by Corey

Parents are becoming more and more savvy about how conventional candy companies work: Make the “treat” with the least amount of effort and sell it for the most money. Using real, wholesome, ethically sourced or even safe ingredients are not necessarily part of the deal.

Luckily, there are now many awesome options available. Healthy (and healthier), ethically sourced and sustainably grown Halloween treats are becoming easier and easier to find. Even super market chains, major online retailers and big box stores have jumped on the bandwagon, making these items more accessible to families no matter where they live.

But it can be confusing to negotiate the web of certifications and labels that some treat brands boast. Are they really meaningful? Or just “green-washing”? This list will (hopefully) make the process of buying healthier Halloween treats (and party fare) more simple.

Just look for as many as possible of the following:

• Non-GMO (preferably Non-GMO Project Verified)
• Organic (Certified is best)
• Locally grown/produced
• No high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• No Palm-oil
• No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives (i.e. Real, whole foods – If your first-grader can pronounce all of the ingredients, you are probably in luck.)
• Fair Trade
• Minimally processed
• For chocolate – Rainforest Alliance Certified and/or shade grown

In addition, you may want to consider giving away goodies or serving foods that are peanut-free, gluten-free, dairy free and/or egg free. These are some of the most common food allergens. And with 1 in 13 kids suffering from food allergies*, limiting highly allergic foods is one way to ensure that Halloween is safe and fun for everyone.

*Source, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Guest post

Halloween should be fun, right? Unfortunately, a scary reality is that one of the biggest nights for the chocolate industry supports a system that relies on forced child labor on many West African cocoa farms. But you can do something to help stop such practices and still enjoy Halloween.

This October, families, organizations, and businesses across the U.S. can help children forced to work on West African cocoa farms by participating in the 5th annual Reverse Trick-or-Treating campaign. By handing out organic, Fair Trade chocolates from Equal Exchange with attached informational cards when they go trick-or-treating, participants can bring critically important attention to the thousands of children who are trafficked and forced to work in horrible conditions on West African cocoa farms.

This year’s Reverse Trick-or-Treating program marks the 10^th anniversary of the September, 2001, signing of the Harkin-Engel Protocol that called for an end to the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa supply chains of the major chocolate companies. The campaign to raise awareness that there is a Fair Trade alternative to child labor was launched in 2007, two years after the deadline had passed for signatories to end the worst forms of child labor. Ten years after the protocol’s signing, most of its conditions have still not been met.

Equal Exchange knows there’s a better way to go and instead sources its Fair Trade and organic cocoa from farms in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador. The vanilla from Madagascar and sugar from Paraguay for Equal Exchange’s chocolate are also certified Fair Trade and organic.

Contributed by: Kelsie Evans, Equal Exchange Chocolate Products Coordinator

Halloween is big on fun but, unfortunately, it’s also big on unhealthy traditions and waste. Many moms and dads worry about the impact of this holiday on the health of their kids and the planet.

And for good reason.

Almost $6 billion a year is spent on costumes, candy, décor and other accessories, most of which are made from unhealthy, unsustainable materials, by people who may not be paid living wages or treated fairly. Most of the stuff – what isn’t consumed – winds up in landfills.

And scary news about high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, lead laden accessories just fuel parent’s concerns.

But our goal is to show families that it’s easy and affordable to keep the fun, while losing the unhealthy, un-Earth-friendly traditions. It’s not about telling parents how they should celebrate – it’s about inspiring them to make choices that make sense to their families, their budgets and their schedules. And when many families make healthier and more sustainable choices for Halloween – taking even the smallest of steps – big impacts can be made for the short and long term.

Here are a few of the “spooky statistics” that might fuel your desire to help change the way you celebrate Halloween:

• One in three trick-or-treaters born today will develop diabetes.
• One-third of America’s trick-or-treaters are overweight; 17% are considered obese.
• Today’s trick-or-treaters have a life expectancy that is shorter than their parents.
• 1 in 13 trick-or-treaters suffers from food allergies.
• Coco beans used for chocolate that are grown in full sun (as opposed to shade) are susceptible to disease and therefore require heavy doses of toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
• The chocolate industry has engaged in the use of child slaves and other unethical treatments of growers.
• Store-bought costumes, makeup and accessories may contain phthalates, lead and other toxins.
• One test of multiple brands of face paints found detectible levels of lead in all of them. (According to experts there are NO safe levels of lead).
• Over 6,000 synthetic chemicals are used in the processed-food industry. Most Halloween “treats” are processed.
• A 2004 study with 1800 three year old children found that behavior measurably improved after a one week diet without preservatives and artificial colors and dramatically worsened on the weeks they were given preservatives and artificial colors (present in most Halloween candy).

For more “why’s” of Green Halloween^®, click here.

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Oeuf is one of our favorite companies. Creating simple, sustainable, use-able products for house and home, Oeuf pleases people and planet for the holidays and every day.

They’re on our minds a lot these days; in fact we just raved about their new gorgeously green garlands on our Celebrate Green! blog.

But since this is a Halloween blog, and you’re here to gather pointers for making yours a green holiday, we’ll try to curb our enthusiasm and stick to the point: Oeuf’s mask and tail accessories rock.

Not only are they made from soft, safe, sustainable alpaca, they’re knitted in Bolivia by people earning living wages. All this and more is why you will love them.

But what about the kiddos?

Without so much as leotard and tights, pants and shirt or even a pillow case with holes for a head and arms, your little one will be transformed into a Wild Thing. (The kind that doesn’t have to go to bed without his supper.)

Which leads us to our last point: when it comes to costumes (and a whole lot of things, come to think of it), less can be more. (Does your child need to be enveloped in polyester buntings to look and feel like a real-life lion? No. And buying just the masks and tails allows your child to get creative with the in-between costume parts, too.)

Looking for something similar for your wee-wild-one?

Check out Oeuf’s animal hat and booties.

Are your kids not into the animals? Too old for the furry stuff? Check out these mean beanies, for Bat Boys and Bat Girls (slightly different styles). 100% alpaca and Fair Trade, but all your kids will care about is how to make their costume as cool as their hats.