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" As a professional organizer, I have worked in clients&amp;#039; homes who have entire large rooms devoted to storage of holiday decorations, outfitted with uniform rows of shelving units stacked with color-coded bins for Easter, Halloween, St. Patrick&amp;#039;s Day, and of course, countless bins for Christmas. Other clients have basements, garages, and attics full of these same bins. If you are feeling like it&amp;#039;s all too much, here are some thoughts for paring down the decorations while having the same festive effect. Pause when you&amp;#039;re shopping and you spot something that is oh-so-cute, and ask yourself these questions:  Where will I store this? Is this item durable enough to last for a few years in storage? Will this item require electricity, constant re-inflation or a noisy air compressor, or light bulbs that might be hard to replace? Will I need to monitor it and turn it off and on every evening? Will my family outgrow their enjoyment of this decoration quickly? (For example, a trendy cartoon character might not be in favor next season.) Can this decoration stay out for the entire autumn season and not just Halloween? Is this item safe for everyone, in terms of fire, choking, or poison hazards? (Check http://cpsc.gov to understand and see examples of these hazards, along with product recalls.)  Consider buying, gathering, or even growing as many consumable decorations as possible, such as pumpkins, gourds, and leaves. These autumn-themed decorations can form the base of your decor and stay up through Thanksgiving, and they possibly can even be eaten or composted at the end of the season. Before storing your decorations again, consider their durability for another season and whether your family really enjoys them. Are they worth all of the work involved? Could you decorate 25% or 50% less and still feel the same fun results? Donate your unwanted decorations to Goodwill\u00AE, which is a greener option that diverts items from landfills and also helps someone in your community find a job. (And don&amp;#039;t forget to find costumes at Goodwill and donate them when you&amp;#039;re finished!) My friends at Green Halloween\u00AE have more smart ideas for making Halloween safer and healthier for people and for the planet. For greener decorating, they suggest:  Buying LED lights to save energy. Making your own decorations as a creative project, and recycling what you can. Choosing beeswax candles over paraffin, which is petroleum-based.  What will you do this year to pare down your holiday decor? Share in the comments! Lorie Marrero is the best-selling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life, the spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International, and the creator of ClutterDiet.com, an innovative online membership program that&amp;#039;s provided affordable professional organizing advice to thousands of people in eighteen countries. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/decorating-ideas/a21587/organize-green-halloween/>