Is it possible to have a wickedly wonderful Halloween without disposable costumes, expensive candy, and ultra sugar highs? Yes! You could …

A. Move to another country
B. Hibernate
C. Join a commune

Kidding—but seriously, there are a few ways to limit the cost and eco-impact of this year.

Tricks:

Throw a Halloween party: Our friends are going to celebrate the holiday with a party, allowing them to skip late night trick-or-treating with their children and manage the sugar factor a bit. I’ll have to pass along Rebecca’s recipe for wholesome pumpkin bars so they’ll have an easy treat that the kids can enjoy.

Manage the candy: We are planning on going trick-or-treating this year, but we’re just going to a few houses and limiting my son’s candy. We haven’t yet decided whether to let him gorge for one night and then give the rest of the candy to our co-workers, or provide a piece of candy to him daily for awhile. Option number one lets him enjoy and then get back to healthy habits but option number two might entail a huge stomachache and a late bedtime. What do you do about this?

Make the costumes: Using Rebecca’s clever costume ideas, your child can be a trend setter hobo baby this year! Hit the thrift shops and think outside the box!  Roscoe posed for this picture in his $4 resale shop pumpkin suit when he was just two months old. 

Treats:

Pennies: I still remember the woman in my neighborhood who gave out a small bag of pennies each year at Halloween. It was my favorite house! We might do this for little ones this year, but just hand them a few so that we don’t have to package them up. The older kids might not be thrilled with this option but I don’t think they’ll refuse free money.  Foreign coins would be especially cool but I’m not sure if I want to exchange money just for trick or treaters!

Stickers: It’s fun to know that children can have something to play with instead of eat in their Halloween bags. While this isn’t a perfect eco-option, it’s better than plastic wrappers that often can’t be recycled.

What are you doing this Halloween to keep the holiday healthy and green? I still haven’t decided what to pass out on Halloween night so I’d love to keep the ideas coming!

Thanks for joining us this week for Thrifty Green Thursday!  Want to jump in?  Read here to see where to start.