We have less than a month to go before the most spooktacular holiday of all….Halloween. As a big science fiction fan it is no wonder that Halloween has always been the most appealing holiday for me personally…with witches, vampires, and ghosts. Add to that the pumpkin pies, apple cidar, and candy corn and you have got one spectacular time on your hands. Kids love Halloween because they get to play dress-up and collect candy. But as a parent you may be concerned about all of the unhealthy candy and needless waste that Halloween can represent. So in usual fashion I have compiled a list of eco friendly Halloween finds. Have an orange, black, and GREEN Halloween! And check out out my giveaway at the bottom of this post!
Eco Friendly Halloween Candy
These treats are great for Halloween parties, for passing out to trick-or-treaters, and for doing a switcheroo while going through your kid’s goodie bags at evening’s end.
Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops – Another great lollipop can be found through the company Yummy Earth, founded by two dads that wanted healthy, dye free lollipops for their kids. My kids can attest that these lollipops are also delicious and they come in a large variety of flavors including lemon, mixed fruit, peppermint, mango, watermelon, and pomengranate.
Fruitabu Organic Smooshed Fruit Rolls – My kids LOVE these and I get them in bulk from Costco. They would be a great treat for Halloween visitors.
The Ginger People Ginger Chews – My husband flips over these. In fact I have to order them for him online all the time so he can have some to take on his business trips. If you like ginger then you will love their spicy apple ginger chews. Made with natural ginger, these chews are also widely used for menstrual cramps, indigestion, heartburn, and morning sickness.
Candy Tree Organic Cherry Laces – These are like red vines but organic, gluten free, and wheat free. There are also a variety of other flavors.
Endangered Species Chocolate Bars – Chocolate bars that help save animal species.
Eco Friendly Halloween Gifts
Don’t want to do candy at all? These Halloween gifts are the perfect replacement.
Halloween Fairies and Good Witch Doll – In this adorable set you get pumpkin fairy, an apple fairy, and a good witch.
Eco Friendly & Healthy Halloween Party Treats
Make your own cake using organic ingredients and this Pumpkin Cake Pan will help you create something spectacular! You can also buy some Halloween coookie cutters and make organic cookies.
Organic apples and apple cidar – This is the perfect time of year to find a local, organic farm and get some organics apples and cider. You can also get organic pumpkins and make pumpkin soups, muffins, cakes, pies, and roasted pumpkin seeds.
Eco Friendly Trick or Treat Bags
Reusable Halloween Bag – These are pretty nifty!
Felt Goodie Bags – These Magic Cabin felt bags are reusable and fun.
Party Invitations
Send party invitations digitally. Create your own or use a service like Sendomatic. For guests that don’t have email why not send them a small paper bag decorated for Halloween and have them bring it to the party to serve as a doggie-bag for leftovers treats. It can be recycled or composted afterwards.
Eco Friendly Halloween Decorations
Pumpkin Decorating Kit – Using natural wooden eyes, ears, lips, and other facial features kids can decorate pumpkins. The pieces attach with wooden dowels and allow kids to make a unique pumpkin creation without having to carve. Make sure to use organic pumpkins!
Non Toxic Halloween Paints – Use these paints to decorate windows or pumpkins. The paints are completely non-toxic and safe. They go on glossy and dry with a matte finish. If you need some painting instruction here is a fun e-book on pumpkin painting.
Candles – Instead of using conventional candles in orange and black use natural beeswax candles instead.
DIY! Take some old sheets and stuff the center with newspaper or cloth and then close with a rubber band. Hang it a tree to make a homemade ghost.
Also when purchasing any Halloween decor…try to make sure they are durable and will last for years.
Eco Friendly Halloween Costumes
The best way to keep your costume eco-friendly is to buy a used on or make one yourself from household items.
Mother and Daughter Earth Costumes – make a mother earth costume for yourself or for your daughter using playsilks or other earthy colored fabrics. Weave flowers, plants, and twigs through your hair and clothing.
Playsilks can also be used to make gypsy, pirate, mermaid, or superhero costumes…the possibilities are endless. They are durable and they can be used for imaginative play long after Halloween.
OR get creative and make your own!
I love the crisp breeze, the smell of fall, watching the leaves change, raking them into piles and jumping in them. Just about everything this time of year I love. My absolute favorite is seeing all the little kids get all dressed up!
I was excited to find your post. We’re totally with you on this idea and hope you will visit our website, http://www.GreenHalloween.org to see additional suggestions. I’m sure we can add some of yours to ours.
Warmly,
Lynn
http://www.GreenHalloween.org
I love the costumes! It is so much fun to dress up as something outrageous, and see what my friends dress up as. Yes, I am 24 years old and still faithfully dress up for halloween, although I don’t go trick-or-treating (sadly). I just love the idea of spending one day as someone I’m not.
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enter me! I’m all about the candy. Now that I’m trying to cut back on the sugar and icky stuff it’s not quite as thriling as the sacks of refined junk from when I was a kid. I love those Yummy Earth pops though!
I love the smell in the air. The crisp leaves that crunch when you walk on them.
I also love carving pumpkins. I try to be very creative every year with my pumpkins.
My daughter in her costume! She get so excited, it’s infectious!
I love the candy corn and all the orange!
I love that it’s starting to cool down in Texas and I also love the creativity of the decor and costumes.
The bag is nifty looking!
I love the cool weather, the different “fall festivals”, the excuse to go out to a rural place and visit a pumpkin patch or maybe a hay ride or corn maze. I’m looking forward to taking my 3 year old trick-or-treating for the first time! This is his first Halloween in the U.S. :)
I love the fact that it is in Autumn! :)
LilacButterfy [at] earthlink.net
I love the memories Halloween brings of my childhood. I can fondly remember bobbing for apples and dressing up like a big piece of cheese!
The weather & the color of the sky…. Oh wait, you said Halloween, not just Fall. That would be decorating – it’s the only time of year that I like orange!
Okay, I’ll say it…THE CANDY! :)
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i love the smell of the burning pumpkins (from the candles), the laughter of the children, the sight of all the costumes, and that halloween is the beginning of 2 months of fun and celebration!
I love making my kids’ costumes. I love helping them plan them, shopping for fabrics and trims, and putting them together. I love it even more when we need to get crafty and when Dh helps out, like the time we made Yoda ears out of sheets of craft foam and a head band.
What I love about Halloween…..my boys are 4 and 2, so I enjoy watching them from a small distance going trick or treating….they don’t have the main idea on why we go door to door and dress up….so its fun to sit back and watch!! And great to see how polite they are when given a treat!!!
I didn’t know they made Halloween Chico bags! Those are awesome! I love seeing how excited the kids get about Halloween. My 2 have been pretending to trick-or-treat for months already, coming up to any nearby grownup for a pretend treat placed in the imaginary bag they’re holding up.
I love Halloween because not only is fall my favorite season, but as deep admirer of pagan rituals, it is the New Year (Samhain.) This to me always feels like a fresher start than the beginning of January–especially given the lifestyle of most Americans in the coming months.
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The winner is Comment #18…Jennifer! Congrats!!!
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Hi! I have orderd from this place twice and am very pleased to share. They have great kosher organic and natural food products including YummeEarth candies.
Here is a link http://www.wholeandnatural.com
Enjoy!!!
p.s. I used a code try if it works for you bldc08
Can’t believe it’s that time of year again. What a great article with wonderful suggestions! Love the ideas for eco-friendly bags, the organic candy suggestions, and the concept of reverse trick or treating to further the message about fair trade. Halloween can be fun, eco-friendly, and even healthy.
There is a NEW limited edition Green Halloween ChicoBag for trick-or-treating! It’s designed by kids and 10% of the bags’ sales help to support the Green Halloween initiative.
You can buy it at: http://www.greenfeet.com.
I love going to the pumpkin patch with my son
Great ideas! I especially love the treats suggestions.
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I stumbled across your blog and love it I have a blog of my on on things we have done in our home to be more eco friendly and I am posting today and leaving your link in my blog for Green Halloween tips hope you dont mind and thanks
Tammie
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I love your candle tip!
For all you Vegans out there – You can also use palm wax or soy wax candles. Both are eco-friendly & last longer than beeswax candles.
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I loved growing pumpkins, or going to the pumpkin patch. It is so important that kids learn that pumpkins and other things grown in the earth!
Nice article. Like the organic sweets. They didn’t have them when I was a kid. I think they are working on a nice natural green, but there are problems with algae. But as far as the orange goes you can get some great effects with lycopene and beta-carotene. Best part of it is the satisfaction I get from parents who find out that not only does it satisfy their children’s desire for bright colours but these are anti-oxidants, and affordable. I suffered from ADHD and although I don’t remember whether I had ‘red cordial’ syndrome I know that there are other sensitivities. My father had gluten intolerance and doesn’t have hardly any of his bowel left. It may only be a minority of children, but children’s bodies can take less of these harmful additives, and the effects of tartrazine (yellow) for instance can be devastating (respiratory problems etc). Go purely natural if you have the time to boil beets or adopt the purified extracted powder for convenience.
http://www.coloursoflife.com.au
Wonderful!! We also wrote on how to participate in a fair trade halloween: http://fashionableearth.org/blog/2009/10/28/fair-trade-halloween/
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Hi, I loved your post! We are lucky to be able to buy local pumpkins but I still buy only one. We always use pillow cases for trick-or-treat bags. Traditional and reusable! I provided a link to this post from my post about making your own green Halloween costumes, I hope that is okay! I’m kind of new to the blogging thing, doing it for the company I work for.
PS: The ginger chews are very good! One of my favorites!