WE ARE all allowed to unleash a little bit of our dark side on Halloween but you might be surprised to learn that it’s a time that encourages ‘green’ thinking too.
All Hallows’ Eve, Halloween or Halloween is actually the perfect time to celebrate our planet. Celebrated on October 31, its origins lie in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when the harvest was in and the nights were dark.
Naturally, thoughts turned to what winter represented – sleep, hibernation, death and the long wait for the spring reawakening.
We see Halloween as a time for fun, but to our ancestors it was the night when the dead returned to cause chaos, hence the use of bonfires to keep evil spirits away and masks to trick them into believing you were one of their own.
After the Great Famine and desperate poverty drove tens of thousands across the Atlantic in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States adopted Halloween as one of its favourite festivals.
In true American-style, Halloween became centred around commercialism and consumerism, and that trend has made its way back to us. But this could be the Halloween where we all make a difference!
During my research, I found that the WWF have some great tips for being Earth-friendly during Halloween, including turning old nylon tights/stockings into spider web and painting the foam peanuts, usually used for packing, to transform them into worms. You can also transform old branches from the garden into spooky arms with a bit of luminous paint, cardboard boxes into gravestones with some grey paint and old dolls into evil dolls.
Forget about buying generic costumes that are likely to tear by the end of the night and may not even meet fire safety standards. We’re planning to transform our daughter Ava (10) into Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations this year, using a cream lace dress her aunt paid €3.50 in a charity shop in Cork city. At that price, she can cut it, paint it and put as many spiders as she wants on it. Add a bit of luminous face paint and some old fake flowers as a bouquet and she’ll be one-of-a-kind!
You can rummage in your wardrobe, swap clothes with friends and transform yourself into a Zombie, scarecrow or pirate using scissors and a bit of imagination. You’ll be unique and your costume can be put in storage for another year or swapped with a friend.
If you’re planning to have a party, look out for locally produced food, or at the very least support farmers and manufacturers within Ireland. If you find that you have to buy products from abroad then spend a little time finding items that support Fairtrade farmers.
Reduce waste by avoiding disposable cups, plates and cutlery. And after the party’s over and the clean-up begins, don’t forget to recycle or compost as much waste as possible.
If you’re a parent or guardian and the kids want to go Trick-or-Treating see if you can find bags or containers that are reusable. The plain cream-colour cotton shopping bags you sometimes find in supermarkets can be transformed with fabric markers and paints.
It’s a good way to get children’s imaginations working by tapping into their creativity on a rainy afternoon. And I can almost guarantee that it’ll inspire them to come up with other great ideas.
Everyone loves a pumpkin, so try and find one that’s locally grown or you can even try and grow them yourself. I’ll confess that my past efforts have not been successful.
Don’t throw away the inside of the pumpkin – every bit can be used.
The flesh can be chopped up and fried with some onion before adding vegetable stock and double cream (you can also add ginger for an extra kick). Blitz it in the blender and you’ve got a seasonal soup that’s scrumptious.
Collect the pumpkin seeds, put in a hot pan until roasted and then mix with some sweet or salty seasonings, depending on your taste. Put on a scary movie and enjoy your snack! There are lots more recipes online.
Finally, when Halloween ends, save as many of the decorations and costumes as possible in storage for next year – that’s what dusty attics are made for.
Happy Halloween!
