If you hadn’t heard the incredible buzz (including on Good Morning America!), the first-ever National Costume Swap Day is already a wild success.

With more than 65 registered costume swaps in the U.S. and Canada, there’s a lot of money and landfill space to be saved this year. Plus, swapping costumes is FUN!

Find a swap near you by clicking here.

Hosting a swap? Here are the how to.

Are you planning on attending a costume swap ?

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

A recent survey released from National Retail Federation shows that Halloween spending this year is expected to experience a noticeable increase from last years sales data. To retailers, this is encouraging since it shows people are still in a festive mood for holidays and are willing to celebrate despite the economic climate.

However, the report also shows a strong interest in spending less and making use of already owned costumes and dECOr. These options translate into a 3R Halloween: reducing, reusing and recycling. Of course, in our opinion, this is the good news!

Below is an excerpt from the NRF report:

“While spending is expected to increase, three out of 10 (30.1%) consumers say the state of the U.S. economy will still impact their Halloween plans, with most of those respondents citing they would spend less overall (86.8%). Others say they will be buying less candy (45.1%), using last year’s decorations and not buying new ones (30.7%), using last year’s costume (18.5%) or making a costume (19.5%). Some plan to cut back on traditional activities such as visiting a haunted house (22.3%).”

The survey also shows record interest dressing up for Halloween (including pets!). So wherever you live, be sure to check out the registry of free costume swaps on the National Costume Swap Day website. Your family can walk away with new-to-you costumes without spending a dime. A win-win for people and planet (and a few pets).

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

[Via: ZippyCart.com: The Best Ecommerce Software Reviewed]
View Larger Image and Get the Embed Code to Add This Infographic to Your Site

Who doesn’t love infographs? Especially infographs on our favorite holiday! We hoped some information were as eye-opening to you as it was to us. Here are some additional information/commentary that we’ve gathered here after reading this graph and combining the stats from our very own GH powerpoint:

Approximately 598 million pounds of candy is sold each year during the Halloween season which accounts for a total of $1.52 billion in sales! That’s a lot of candy AND money! What’s more exciting is over the past 5 years, organic and all-natural products have experienced an increase in sales (between 18% to 25%) year after year even with the downturn of the economy. With an influx of consumer interest in Green Halloween, we know that more moms are making more greener and healthier choices for their families and that mentality carries over to holidays as well. Keep up the good work ladies!

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Laura from www.kimswhims.net has kindly agreed to do a guest post on the Green Halloween blog about Swap It:

Swap It, is a new page I started on Face book for the sole purpose of swapping handmade crafts. There are so many wonderful crafters and artists there. This is a great way to exchange ideas and to own a variety of handmade art. Artists work with a variety of materials, clay, paint, wood but most use fabric.

We are just finishing up a witch swap. What a wonderful variety of witches. Some are painted, sewn, ornies, dolls, and shoes anything witchy works!  Gather your FB friends, neighbors, sewing group and start your own swap. Always be patient! We never know if a computer crashed, or if someone fell ill. Please don’t jump to conclusions, stay positive and have fun then your swaps will be successful.

Swap it is open to anyone in the US and Canada. If you are not a crafter you can certainly purchase a handmade item to swap. We usually have about a week to sign up and then I pull names out of a hat to pair up partners. Once you have a partner the two of you will decide on a dollar value. Partners will also ask each other if they have a color preference or any other preferences that may pertain to that particular swap. Most swaps then take 2 -4 weeks to complete. Partners need to communicate if a swap is going to take longer we just need to drop a quick e mail or FB message to let that person know when they are running late. I always encourage swappers to let each other know when they shipped with an expected delivery date, this way they know to watch the mail.

We post photos on Swap It’s home page. We all enjoy seeing each other’s swaps. As a crafter and designer I really enjoy seeing the variety of creative items. The people I have swapped with and met have been very wonderful. Everyone is pleasant and easy to work with. Come visit Swap It on Face book and post a note and say hello. Join in any swap. We would love to meet you.

Swap It’s page on Facebook

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Do you have a sweet tooth for justice and activism? Then perhaps you will take delight in knowing that trick-or-treaters of all ages in the US can give Fair Trade chocolate attached to an informational card back to adults in their neighborhoods as a mass action to educate the public about how Fair Trade can ameliorate poverty, child slavery/abusive child labor, and environmental degradation in the cocoa fields. Last year, tens of thousands of groups of children reached over a quarter million households in a single night… and you are invited to help make the Fourth Annual Reverse Trick-or-Treating a continued success!

Individual families, schools, congregations, and youth organizations can request kits online through www.reversetrickortreating.org.

DATES TO REQUEST KITS:

Individuals:  September 1-October 8

Organizations:  October 1-8

You can also download a free pdf of our informational flyers or cards from our website and distribute them on Halloween to help us reach tens of thousands of additional households.

We are also challenging households nationwide to buy some Fair Trade chocolate minis to distribute to children from doorsteps on Halloween!

And once Halloween is over, the fun simply does not stop. You can also join our suite of winter holiday programs, including Fair Trade Holiday Caroling, the Fair Trade Holiday Gift Pledge, and the Fair Trade New Year’s Resolution program.

But Fair Trade products can be celebrated year-round. The Fair Trade Campaign at Global Exchange also coordinates Sweet Smarts, a national network of kids, parents and teachers who advocate for Fair Trade certified products through various creative actions (such as the ones mentioned above) to transform communities and corporations, and support small-scale farmers efforts to build a better future for their families and protect the environment.

For a fun informational starter on Fair Trade chocolate, use our FREE Fair Trade Cocoa Curriculum.  More information at www.globalexchange.org/cocoa

Guest post written by Ruby Aguirre of Fair Trade Campaign, Global Exchange.

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.