Article Below by our Green Team Lead: Susan Francis
*The Green Team strives to inform and inspire*
THE DPDC GREEN TEAM WANTS TO GIVE YOU A TREAT
FOR CELEBRATING AN EARTH-FRIENDLY HALLOWEEN!
Contest Details below, but first, remember
As a green team member, you can go as the prince of whales:
Yes, we know, its Wales… but we Green folk actually prefer the president’ goof… this time. 
And about those costumes, here is an important and creepy piece of Halloween info:

According to Medium.com:  Americans will spend an estimated  $9 billion  on Halloween this year, and costumes are a large part of that figure. On average, men  spend  $96 dollars on costumes and women spend $77. For that hefty price tag, these costumes must be high-quality, right? Wrong.

Costumes you find in the store are usually made of cheap, mass-produced synthetic materials. The same for make-up and wigs. These products are often petroleum based and can be resource intensive to create. They’re non-biodegradable, just like the plastic packaging they come in. And these costumes aren’t made to be durable since they’re intended to wear just one night of the year.

When old products make the inevitable trip to the landfill, they will continue to leach chemicals into the environment. Sea life is especially at risk as many of these pollutants get into our waterways. The fabric and plastic also pose entanglement and choking hazards for wildlife.

So avoid the negative environmental impacts of store-bought costumes, and save a few bucks by opting to make something yourself.

So don’t make Halloween a Fright-Fest for the Planet!

Visit Goodwill or other thrift stores! Rock the back of your closet! String garlic bulbs to repel vampires, use yellow and black clothes to be a bumblebee… or add spooky make up to be a zom-bee! 

Just remember: everything we do affects everything that is. It’s that simple and that complex. And empowering once we realize how much we still have in our control.

We will have more information on earth-saving Halloween candy in tomorrow’s special issue. But before that,
Enter our SPOOKY GOOD ECO-CONTEST!

You can win either:
  • Rachel Maddow’s new best seller, BLOWOUT: CORRUPTED DEMOCRACY, ROGUE STATE RUSSIA, AND THE RICHEST, MOST DESTRUCTIVE INDUSTRY ON EARTH
  • Naomi Klein’s ON FIRE: THE (BURNING) CASE FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL
  • One of several bags of delicious, healthy and fair-trade Halloween Candy!

WHATAYA GOTTA DO TO EARN SOME OF THIS SUMPTUOUS
FEAST OF EARTH-SAVING STUFF?

JUST TELL US:

  1. What do your choices in Halloween Candy, how you manage your autumn leaves and yard or patio this autumn, and Illinois’ Clean Energy Jobs Act (Senate Bill 2132, House Bill 3624) ALL HAVE IN COMMON?
  2. List a carbon-producing, species-destroying ingredient in most commercial Halloween candy.
  3. How many birds have we lost in North America during the past 50 years according to a study published this September in the journal SCIENCE?
  4. What can (and will) you do to support The Clean Energy Jobs Act?

TIE BREAKERS:

  1. Name an endangered bird species in Illinois.
  2. Why does the loss of birds matter to our overall ecosystem?


CONTEST RULES:

  • Submit your answers via email BY NOON CST SATURDAY OCTOBER 26th, to greenteam@dupagedemocrats.com. Be sure to give us your phone or text number as well as your email.
  • Those answers that arrive FIRST and that are most accurate (some will have a range of accurate replies) will win, in order:
  • One of two BLOWOUT books
  • Naomi Klein’s book
  • One of four books of delicious and sustainable Halloween Treats!
  • We will arrange a convenient time to pickup prizes.

Paid for by the Democratic Party of DuPage County, who continues the Fight for Economic Justice,
Civil Rights and Our Environment within DuPage & Beyond.