With environmental consciousness creeping into virtually every facet of life, why not into that celebration of the creepy? 

For those who want to get away from the crass commercialism and the unhealthy obsession with collecting and consuming masses of candy (leave aside the scarier aspects of spooks and goblins), there's a growing number of folks offering ideas for showing your green on this traditional holiday.

There's even an official "Green Halloween" movement.  Begun last year by a Washington state mom tired of the candy-grubbing of trick or treat, it's spread down the West Coast and jumped to the East Coast, with a few outposts in between.  In Delaware, for instance, an elementary school is arranging a swap, where pupils can trade in their usual loot of Halloween candy for a recycled-paper sack full of more wholesome goodies donated by area businesses.

Others advocate painting the pumpkin an even deeper shade of green - outfitting kids in homemade costumes, for instance, or at least ones made of natural fiber, for those who lack sewing skills or time.  About.com has a batch of such ideas, including handing out organic candy, fruit or even nonedible treats such as pencils, crayons or funny erasers bought from local variety stores. Roasting the pumpkin seeds for snacking after carving the Jack-o-lantern is a popular notion, too. 

As for outdoor decorations, purists recommend hanging bedsheets from trees for a spooky effect, which can then be taken down, washed and returned to the linen closet.  Discovery's Planet Green, the new environmentally-oriented TV network, has a bevy of ideas on its Web site here.  Here's one from Newsday.  And Here's another source for tips.

The big challenge, of course, is to convince the kids Halloween can still be fun skipping all that candy and the flashy looking store-bought costumes - not to mention re-educating parents who revel in festooning their yards with theme-park scary special effects, which gobble up lots of electricity. 

Anyone out there planning to go green this Halloween? Or is this holiday too deeply entrenched to get spruced up?