Halloween is fun for the young and the young at heart.

Unfortunately, some of what we do on this popular holiday ends up causing a fair amount of waste.

Here are some tips and (harmless!) tricks that will help you reduce your environmental impact while still having fun:

• Instead of handing out candy in little plastic bags, use your hands to distribute treats or put the candy into fabric bags made of used clothing.
• Find your costumes and decorations at one of Montreal’s many second-hand stores (Salvation Army, Renaissance, Value Village and independent consignment and vintage stores).
• Use pumpkin seeds and pumpkin flesh in cooking.
• After Halloween, compost your jack-o’-lantern in your composter, if you have one, or through your municipal composting program.
• Make your own makeup that is non-toxic (unlike most store-bought products).

RECIPE IDEAS

Homemade Halloween makeup

1/4 cup of corn starch
2 tbs of water
2 tbs of cold hydrating cream
food coloring
5 drops of liquid dish soap

• Mix all of the ingredients except the food coloring and separate the mixture in small portions (in an egg container for example), so you can create different colours.
• Add 2 or 3 drops of coloring to each portion.
• Make sure the skin is freshly cleaned and well dryed before applying the cream makeup. Finally, it can be cleaned with water and soap.

Roasted pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of iron, potassium, zinc and other minerals. When properly prepared, they are delicious! Here is a recipe for pumpkin seeds as an appetizer or snack.

• Heat your oven to 350 °F.
• Scoop out the pumpkin’s insides, then separate the seeds from the pulp.
• In a colander, rinse the seeds well, making sure to wash off all the pulp.
• Thoroughly pat the seeds dry in a dish towel.
• Put the seeds into a bowl, drizzle lightly with olive oil, add a pinch of salt and mix well.
• Spread the mixture evenly onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the seeds and keep baking until they are lightly browned.