Dr. Karen Bell

Keep Liberty Beautiful

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year because it brings families, friends, and neighbors together for a little fun, creativity, and, of course, plenty of treats! From decorating our homes and carving pumpkins to dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating, there are so many ways to enjoy this special holiday.

But have you ever thought about how we can make Halloween a little greener? KLB believes that small changes can make a big difference, and Halloween is a wonderful opportunity to put those ideas into practice.

Going green does not mean giving up the fun of Halloween. It simply means being a little more thoughtful about the choices we make. We can enjoy our traditions, make wonderful memories, and still take steps to reduce waste and protect the environment we all share.

Here are some easy ways to make your Halloween celebrations more environmentally friendly:

• Choose a creative, reusable costume. Halloween costumes can be expensive, and many people wear them only once before tossing them aside. Before buying a new costume, look in your closet, check local thrift stores, or organize a costume swap with friends and family. You may already have everything you need to create a fun and original costume.
• Old clothes, cardboard boxes, fabric scraps, and other household items can become the foundation for a creative costume. If you do buy a new costume, choose one you can reuse for dressup, school activities, or next year’s Halloween.
• You do not have to buy new decorations every year to make your home festive. Reuse decorations from previous Halloweens, or get creative with natural materials such as pumpkins, leaves, pinecones, and branches. Cardboard, paper, and other reusable household materials can also become spooky decorations with a little imagination.
• When decorating outdoors, avoid placing lightweight items where wind or rain can carry them into streets, storm drains, and waterways.

Remember, anything that washes into a storm drain can contribute to local pollution.

• Reusable trick-ortreat bags are a simple way to cut down on waste. A sturdy tote bag, pillowcase, or reusable bucket can carry plenty of candy and last for many Halloweens to come.
• When buying Halloween treats, consider purchasing the quantities you realistically expect to need. When practical, choose products with less unnecessary packaging, and recycle eligible cardboard boxes and other accepted materials after removing the treats.

Recycling works best when we understand what can and cannot go into our recycling containers.

Putting the wrong materials in the bin can contaminate an entire load.

Taking a few moments to sort our waste correctly helps make our recycling efforts more effective.

Pumpkins are a Halloween favorite, but they do not have to become waste after the holiday. If they are fresh, unpainted, and haven’t been treated with materials unsuitable for food use, consider using your pumpkins for cooking. Remember to Keep Liberty County Beautiful after Halloween. After the celebrations, take a few minutes to walk around your yard and neighborhood to pick up litter. Collect discarded candy wrappers, check for loose decorations, and make sure trash is in the right containers. If you host a party, provide clearly labeled trash and recycling bins so guests know where to put their waste.

I encourage everyone to remember that caring for our environment is a community effort.

Every wrapper we pick up, every decoration we reuse, and every item we recycle correctly is a small step toward a cleaner, healthier community.

At Keep Liberty Beautiful, we know that when individuals, families, schools, businesses, and community organizations work together, those small steps can create a lasting impact.

Halloween should be a time for laughter, imagination, and making memories with the people we love. By reusing costumes, reducing packaging, conserving energy, walking when possible, and disposing of waste responsibly, we can enjoy all the excitement of trickor- treating while being kinder to our planet.

This Halloween, let’s make it a little less frightening for our environment and a lot more beautiful for Liberty County!

For more information about Keep Liberty Beautiful programs, volunteer opportunities, recycling, and ways to help protect our local environment, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at (912) 8804888, email klcb@libertycountyga. gov, or visit www.keeplibertybeautiful. org.

Have a safe, happy, and green Halloween!