The Voice of Mom

Halloween is, hands down, one of my favorite holidays.  It competes heavily with Christmas and Valentine’s Day – so hard to choose!  Over the past few years, I have taken great strides to green our household and keep an eye on our carbon footprint, but when it comes to the holidays, sometimes that’s a little bit more of a challenge… or is it?

Enter Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson, the mother-daughter team behind Celebrate Green.  It all started when Corey (the daughter) wanted to celebrate Halloween in a more green and environmentally-friendly way with her young family.  She came up with Green Halloween.  When she mentioned it to her mom, the idea sprung legs and grew way beyond ghosts and goblins, to now encompass all celebrations and then some.  In fact, I even recently shared some tips on how we “greened” my daughter’s baptism a few months ago (which you can read about here).

In an effort to spread the word on their book, website and general message, earlier this month, the women embarked on a Celebrate Green! Blog tour, with more than 30 participating blogs, and on which The Voice of Mom is happily a stop.  If you want to find out how you can easily implement more eco-friendly ideas into your holiday celebrations, or even just your everyday life, be sure to stop by their website, which is jam-packed with inspiration, or order their book.  In the meantime, back to Halloween.

It will be here before you know it, and retailers have already hauled out their massive candy supplies.  But what if you don’t want to give out candy to the trick-or-treaters?   Or want to go organic?  Is that hard to do, while making sure you’re handing out something the kids will still clamor for?  No, not if you’re armed with these tips from Lynn and Corey…

What to give out instead of candy

This Halloween, think treasures, instead of candy. Kids love little trinkets like spinning tops, stickers and collectible cards. Most children especially love gifts from nature like polished rocks, crystals and seashells. Think keepsakes, tokens and stocking-stuffer type gifts but don’t forget to think healthy and green. Although non-food items are generally healthier than food items, try to avoid non-recycled plastic toys. Here are our suggestions

Green Halloween treats and treasures

(This list is for your information only. Green Halloween is not responsible for the availability, prices or delivery of listed items. Note: Just like with traditional holiday treats, many items may be unsafe for children under the age of three. We strongly suggest that parents inspect their children’s treat bags before allowing their children to eat or play with any items they receive for Halloween.)

Green Halloween treats and treasures need not be purchased. Handmade items, especially those made out of recycled and natural materials can be easy, fun and inexpensive – not to mention, thoughtful. Books such as The Children’s Year and Earthways have tons of great ideas for unique, easy-to-make, seasonal gifts.

Tip: The following items also make great “replacements” if the Halloween Fairy or Great Pumpkin visit your home (to swap out conventional candy and leave better treats, treasures and/or gifts behind.) Don’t forget to compost uneaten treats.

Food items (“treats”)

• Individually wrapped organic Tea for kids FEATURED VENDOR
• Organic juice boxes
• Organic apple sauce snack packs
• Organic fruit leather
• Bare Fruit trial size packs
• Boxes of organic raisins and, where available, other organic dried fruits.
• 100% honey sticks DO NOT GIVE HONEY TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF TWO
• Individual packets of fair trade, organic Amazing Grass Chocolate SuperFood SPONSOR
• Raw or roasted nuts (ask parents before giving out nuts due to allergies)
• Organic Twisted Fruit
• Trial size packs of dried veggie chips, like Terra Chips
• Glee Gum “minis” or other individually wrapped small gums
• Spooky S’mores Clif Kid’s Organic ZBar FEATURED VENDOR
• Snack bars such as  LARABAR, Can Do Kid, Think Bars, etc.
• Organic granola/breakfast bars by Nature’s Path, Barbara’s Bakery, etc.
• Trial/snack sized bags of organic cookies, crackers, or popcorn by Snikiddy or Annie’s
• Individual bags of Lesser Evil popcorn and other varieties    Crunchy Munchies (individually wrapped pumpkin seed treats)
• Individual “Jr” packs of organic nut butter (be sure to ask parents about possible nut allergies), such as Justin’s Nut Butter or Barney Butter
• Organic licorice bars, rope, and gum, (cut into pieces), by Tundra Trading
• Organic agave sticks

* Green Halloween is currently working with a number of food companies to create healthy, affordable, bite-sized versions of their snacks. As these products become available, we will post them here. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list to be the first to learn about these new products. If you have suggestions for food products you would like to see on this list, contact that company directly and let them know about Green Halloween. As more parents like you demand that the ‘treats’ we give our children are healthy, the more healthy-food companies will join in the fun.

Non food items (“treasures”)

• Acorns (kids love items from nature)
• Adhesive “bandages” with pirate, black cat and other fun themes (one per child. Great for older kids!)
• Barrettes or other hair things
• Beads
• Bean bags (homemade)
  
• Bells
• Charms
• Coins (US or non-US)
• Confetti-biodegradable, water-soluble
• Cookie cutters – mini
  
• Cootie Catcher Note Cards (one card per child)
  
• Crayon “rocks” (soy-based)
• Earth tone feathers
• Elf and fairy items
• Fake jewels (lead free)
• Fortunes
  
• Games for Your Brain Ocean Cards (one card per child)
  
• Glass rings
  
• Glass beads
• Jokes
• Large metallic star confetti or “fairy dust”
  
• Mary’s softdough or homemade dough FEATURED VENDOR
  
• Money
• Mosaic glass tumbled, recycled (safe for older children)
• Painted spinning tops
  
• Paper balls
  
• Pencils made from recycled money or plastic FEATURED VENDOR
• Polished rocks/ skipping stones
• Printed items like word games, word search or cross word puzzles
• Pumpkins (mini, dried)
  
• Rainbow peep holes
• Recycled glass tiles: Seattle based, made of 100% recycled materials, shippable
• Sachets (homemade)
• Seashells
• Seed Packets
• Soap FEATURED VENDOR
• Soy or beeswax crayons
  
• Spider confetti
• Spinning tops (recycled plastic) FEATURED VENDOR
• Stamps from foreign countries
• Stickers
• Sweet Dreams, 36 Bedtime Wishes (one card per child)
  
• Temporary tattoos (recycle-themed) FEATURED VENDOR
• Toothpaste
  
• Unfinished wood items
  
• Whimsical treasures
• Whistles (Recycled plastic) FEATURED VENDOR
  
• World Almanac for Kids Puzzler Deck (one card per child)
  
• Worry dolls or more
• Xeko cards
• Yarn bracelets
• 52 Cool Tricks for Kids cards (one card per child)
  
• 52 Great Art Projects for kids (one card per child)
  
• 52 Brain Tickling Activities for Kids (one card per child)
  
• 52 Tricks and Treats for Halloween (one card per child)
  
• 3-D cat cards (one per child)
  
• 3-D dog cards (one card per child)

Photo copyright 2008 Holli Dunn.