
Artfully grotesque
Everything is happening today. Pay day, CTWW, day off, supermarket day, pay bills day so it’s going to be full on. All this takes a whole day, mainly because of the 45km (30 mile) trip to Barra and then back again. But I will console myself with a leisurely sushi lunch while there, so all is not lost.
It’s Hallowe’en month. Here in Brazil we don’t do Hallowe’en, neither did we in New Zealand when I was a kid. I actually had my first taste of this event in Peru when I lived there, the Peruvians have taken to it a little.
That’s what Change the World Wednesday is all about this week, Hallowe’en:
If you don’t celebrate Halloween, please offer us some ideas for Eco-friendly snacks and entertaining.
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Pumpkin guts
I am going to address the green bit and the purple bit, even though I don’t do Hallowe’en. Do you do a pumpkin for Hallowe’en? Is it as artfully grotesque as the one above or a little simpler? When your pumpkin has met its demise, you are left with ‘pumpkin guts’
So what do you do with pumpkin guts?
Don’t try to put them down the disposal, the fibres are strong and will clog it; you could throw them on the compost heap and be prepared for pumpkin vines growing everywhere, or you could do this:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:
(Source: http://www.allrecipes.com)

Crunchy roast pumpkin seed
1. Rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. This is easiest just after you’ve removed the seeds from the pumpkin, before the pulp has dried.
2. Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat.
3. Sprinkle with salt (or try cayenne pepper or garlic salt) and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until toasted, about 25 minutes. Check and stir after 10 minutes.
4. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
Think green!
Remember, pumpkins are food for us and animals. Try to limit your pumpkin to one Jack o’ Lantern per house. The aftermath of Hallowe’en sees millions of pumpkins thrown in the garbage or compost, while they rot and make nice compost, it is an incredible waste.
Green Trick or Treat!

Food colouring
Yes, no Hallowe’en is complete without it. But all that candy, all that colouring, you know that food colouring is one of the biggest enemies we have in our diets of our kids, right. Try to find eco or natural candy, it’s out there if you look. Or make your own, do some googling for some ideas and recipes. Make your own glacé (crystal) fruit pieces (candied fruit). Oh, sound too hard? Google it, you’ll be surprised at how simple it is.
Use recyclable bags (paper sacks), try to avoid individually wrapped candies.
Green Decorations

Going batty
Get some black card, cut out various size bats, make little yellow eyes, stick them on the front of the house, windows, around the front door or make a mobile to hand from the ceiling. Get the kids to do it, sure theyll make a mess and have a ball.
Use autumn (fall) leaves as a base for other decorations and ideas.
There are so many simple ideas that you can use, even a dead branch can look spooky if places strategically.
Candy sacks
The imagination needs to work overtime. How long does it take to cut a few paper sacks to make things a little more presentable.
Bloody hand prints on the door, but make sure it’s washable, you don’t want the new neighbours to be wary the year round.
That’s it from me, have a great CTWW and a terrific Green Hallowe’en.
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Posted by Gaby @ Green Baby DS Blog on October 5, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Ugh… Halloween is such a non-green holiday. You guys are killing me. I just bought 2 pumpkins to put on my doorstep. They aren’t carved, but I’m sure the seeds won’t be good after sitting for a month in that heat. Or will they??
I am off to brainstorm green Halloween ideas.
Here are some other decoration ideas: Take some dried branches from your fall pruning, spray paint them black, and put in vases around your house. If you do paper cutouts for decorations, paint newspaper or cut out pieces from the cardboard in your recycling bin and paint that. We recently made a wreath from our Sam Adams Oktoberfest box. I didn’t even want to cover up the design because it was so fall-like and pretty!
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Posted by argentumvulgaris on October 5, 2011 at 10:46 pm
@Gaby, I shouldn’t think it will bother the pumpkins that much as long as they haven’t been opened. You are right, there are so many little ideas that can make a good Hallowe’en cheaply.
AV
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Posted by smallftprints on October 5, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Great ideas! I love roasted pumpkin seeds. 🙂 I’ve stopped participating in Halloween. It’s not that I don’t want children to have fun or that I would begrudge them some treats. But I just can’t justify all the waste … and food ingredients that I, myself, would never ingest. Yes, I could make some healthy treat to give out but … parents, here, have been cautioned about letting their children eat anything which isn’t hermetically sealed by a candy company … the story is that there are some evil people out there, putting dangerous things in homemade treats that harm kids. I just wonder who started that rumor because, in truth, I’ve never personally come across anyone who had trouble. Some of the other ideas popping up for Autumn celebrations are far more appealing (in my opinion).
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Posted by argentumvulgaris on October 5, 2011 at 10:51 pm
@SF, it’s something I have never had to worry about; so I am really talking from the sidelines. Personally, I think some parents panic; what you say about not eating anything unless it is sealed, smacks to me like terrorism scare tactics. I like the idea of shucking Hallowe’en, get rid of the commercialism and get back to grass roots Samhain celebrating the seasons; makes more sense to me. Thanks for the tweets and stuff, appreciated.
AV
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Posted by Mrs Green @ littlegreenblog.com on October 8, 2011 at 5:19 am
SF, your comment is really sad about parents only ‘trusting’ sealed food. I can understand it, but what a reflection on our society.
Loving your roasted pumpkin seeds AV; thanks for that. I feel inspired. Maybe I’ll bring back apple bobbing. oh but wait – all those GERMS 😉
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Posted by argentumvulgaris on October 8, 2011 at 4:23 pm
@Mrs Green, I agree, it is a very sad indictment on our society. As for the bobbing apples… ah put some disinfectant in the water. LOL
I forgot to mention, even if you didn’t like roast pumpkin seeds, put them out for the birds, they love them.
AV
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