Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

Last night as I was perusing my new LARABAR Fall Newsletter I saw that they had partnered with Green America for project Green Halloween. Among other details, they were of course recommending that you hand out LARABAR minis to your trick-or-treaters. Andy yes, I would don a costume for that.   Okay, I’ll bite, what is Green Halloween?  

You know when something incredibly obvious dawns on you for the first time you just shake your head and shrug your shoulders in personal amusement at yourself??  That is exactly what happened as I read about Green Halloween. For the past two years we have given out vegan Halloween candy. The first year we tried it, it felt like a big step, a loss, a change to not be purchasing and handing out our own favorites like Milk Duds and Almond Joys.

That’s what you do once you are an adult with your own home. You buy the candy you like and eat it and hand it out one for one all night long.  We made the switch, as vegan wannabes and responsible candy hander-outers. We will not poison our neighborhood youth with dairy or gelatin, but I have no problem giving them highly processed, chemical laden, artificially flavored and colored candy. I guess I never thought of it like that until now.  Seeing the article from LARABAR and then visiting the site was quite an epiphany for me and I can’t believe this greener notion didn’t dawn on me sooner.  Kudos to Corey Colwell-Lipson, founder of Green Halloween.

On the Green Halloween site, they walk through each step, for Parents, Kids, Schools, how to start a Green Halloween program in your community, how to organize a costume swap, resources for food and non-food treats for the big night and much more.   How cool is a costume swap?  Kids and adults can get into this fun game, heck there are half a dozen costumes downstairs in my house right now begging to be swapped for someone else’s gently used costume.

Then on to the Treats. They suggest healthier food items like organic juice boxes, nuts, organic cookies, crackers and popcorn and much more.  Or if you want to be the cool house offering Treasures instead, items that are not food, but are fun; a whole list is there as well.  It ranges from barrettes to stickers, to soy crayons, tumbled glass and all sorts of imaginative gems for all ages.  Check out the Trick or Treasure list to see if something speaks to you.   Do your kids have a favorite collectible that is green friendly?

A complete party planning list and suggestions are there as well, in case you want to be the Green-go-to house for Halloween.  What a fun, kind and healthy way to celebrate the event.   When the kids come rolling by our house this year, we will honor them, ourselves and the planet with a Green Halloween trick or treat.  Will you?

Have a delicious day.

Tags: compassionate eating, compassionate products, Corey Colwell-Lipson, exploits of a vegan wannabe, Green America, Green Halloween, green Halloween ideas, green Halloween treats, organic Halloween treats, vegan Halloween, vegan wannabe