(Oneida, Herkimer Counties, NY \u2013 Oct. 2014) Halloween is upon us and it\u2019s easier than ever to go green on Halloween. According to the National Retail Federation, 158 million Americans will participate in Halloween activities and will spend nearly $6.9 billion on Halloween costumes, decorations and candy this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority offers tips to \u201cgreen\u201d your Halloween in order to benefit the environment and your wallet,\u201d stated Jamie Tuttle, Authority Recycling Coordinator.<\/p>\n
Get creative with decorations.\u00a0Use natural Halloween decorations like gourds, pumpkins and corn stalks \u2013 they can be composted when you\u2019re through with them! Turn recycled paper into window decorations like spiders, pumpkins or witch hats. Paint grocery bags Halloween white for ghostly effects, or make a graveyard scene with paper tombstones and spooky trees. After Halloween, send your paper decorations on for recycling.<\/p>\n
Make your own costume.\u00a0Halloween wouldn\u2019t be the same without a costume. Skip the racks of expensive, plastic costumes and come up with creative ideas for homemade costumes and win your costume contest! If you have no sewing skills or anything costume-worthy in your closet, check out secondhand stores or host a costume swap with friends.<\/p>\n
Collect your loot in reusable bags.\u00a0Instead of wasting money on plastic pumpkins and plastic Halloween bags, use old pillowcases or reusable shopping bags for trick-or-treating. You can even make them festive by decorating them to match your costume!<\/p>\n
Stay local and walk instead of drive.\u00a0Stick close to home this Halloween and walk to help reduce air pollution and fuel use. It\u2019s also a great way to connect with the neighbors and get some exercise as well!<\/p>\n
Compost your pumpkins.\u00a0You can add pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks to your compost pile! If you do not compost at home, Halloween is a great time to start. If you live in a community where green yard waste is collected, place your pumpkins to the curb to be collected for composting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaste reduction and recycling is the easiest way to help the environment. With a little creativity and mindfulness, we can make the holiday season less wasteful. Reducing the amount of waste we create will conserve our region\u2019s landfill space, natural resources and energy.\u201d continued Tuttle.<\/p>\n
For more information on how to \u201cgreen\u201d your Halloween, please visit the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority\u2019s Facebook page \u2013 \u201cOneida Herkimer Solid Waste Authority\u201d. For solid waste and recycling questions or for more information on the Authority\u2019s other programs, please visit\u00a0www.ohswa.org<\/a>\u00a0or call 733-1224.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Oneida, Herkimer Counties, NY \u2013 Oct. 2014) Halloween is upon us and it\u2019s easier than ever to go green on Halloween. According to the National Retail Federation, 158 million Americans will participate in Halloween activities and will spend nearly $6.9 billion on Halloween costumes, decorations and candy this year. \u201cThe Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority offers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22341],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-regional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}