How boring would a title like “How To Green Your Halloween” be? Enough said. Halloween is, without a doubt, one of my very best, favorite days/times of the year.

First of all, it’s Mr. Green’s birthday – always cause for fun and celebration. Secondly, my childhood memories just about make me swoon. Remember – it was back in the day when on Halloween it was safe to go Trick or Treating for hours and even stay out after dark. It was okay to get a mountain of candy and spend hours trading for favorites with siblings the next day. No fair trade chocolate nor high fructose corn syrup nor the awful production methods for cheap costumes nor childhood obesity ever came up – not ever. It was just “Trick or Treat?”

Well, that was then and this is now and now I say LET’S MAKE HALLOWEEN FUN AND SUSTAINABLE!!! Here are three very simple things you can do to green your Halloween and in turn, celebrate your health and your kindness to the earth.

1.      SHOP RESALE –  Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages: get creative about costumes. Use things from home, visit your local Goodwill Industries, Buffalo Exchange, Savers.   Please – don’t buy cheap, made in China or India by slave labor, 100% polyester looky likey costumes. If you are the adult setting the example, you are the one to get your kids excited about using their imaginations. You’ve got the purchasing power to make a green choice and the know-how to motivate your kids to think about living consciously in a way that should be fun.

 2.     HEALTHY TREATS –  I am coming clean here,  just like I did last year. I cried when I was five because someone gave me an apple in my bag. [This event can still be verified by at least one of my siblings.]  But that was then and this is now. Even though I will probably NEVER do any of these things, I know there are some of you out there who will.  These are adorable, fun and clever ideas for healthy treats if you are having or going to a Halloween Party.

3.     GET UNREAL – Yup, there is a healthy chocolate and yes, it is readily available in cities at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond or online.  I read all about it last year, went out, got some and it PASSED this Chocoholic’s taste test. Check it out here.

 P.S.  At the end of the day, Halloween comes once a year.  This can be your time of year to consciously choose to say “the heck with it” and just eat all the chocolate your little heart desires.  It shall forever be my wish that if that is the road you take, you will treat yourself to something you can feel great about that bears the label “FAIR TRADE.”  That’s sustainable.