Halloween, while a seemingly innocent holiday, can nonetheless be a wasteful endeavor. Nobody wants to wear the same costume every single year, and so brand new extravagant outfits find their way in the trash or in the bottom of a closet to never be used again. But there are ways to plan for this coming Halloween without being so wasteful. Here are some ideas for costumes that are easy to put together and can be made from everyday things.

1. Wear the Same Costume Every Year – Yeah, I know we just established that’s exactly what you don’t want to do, but is it really such a bad idea? Here’s what I propose. The same costume isn’t really going to wrinkle the noses of even your snobbiest friends if you use it two years in a row, and after that you can change it up by spending Halloween at a different location. Use it as a reason to party with someone else – new crowd; new costume.

2. Trade With Friends – Call a few friends that don’t live near you or hang out with different groups of people and swap costumes every year. This is great for parents who don’t want to buy the kids something new every year. How about hosting a costume swap a week or two before Halloween?

3. Dress Up Like the Opposite Sex – This is a classic costume for those with a sense of humor, and it is always good for lots of laughs, especially for those masculine guys. Everyone has friends and family they can borrow from to put their costume together.

4. Dress Out of Context – The funniest outfits are often the ones that are a complete change from your usual style. Some examples include the city boy dressing up as a cowboy, the business man dressing up like a thug, the clean freak showing up with their hair messed up and food plastered across their shirt. Dress like you’re living in a different era. It can be simple, but in a tight circle of friends it is good for laughs.

5. Make Your Own Costume – Besides just changing up your wardrobe, if you are crafty, you can make your own costume. Kids will really enjoy doing this; it gives them a chance to use their imagination. Pick up a book at a crafts store or do some research online to get tips and techniques (http://www.robinsfyi.com/holidays/halloween/costumes.htm). Everyday household items can easily be used to put something together.

6. Get Creative With Makeup – The first thing everyone sees is your face, and thus it is quite easy to make a costume using just makeup. Even a fake gash across your forehead is enough. You can just wear your same clothes or wear an old, torn shirt to make it look like you’ve had a rough night. For other makeup uses, just use the makeup you already have in your home instead of buying something just for the purpose.

7. A Different Kind of Costume Party – Get your friends into the minimalist mindset by having a costume party where the theme is homemade costumes. Encourage everyone to recycle old clothing and household materials to get creative, and have some kind of prize for best costume.

8. Recycle Your Costume – If you do have a store purchased costume, don?t ever just toss it away, and resist the temptation to stuff it in a closet for “later” only to never see it again. Instead, help other people to resist materialism by giving it out to someone else looking to save some money or reduce their impact. If no one needs it, bring it to a thrift store.

With a little creativity, Halloween doesn’t have to be just another reason to express our consumerism. This is one of my favorite holidays because of everyone?s willingness to lighten up and make a fool of themselves. But that doesn’t have to mean waste. Put some thought into things and decide if one night a year is really worth the materials and money. Like any day of the year, the answer is all in using your head.

A few weeks ago my mom and I set out to find me a new winter coat. I had donated 2 coats to charity at the end of last winter in an effort to force myself to buy a new coat before it got cold this fall. Thinking that it’d be easy enough to find a reasonably priced, attractive and eco-friendly garment at Macy’s, my mom and I set out to the mall with high hopes of finding something quickly and with little effort.

The mall was a bad idea (isn’t it always…) – the coats were all overpriced ($400 – $700 for “brand name” wool overcoats manufactured in countries like Bangladesh and China), unflattering and ugly, and poorly made. After trying on 2 or 3, I knew my new coat wasn’t at Macy’s, but I noticed something else as well… the coats all smelled like formaldehyde! Yeah – no. My mom and I were out of there as soon as we both realized what the smell was, and we both realized the need to stop supporting companies that don’t manufacture sustainable goods.

From our horrible experience at Macy’s, my mom and I headed over to REI – I had wanted an overcoat but decided to go with a ski coat instead. My new North Face jacket was designed in a LEED-Certified building that’s powered by 100% renewable energy, and sold by a cooperatively-owned company that takes environmental concerns into consideration when buying products and working with vendors. In an effort to help others out there who may be looking for outwear and winter gear, I’ve compiled a list of eco-committed companies who make great coats that DON’T smell like formaldehyde when they’re unpacked and tried on.

Patagonia - Patagonia’s commitment to the environment is evident when you visit their home page – instead of having an environmental policy that’s buried in the “About Us” section of the site, Patagonia advertises their environmental policies in the site’s navigation bar, and directs users to learn more about how their company is “leading the examined life.”

Patagonia has developed an online tool that I’ve been searching for, but had yet to find until I checked out the company’s environmental policies. Dubbed the “Footprint Chronicles,” Patagonia has built an interactive site where you can track the environmental impact of Patagonia products – from design through delivery. I have always wanted to know the carbon footprint of bumper stickers and t-shirts, and while I can’t track the exact carbon footprint of a “Visualize Whirled Peas” bumper sticker, I can track the movement of Patagonia t-shirts and know that each one produces 3.5 pounds of CO_2. In addition to tracking their products as they move across the world, Patagonia includes commentary on each of the products they track, and points out the positive and negative impacts generated by each item.

In researching all kinds of companies and looking over their eco-policies, I would have to say that Patagonia ranks pretty high in terms of their commitment and actions related to reducing their environmental impact. Look for shoes, clothing, outwear, and backpacks on their site and feel confident that Patagonia is looking out for the Earth and spending their profits wisely.

REI - OK, before I get started with REI, let me just disclose that I am a partial owner of the company, and have been since about 1990. REI is a cooperatively run company, and members are invited to vote on the Board of Directors (who are responsible for the overall direction of the affairs and the performance of REI), examine the company’s financial statements, and share in company profits in the form of annual dividends.

With that said, I can honestly say I feel good about the fact that I’ve held an REI membership for so long – the company is committed to environmental stewardship and gives serious thought to how they manufacture, source, package, distribute and sell their products. REI has developed a strategic focus in planning for the future, and in doing so has identified 5 environmental-+ priorities in which they want to create change: greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, green building, paper sourcing, reducing waste and recycling, and responsible product stewardship. You can read the company’s Environmental Stewardship Report to learn exactly how REI is cutting their greenhouse gas emissions, reducing their reliance on paper, eliminating waste, building greener retail facilities, and designing ecoSensitive gear.

In terms of immediate benefits to consumers, REI has started the ecoSensitive Label – clothing and gear made using eco-friendly fabrics and materials that include bamboo, organic cotton, organic wool, Polylactic acid (PLA) – a biodegradable and recyclable polymer, recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – an easily reclaimed and re-purposed recyclable type of plastic, as well as post-industrial recycled polyester from Polartec.

The North Face - A dedicated ski gear company, The North Face is named after the coldest side of a mountain, and sells clothing designed to keep people warm in the coldest of places. As with much of what the company does, The North Face approaches sustainability as a journey, and has been developing and tweaking their technologies over time to create the most sustainable products possible.

With LEED-Certified headquarters in Quebec, and renewable energy powering their North American operations, The North Face has identified 4 key areas where they are committed to focusing their eco-energies: the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; the design of innovative and sustainable products; the elimination of waste in operations; and the encouragement of employees and customers to “Live the Brand” (I am not sure what this means, but I am guessing it is related to volunteering and giving back to the community/the environment in the name of North Face).

While I found plenty of information about the technologies The North Face uses in designing their products, the R&D section of their site didn’t specifically call out any environmental benefits realized by these practices. From looking over the corporate website, I get the impression that they don’t have anyone updating the environmental policies being put into place by the company – their page on sustainability was last updated in May, and while I know that my coat has tags explaining the various eco-policies used in its design, there was nothing like that on the site. If you’re looking for the warmest gear around, check out North Face products and don’t be shy about asking sales people or telephone representatives to explain the eco-benefits of your purchase.

Marmot – Founded in 1974 by UCSC grad students working in Alaska, Marmot is a premiere manufacturer of clothing, outerwear, tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and other outdoor gear for men, women and children. With a Code of Ethics to outline their sustainability practices, Marmot has built eco-practices into the foundation of how the company does business. The Marmot Code of Ethics applies to “every employee, executive officer, agent, representative, consultant, and intern of Marmot Mountain LLC, and…directs the conduct between any employee and our customers, distributors, competitors, vendors, and contractors.”

In defining their goal of reducing their negative impact on the environment and creating a company that will be sustainable for years to come, Marmot has declared a corporate ethic that seems to guide how the company makes business decisions, designs products and selects vendors and partners with whom they will work. You can also read about the small steps the company (and their employees) is taking to clean up the planet and do their part for the environment.

Many products produced by Marmot (and the other companies listed here) are made from GORE-TEX fabrics; if you want to learn more about the environmental stewardship of GORE-TEX Fabrics, you check out the W.L. Gore & Associates Environmental Statement.

You can find other gear companies that are doing their part below:

Keen Footwear – Learn about how Keen is rethinking their product design on their Hybrid.Think page.

Columbia Sportswear – Find out how Columbia gives back to environmental organizations.

Timberland – Read about New Hampshire-based Timberland’s Environmental Stewardship.

Mountain Hardware – Learn how Mountain Hardware is funding eco-organizations.

Merrell - See which eco-based companies Merrell has been supporting.

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