these costumes can be a great way to keep them occupied on play dates throughout the year. You can also use a little creativity and shop at charity thrift stores to put together unique costumes.2. Use reusable green bags from the supermarket or old pillow cases as trick or treat bags. Make sure you wash your bags first though as you wouldn’t want candy to become contaminated by any drippings from food left over from grocery day.3. Recycle old jars to make Halloween decorations. Use orange paint to lightly coat the jar. Let it dry. Then paint with a black spider or white ghost on the front. Set a candle in the jar in a safe location and light. It makes for a deliciously ghostly decoration. Make sure however, that the lit candle is out of reach of small children.4. Walk with your children from house to house rather than wasting gas. It’s a great way to burn off some of that candy high. If houses are far apart in your neighbourhood, maybe drive to a place that is more highly populated.5. Make your own treats to hand out rather than handing out store-bought confections that are wrapped and often double-wrapped in plastic and foil.6. If you have a party encourage everyone to bring their own reusable plates and cutlery. This cuts down on a lot of garbage and also saves you from having to spend money. And because your guests take them back home, you don’t necessarily have to wash up either. They do this for special events in some schools. There’s some grumbling initially, but people adjust. You can always keep a few plates, knives and forks on hand for party guests who forget, didn’t get the message, or who stubbornly refuse to bring their own.7. Halloween often involves a lot of biodegradable material, weird shaped gourds, pumpkins for carving, straw for scarecrow decorations. After the holiday is over, throw it all in the compost heap.8. Think carefully and research what you put in your shopping cart. There’s a big push this season to encourage people to buy chocolate with “fair trade” on the label. According to the website greenamerica.org, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund claims that 200,000 children in West Africa work under forced labour conditions on cocoa farms. The American government is currently being sued by the International Labor Rights Fund for failing to enforce laws prohibiting the import of products made with child labour, and the chocolate industry has blown by numerous deadlines set in negotiations with Congress for self-regulations.9. Consider handing out treasures instead of treats, such as little containers of Play-Doh, beads, pencils, crayons or stickers. Just make sure the children (and their parents) understand that what you are handing them is not edible, because candy sometimes comes in the very realistic shape of common objects such as Lego blocks. It can be very confusing for an unsuspecting child.10. Buy organic pumpkins and gourds, and use every part of them. Don’t let those seeds go to waste. They’re delicious roasted, or you can simply allow them to dry and leave them out for birds to eat.Useful website: www.greenhalloween.org .