I don't think this has to be an all or nothing conversation - isn't it possible to have fun celebrating the holiday AND make it a little more healthy and eco-friendly - if you so desire?

I heard Corey (the founder of Green Halloween - www.greenhalloween.org ) speak at an event and I've also checked out her site.

I'm not sure where HausFrau got the idea that she is suggesting unwrapped food for trick-or-treaters - this isn't her message at all, except possibly when neighborhs who know each other decide only to trick-or-treat at each other's homes...

The Green Halloween initiative is not about telling people what to do - it's about giving health and eco-interested people some ideas for how they can celebrate the holiday they love - while doing it in a way that parallels their values. Of course their hope is that they'll inspire others along the way, but I really, truly do not beleive that this is about ruining Halloween - it's about making it (and all holidays), "something that parents AND kids can feel great about today and for the future."

I learned a lot by lestening to Corey share her ideas. Here are my favorites:

- If you want to hand out candy - organic lollipops are inexpensive, can be bought in bulk and are better for our kids and the planet.
- Instead of buying new costumes - have a swap with your neighbors, school, church, etc.
- Leftover candy can be composted in your yeard waste bin (unwrapped).
- Whatever you decide to hand out - hand out just ONE instead of handfuls.
- Make the holiday about people and not about the stuff. In the end, it's people that make great memories.
- my kids also love the crafts and contests on the site.

Oh, one other thing. Corey is also the founder of a new site called www.CelebrateGreen.net. It has lots of great ideas too.

Thanks for the conversation - I hope all of you have a great Halloween!

I completely agree with ETS.
Judy, why don't you turn off your porchlight and close your drapes on 10/31 so that you won't be bothered by the "beggers". Me, I'll have the door open, the spooky music playing so that I, too, can enjoy the fun. Halloween is for the "big kids" too.

Brilliant post..! I too love Eco-friendly Halloween celebration.

It's real simple. Halloween is fun. Kids deserve to have as much fun as they can during the time in their life when fun is readily available. It makes up for the years of mundane times ahead.

I have no problem with celebrating Halloween and many of the things that make up the celebration. There is great value in being able to put on a costume and be someone/something else for a time. It is the begging part of Halloween that I don't like.

My guess is that a generation ago it was about going to the neighbors and sharing the yummy treats they were making - candy apples, carmel corn, fudge - but over the years that has been replaced with van loads of kids dropped into "convenient" neighborhoods who want only the best store-bought candies. We gave out the mini bars last year and kids would grab hand fulls to put into their already sagging-full pillow slips. We need to get on with the activities of value and figure out a way to stop or change those that are not.

So it sounds like some of you have got this under control, but of the 140 trick-or-treaters we had last year, I bet you make up about 10. The rest really haven't got it!

HausFrau -- TOTALLY agree with you! Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. There's no pressure to buy a bunch of gifts for relatives we barely know, no stress about how to divide up time between several families, etc. It's just about having FUN! I love taking my daughter trick-or-treating with all her friends - it builds our community. It brings us together as a neighborhood. Then, when we're done, we all come back to our place for a big pot of soup and hand out candy to kids who stop by our place. Usually by the end of the night our house is filled with friends and family. Now that's a tradition I want my child to experience every year!

"Yay" Candice! "Boo" Judy!!! Candy aside, Halloween is a wonderful time for a variety of reasons. It sets a celebratory tone for the months of darkness and gloom ahead. It gives creative folk and outlet for creepy concoctions. It gives us folks who like to dress up a day (or month) to try on another personality or go in drag or whatever without eyebrows being raised. And now that the weather has turned sour and people have gone into hibernation, it is one more chance to gather with neighbors and their families.

Don't like handing out candy? How about sunflower seeds or Slim Jims? There are even carrot snack packs for heavens sake (but do keep an eye on your porch ;-)

I'd feel really sad for kids who didn't get the fun of trick or treating just to buck the candy industry. I always had such a great time when I was a kid and now I enjoy having trick-or-treaters come by my house.

And... teens don't need the excuse of Halloween to be jackasses.

Never have understood the message kids get from trick or treating - go beg at the neighbors' homes and if you don't get something you like then do something ugly to the house/car/mailbox. Don't give me the "tradition" explanation; that makes as much sense as the explanation teens use, "everyone's doing it," to justify their actions or something they want to do. Maybe its time to buck the candy industry and move away from this activity all together!

our public school doesn't celebrate Halloween; it's pagen. there's pc and then there's stupid!

i have just a few vices and halloween is one of them. but w/the start of halloween comes the next six months of color/holiday coordinated candy. i wish it would stop at halloween!!!

Although the fear of unwrapped candy is understandable, the myth of poisoned Halloween candy has been debunked.

I also sometimes paint the outside of my pumpkin rather than carving it so that I can peel and cook it afterwards.

and yeah, it's paranoid, but no parent is going to let their child eat non commercial treats from strangers, so stick with the snickers bars and find other ways (costumes etc) to go green.

I forgot to add... the homemade costume idea is awesome. Cheaper, greener and more creative.

I'm with you HausFrau...

In elementary schools don't they spend hours explaining to you that you shouldn't eat it if it's unwrapped? At least they did at my school.

There's gotta be a better way.

Sheesh. Really??? I looked at the link from this. I'm all for greening up, but I certainly wouldn't let my kids eat any Halloween treats that weren't factory sealed. Trinkets, plastic or otherwise, still eventually end up in the trash (or my vacuum), and packaging from "organic" treats still ends up in the trash or recycling as well. Most importantly, handing out raisins is the fastest way to ensure a flaming bag of doodie on your porch. Happy Halloween!