Making DIY costumes and bags for Halloween can help save money during the expensive holiday season. One great way to do this is by making costumes with upcycled or recycled materials – this eliminates the expenses involved with buying new items and also the eliminates the chances of running into someone else with the same store-bough costume! TerraCycle, a recycling and upcycling company, has a DIY costume and candy bag that can be created easily from items around the house.

For the socially conscious parents who still want to take their cute little tyke out into the beautiful October evening in their adorable cowboy or octopus costume, we’ve got a few ideas. Two great tips come from the Utne Reader archives: fair trade chocolate (don’t support child slave laborers on the Ivory Coast) and eco-friendly costumes (farewell, toxic vinyl). And here’s a new tip from Tina Hay at The Penn Stater (Oct 20, 2011): You can recycle all those mini plastic candy wrappers and even the bags they come in. Turns out a company called TerraCycle in New Jersey sponsors a Candy Wrapper Brigade to collect these items that typically land in the trash. As Hay explains: “TerraCycle specializes in stuff that’s otherwise hard to recycle: They have a Chip Bag Brigade, a Yogurt Container Brigade, a Cork Brigade, a Drink Pouch Brigade … you get the idea.”

For the socially conscious parents who still want to take their cute little tyke out into the beautiful October evening in their adorable cowboy or octopus costume, we’ve got a few ideas. Two great tips come from the Utne Reader archives: fair trade chocolate (don’t support child slave laborers on the Ivory Coast) and eco-friendly costumes (farewell, toxic vinyl). And here’s a new tip from Tina Hay at The Penn Stater (Oct 20, 2011): You can recycle all those mini plastic candy wrappers and even the bags they come in. Turns out a company called TerraCycle in New Jersey sponsors a Candy Wrapper Brigade to collect these items that typically land in the trash. As Hay explains: “TerraCycle specializes in stuff that’s otherwise hard to recycle: They have a Chip Bag Brigade, a Yogurt Container Brigade, a Cork Brigade, a Drink Pouch Brigade … you get the idea.”

While it’s probably less likely to think of the candy itself actually getting “wasted,” the wrappers and candy bags do pile up as massive waste. Consider the fact that, according to Nielsen.com, we Americans buy approximately 598 million pounds of candy (that’s about $1.9 billion dollars). That’s a heck of a lot of plastic wrap and wrappers, not to mention that all of that candy ends up in trucks hauling it cross-country to be sold in supermarkets. There’s a huge carbon footprint connected with the delivery alone. So, what can you do here? For starters, you can opt for locally produced or your own homemade treats. Though, be wary, there can be issues with handing out foodie items that are not food safety inspected and improved. The safest, smartest option to satisfy trick-or-treaters is to offer fun, sustainably made non-food treats like stickers, pencils made from recycled denim, handmade bracelets, hand-carved small tops, etc. And, if you are stuck with a whole bunch of candy wrappers or want to be the one to collect them, you can send them off to the Candy Wrapper Brigade, an awesome movement of Terracycle to recycle them and make fun stuff like backpacks and purses. Not only do you help cut down on waste, for every wrapper you send in, you can donate 2 cents to a non-profit of your choice.

It’s October which means I better get my daughter focused on her Halloween costume. Then, there’s the big debate over which candy to hand out. I’m a nougat fan! My husband will take anything with coconut. And, my daughter is a crispy chocolate lover. What if this Halloween, we give as much attention to the candy wrappers as the candy or the costumes? Thanks to a cool company called Terracycle, you can turn our Halloween candy wrappers into a fundraiser for your kid’s school or a charitable organization. Or, you can coordinate a family and friends activity where you donate your wrappers as part of a recycling effort.