A Green Halloween

Last night I attended Twitter parties discussing ways to celebrate a green Halloween. It inspired this post.

As my children get older each Halloween has started to become a bigger and bigger deal. What started as a cute idea to get dressed up has turned into an event to gather up and consume as many sweets, treats and junk one little body can handle before it develops an awful stomach ache from not being used to consuming non-organic corn syrup filled chemically dyed “candy”. 

Last Halloween I managed to convince my then five-year old son to discard all the “really bad ones” – candy corn, nerds and some I’d never heard of - I let him keep the M&M’s and mini Mars Bars but he was only allowed to have one or two on weekends. We managed to string the candy out for 6 months. 

Fast forward a year and thinking about alternatives for Halloween I discovered Green Halloween online – a movement founded on the notion that some people might actual think outside the conventional candy-box seeking a healthier Halloween. I know I do.

Last nights Twitter parties were hosted by Green Halloween and Holistic Moms Network. We discussed costume swapping, reverse trick-or-treating (buying fair Trade chocolate) and eco-tips for making up your child or yourself. Herein are some tips from our conversation that will hopefully inspire you to have a healthier, greener more holistic Halloween. 

1. Adopt the Switch Witch’s approach to Halloween and explain to your child that during the night all the rotten candy will be switched out for a special present by the Switch Witch. This way you don’t have to worry about your child eating all that horrible candy and they still get to partake in the trick or treating with their friends. 
2. Consider holding a costume swap with your friends and neighbours. This way you’ll be passing on your old costumes and saving buying a new one. To learn more visit: Greenhalloween.org
3. Buy Fair Trade chocolate. Give Fair Trade chocolate back to adults, along with an informational card...while Trick-or-Treating door- to-door in your community.
4. Buy organic sweets and make homemade organic treats like pumpkin cookies.
5. Decorate in a sustainable fashion buy gathering up leaves and other nature items, make beeswax candles and buy organic pumpkins that you can carve and then cook with the in flesh.
6. Use natural face paints and use spices like paprika or curry powder and mix it with an organic hair pomade for some scary but well scented fun for your hair.

For more information on how you can get involved in creating a Green Halloween visit greenhalloween.org