Ideal Bite

I had this really great Tina Turner wig when I was a kid. I wore it practically every Halloween, whether I was going as a rock star, a cheetah, or a sad punky clown. Though I’m guessing it was pretty non-eco in terms of material, I did reuse the hell out of it. We probably all had something like that - some cherished prop that shows we were ace recyclers long before those colorful bins started appearing at the curb. Still, I could have been more creative. I could have made a wig out of cut-up mismatched socks, for example, or instead, gathered a bunch of shredded paper from my parents shredder and woven them together (excuse: no one knew what a shredder was in the '80s).

To help unleash that vast amount of creative potential, Andersonville's Green Genes is holding a recycled costume contest this Saturday from 10 am-6 pm. First, help your under-13-year-old make a cool getup from scratch using only recycled materials (no secondhand costumes allowed), then head to the eco kids shop to enter for a chance to win one of three store gift certificates. It’ll be fun for you and your kid, plus you might surprise yourself with new clever ways to reuse otherwise curbside-bound stuff. You can also pick up organic pops and locally made recycled cards while your little one struts his or her stuff. Want more eco-spookster ideas? Check out our Scariest List Ever for more ways to go green this H-ween.

- City Editor Daisy…off to examine her sock collection…

From Chicago