What are zero waste, plastic-free fun things to give at Halloween?

Halloween, when I was a child, was fun. You dressed up in hand-me-downs, for the most part, made up handmade outfits, and ran around.
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Now it’s gone jumbo-sized. It’s 20-foot plastic made in China scary skeletons and crazy lights and plastic waste to hell and back. That’s truly spooky.

My wife and I and her child have moved to a new, Halloween-favorite neighborhood. I’m zero waste: a plastic hater who loves (plastic directly fuels our climate crisis and undermines our children’s future) a planet that’s cool and healthy and stable for our children.

So I asked my friends and larger community: “yo! What would you suggest for Halloween candy at a house?”

Tips & Tricks. Note: I’ve basically just learned (because I’ll be a new parent soon and when I was a kid, apples and raisins etc were still common at homes) that most parents won’t let children even take anything that’s not “safely” sealed, usually something sealed in plastic. “Anything home made and not wrapped will be thrown out. Unfortunately.” “Agreed. Most Parents don’t let their kids eat anything that hasn’t been factory sealed.”

My reply in that thread: “I get that parents want children to be safe! But plastic is not safe. Microplastics are not safe. Particularly for children (developmental). And plastic, as a category, is Big Oil plus toxic chemicals directly heating and killing our dear planet and children’s future. So plastic is not safe. I know you know, but a reminder to all of us!”

Anyways: The neighborhood my wife and her child and I just moved into is pretty much the neighborhood for Halloween (in Indy)! So folks go through like 1,000 individually wrapped mini bars bought off of Amazon, etc, and of course I want to do zero waste!

I may have to buy out Nude Foods, my local zero waste grocery when back in my hometown in Boulder in September, or perhaps there’s some old-fashioned waxed paper candies vs plastic-wrapped, or caramel apples?

We don’t quite want to be the house that gives out local apples and raisins (though I love both).

>> Suggestions: a “pen house” is famous for giving out pens, children love it and make a point to stop there every year, others give out coins, rocks or minerals, or classic old school pre-plastic era: “Salt water taffy comes in waxed paper.”

Reminder! Safety matters, and…plastic is not safe. Microplastics are not safe. Particularly for children. And plastic, as a category, is Big Oil plus toxic chemicals directly heating and killing our dear planet and children’s future. So plastic is not safe. I know you know, but a reminder to all of us!

Plastic-free goodies to give this Halloween?

A few suggestions I loved:
You could also do loose change…my kids have always appreciated that and had fun adding it up at the end of the night. They get so much candy it’s a welcome change (pun intended). Also this plus a few $2 bills for the epically awesome costumes

I collect all the 5 minute trinkets my kids gets (think party favors…little crap that kids love that inevitably finds its way into our home) and leave it all out in a bin while we go trick or treating. I figure they get enough candy and sugar and kids are always stoked to get something to play with.
aw that’s cool! Reuse, regift!

One year I had a few large boxes of old children’s books to give away, so I brought them onto the porch for Halloween and the kids picked out books. I also had a bowl of candy but it could’ve just been the books… (I realize this idea only worked because I happened to have the books, but I think you could hand out just about anything and kids would be excited…)

1,000 pencils? Colored pencils! Pens are usually plastic? Safety is also avoiding plastic toxic waste and climate crisis, which plastic directly fuels ❤

Tony Chocolonely bars are wrapped in paper, and they have a vegan version, but I imagine even the smallest ones would be expensive. Taffy is a great idea. We also went to a house a couple of years ago that was making cotton candy, which you can serve on paper cones. Kids ate it on the spot, so it wasn’t the parents’ favorite, but the kids loved it! I guess as long as the machine isn’t all plastic….

From my mom: We were the house on Mapleton that gave out small Sunmaid raisin cartons and apples! When I lived on Parkhill in the Turzanski house for a year I ran out but they had a huge vase by the front door filled with dried cat tails from the nearby pond. So I start giving them out, which was a huge hit, literally, as the boys in the hood started sword fights with them. No one was injured in the play, but the lawn and street were littered with broken cattails!

What a shame these kids don’t get to enjoy the tradition as we did. I loved popcorn balls and candied apples. What fun it would be to receive all homemade old fashioned candies. Now, money and plastic toys.

Hey Waylon, as a mom and longtime Health & Sustainability Coach (who loves Halloween, but not all the plastic junk and unethically sourced chocolate), here are some fun ideas to consider: 1. Print out little orange strips of paper that say something like “Happy Halloween! A tree will be planted in honor of your trick-or-treating.” You could choose lots of other causes (like animal shelters, wildlife sanctuaries, etc.) You can tally the amount of trick-or-treaters or just pick a number that’s reasonable. 2. Buy some native or pollinator-friendly seed packets in bulk and give those out. 3. Hand out small sachets of dried garden herbs or some other gift from nature. If you buy empty sachets and fill them yourself, it really cuts down on the cost. 4. Set up a station for hot cider with some tiny, biodegrade sample cups. Most parents let their kids buy lemonade from neighborhood stands, just make sure you have some good signage (and/or post something in Nextdoor in advance.) 5. Make biodegradable leaf confetti and let each kid take a handful. If you give out gemstones, marbles etc., offer something else to the 4 and under kiddos who might try and eat them. By the way, I’m not religious, but when my kiddo was much younger I would do similar things for Easter Eggs. Enjoy the festivities in the new neighborhood!

Nothing homemade. I do not let my kids eat homemade foods at Halloween (unless it’s from grandma house)
Honestly with having a kid with a food allergy I enjoyed the houses that gave out non food treats. Halloween pencils, stamps, yo-yos, slinkies, playdough

I always appreciate alternatives to candy. Fun erasers, pencils, mini notebooks, depends on what your vibe is. Or you could go big and Buy a cotton candy or popcorn machine. do Halloween in bulk. Serve hot apple cider or hot cocoa and tell the neighbors to bring their own mugs or have some compostable or reusable cups on hand.

Clementines!

You can read hundreds of suggestions here, where I posted on Reddit.