Halloween is one of the most lighthearted family holidays but traditional decorations, costumes and candies can be ghastly when it comes to your health and the health of the planet. This year, make your Halloween a green holiday, not a code orange for the environment. Check out our tips and picks for having an eco-fabulous All Hallow’s Eve:

When they ring the bell, trick-or-treaters give us two simple choices: smell my feet or give me something good to eat. Given the options, we have scoured the candy stores and organic markets to find a bevy of delicious, earth-friendly treats to offer the boos and ghouls.

For chocolaty treats, try Endangered Species’ Milk Chocolate Bug Bites [4]. Each individually wrapped square of chocolate comes with one of a set of 32 insect trading cards from Dexter Sear. Or, if you want to be remembered as the house that passes out the big bars, check out Dagoba Chocolate [2], which is widely available in stores.

Other organic options include Yummy Earth lollipops, organic marshmallow treats by GlennyS [5], Crispy Cat vegan candy bars, Sharkies pure maple candy [3], Sjaak’s Halloween Bites in peanut butter and orange or Tubi’s organic licorice from Tundra Trading [1].

If you are against passing out candy, consider organic apples (hopefully the faux razor blade scare has finally subsided) or soy crayon rocks as alternatives to sweets.

There is no question that the outfit makes the party on Halloween, but costumes sold in drugstores and Halloween shops are usually made from icky PVC or pesticide ridden cotton. Plus, most store-bought get-ups are poorly made and designed for one-time use, which means that they inevitably wind up in a landfill.

Sewing costumes for your family is the best choice, not only because you can you determine the materials that go into the project, but because it can become a family keepsake, passed down from generation to generation and a fun project with the kids.

But even if you don’t sew, you can tap into your creative side by scouring yours and your kids’ closets for clothes that can be transformed into costumes. For a frisky costume, consider adding a 100 percent alpaca animal tail [2] by Oeuf to your daughter’s ballet leotard or to your son’s sweatpants. Choose from zebra, cheetah, crocodile, leopard or giraffe. The tails, which clip-on, retail for $28.

Top a leotard with one of these silk fairy skirts for an instant costume, or make your kids mini-monarchs in these 100 percent silk crowns for girls and boys from Little Star Creative Parties.

For babies, check out this sweet bear jacket [3] from Speesees, which can be worn long after Halloween, or this winged sweater [4] by Oeuf, which will keep your little one (at least looking) angelic well into the winter. While some babies won’t tolerate a costume, they don’t have to miss out on the festivities. This organic cotton onesie [1] will keep even a fussy baby up to snuff at a spooky gathering.

And for those adults whose Halloween spirit doesn’t include playing dress up, check out this simple organic cotton t-shirt that says it all. [5]

Breathing new life into an old costume is a great idea too. A ballerina costume from last year can easily become this year’s fairy godmother, just by adding a crown and a wand. Or, consider organizing a costume swap at your child’s school or host one at your home so that last year’s Bratz can become this year’s Hannah Montana without buying anything new. Another option is to go to craigslist.com in your city to find used costumes for sale.

If you are feeling crafty, there are many simple costumes that you can make at home for kids or for adults out of things you likely have around the house. Here are a couple eco-themed ensembles:

Recycling Bin: Paint a medium-sized cardboard box blue all over using eco-friendly paints. Let the paint dry completely then cut out a hole in the bottom of the box that is large enough for your child to fit through. Attach “suspenders,” using twine or reuse leftover ribbon. The box should come up to just under your child’s arms so that they have a full range of motion. Next, also using non-toxic paint, write the words, “We recycle,” in white and underneath that paint the universal recycling symbol. For added effect, attach some newspapers to the inside of the box to make the recycling bin appear full.

Mother Earth: Choose a long flowy skirt and a peasant top from your closet or from Goodwill. Add long strands of beads and a bit of green eye shadow (preferably Jane Iredale). Add a fair trade flower crown and voila! Queen of the Earth.

One last costume tip: Ditch the ubiquitous candy catchall of the season - the plastic Jack-O-Lantern, which along with plastic bags are the worst treat totes around. Choose a reusable bag made of hemp or organic cotton. Or as a fun family project, decorate used paper bags with non-toxic paint and soy crayons and recycle them when you are finished gathering loot. Or grab one of the organic cotton pillowcases off your bed and call it a night.

Halloween is a natural time to plan a party. What other time of year do you get the chance to see your neighbor dressed up as Pee Wee Herman or your husband in a full-fledged cheerleader uniform? (Actually, don’t answer that.)

To start your party off on the right foot forgo paper invitations and invite your guests via email using Evite’s Halloween invitations for kids parties and adult parties. Or, if you are dead-set on using snail mail, look for invitations made of bamboo, or recycled paper invites from Amy Smyth or Greener Printer - they will give you a price quote online. Plus, they’re 100% wind powered.

As for décor, start with a natural fiber Halloween door mat from Pottery Barn. Made from the natural fibers of coconut shells, the mat features a spooky scene to help set the mood of your party.

Remember that it is important to buy organic pumpkins, even if you don’t plan to eat them since the pesticides used in growing traditional pumpkins are damaging to the environment. Natural food stores like Whole Foods sell organic pumpkins or you can pick your own at a local farm. To find an organic farm near you, click here.

If you want to make your house or yard spooky, organic cotton balls can be stretched into cobwebs and a reclaimed board from the garage can be decorated with no-VOC paint to look like a headstone on your front lawn. Or draw a skeleton on a piece of recycled cardboard that you cut out, paint it and hang it from the ceiling.

A favorite eco-friendly decoration is the Scary Stuffed Man. To make him, collect Dad’s old clothes, stuff them with old newspaper and rest it on a chair. Finally, paint a freaky face on a pumpkin, put it in the man’s lap and wrap his arm around it (as if he is holding his own severed head) and top it off with a hat. This is a great decoration for an entryway or front porch.

One last decorating tip to remember: if you plan to string lights inside your house or out in the yard, choose festive LED lights. LED bulbs save you money by consuming only a fraction of the electricity used by standard halogen or incandescent bulbs and last much, much longer, which means less waste in landfills.

Now that the pumpkins have been carved and the house decorated, the question is what to serve at your frightening fete? Try this carrot and black bean salad.

And adorable spider cupcakes. Amend this recipe using organic ingredients.

Or try “The Dirt Nap Dessert,” which is yummy and can also been used a centerpiece for your table. Here’s how to make it: Prepare enough organic chocolate pudding to fill a casserole dish, leaving about one inch at the top.

Crumble one package of Newman’s Own Newman-O’s cookies on top, to look like dirt.

To decorate it, mix shredded organic coconut with a few drops of organic green food coloring, just enough to dye the coconut green.

Sprinkle the coconut around the edges of the dish, leaving a rectangle in the middle with just the “dirt” showing.

Next, cut a piece of clean recycled paper or cardboard out in the shape of a gravestone. Using a soy crayon, color the headstone gray and write “R.I.P.” in black. Place the headstone on one end of the dirt patch. The end result looks like a freshly dug grave and is scary enough to eat. To serve, use a small aluminum garden trowel or metal cake server.

So this year, add some green to your black and orange.