Orange and black might be the traditional colors of Halloween but why can’t a little green fall into the mix? Here are a few simple tips to help make this weekend’s Halloween festivities a shade greener:

- When it comes time to make a jack-o-lantern, find a locally grown and organic pumpkin to carve.

- Make costumes from what you find around the house. Recycle clothes from years past or head to the nearest second hand store and rummage around. Try to convince the kids to trade costumes from last year with their friends.

- If the creative juices aren’t flowing (or your kids aren’t trading), rent a costume rather than buy. But if you’re set on something new, at least make sure it’s made using earth-friendly materials and fair trade practices.

- Use recyclable batteries in all the flashlights that venture out on a trick or treat expedition.

- Skip the plastic pumpkin buckets and collect the trick or treat sweets in a recyclable tote bag, or even an old pillowcase, appropriately decorated of course!

- Consider eco-friendly treats for the trick or treaters who arrive at your door. Instead of candy corn and snickers bars, why not hand out raisin boxes or organic honey sticks?

- Tell all the neighbours that your house is a Haunted “green” House. When they ask what you mean (and they will), direct them to the Green Halloween website which explains the whys and hows of making Halloween an environmentally friendly holiday.

Looking  for ways to encourage your kids to be greener?  Then maybe the book Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children’s Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green can help.

Kids might not always listen to their parents, but they usually can be influenced, good or bad, by people they admire – athletes, celebrities, and writers of their favorite books, and that’s the premise behind this book. Each of the 100 authors writes a short essay about how they’re living greener.

Kids are going to love some of the green tips,  like the suggestion from David Lubar (“In the Land of the Lawn Weenies”) to leave grass clippings on the lawn instead of raking them up. And Jane Yolen’s (“Dragon’s Blood”) idea of eating leftovers for breakfast. Cold pizza, anyone?

Of course, they might not like all the tips, like the one from mystery writer Lois Duncan (“Killing Mr. Griffin”) who thinks that too many students drive to school and suggests they should ride the school bus instead. And that Anne Brasheres (“ËœSisters of the Traveling Pants’) thumbs her nose at car ownership.

Reading this book will have your kids (and you) soon looking the three R’s – reduce, recycle, reuse – in a whole new light.