Don’t Be Haunted By Your Halloween Candy
Halloween night is filled with scary decorations, fun costumes, and lots of CANDY! Everyone loves candy; however, the spooky reality of it is the amount of plastic candy wrappers that end up in the landfill. Americans purchase 600 million pounds of Halloween candy each year. If every individual piece of candy is wrapped in plastic, that’s a lot of waste!
How To Recycle Halloween Candy Packaging
At Keep Knoxville Beautiful, we recommend buying candy in recyclable packaging, such as paper, to reduce waste. When you are shopping for candy, try to pick the ones in paper boxes, like Nerds or Milk Duds. The paper boxes can be recycled along with your recyclables, and we recommend putting them in an envelope or paper bag so they don’t get lost in the sorting process. Another tip is to buy in bulk to minimize packaging.
KKB Recycling Guide. Source: KKB
What Candy Should You Buy
You can find candy in recyclable paper boxes in your regular grocery stores like Kroger, Target, and Walmart. However, when you’re shopping for candy, there may be some other things you want to consider. Is the candy ethically made, vegan, allergen-friendly? Would you rather hand out an alternative to candy? Some nearby grocery stores that have more of the eco-friendly brands listed below are Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Fresh Market.
Sustainable Candy Brands
These sustainable candies are made with organic, regenerative, non-GMO, vegan ingredients (some), and commit to fairer supply chains. Here is a list of sustainable and eco-friendly candy brands recommended by Digestible Sustainability and Sustainable Jungle.
Taza Chocolate
TCHO Chocolate
Theo
Tony’s Chocolonely
Tree Hugger
Unreal Candy
Yum Earth
Alter Eco
Beyond Good
Divine Chocolate
Endangered Species Chocolate
Equal Exchange
Hu Kitchen
Lovely Candy Co
Pascha Chocolate Co
Surf Sweets
Alter Eco and Tony’s Chocolonely. Source: Sustainable Jungle
Vegan Candy
Here is a list of vegan candies suggested by PETA and World of Vegan.
Most of them you have probably eaten before!
Vegan Candy. Source: PETA and World of Vegan
Smart Sweets
Sour Patch Kids
Surf Sweets
Swedish Fish
SweeTarts
Tony’s Chocolonely
Twizzlers
Unreal Candy
Yum Earth
Zotz
Airheads
Atomic Fireballs
Charms Blow Pops
Chic-o-stick
Cocomels
Cry Babies
Dots
Dum Dums
Enjoy Life Chocolate
Fun Dip
Go Max Go
Hershey’s Plant-Based Chocolate
Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
Jujyfruits
Now and Later
PEZ Candy
Pixy Stix
Reeses Plant-Based Cups
Red Vines
Ring Pops
Skittles
Smarties
Watch out for these ingredients when shopping for vegan candy: carmine, casein, confectioner’s glaze, gelatin, milk, and whey. These are all animal-derived ingredients that are commonly in candy.
Eco-Friendly alternatives to candy
Great sustainable options other than candy!
Halloween Finger Puppets. Source: Pinterest
Mandarin Orange Jack-O-Lanterns. Source: Pinterest
Food
Fruit Leather
Fruit Snacks
Granola Bars
Local Honey Sticks
Mandarin Orange Jack-O-Lanterns
Popcorn
Pretzels
Non-Food Items
Bookmarks
Bracelets
Colored Pencils
Crayons
Erasers
Finger Puppets
Flashlights
Mini Notebooks
Pencils
Play Dough
Seed Bombs
Seed Packets
Small Wooden Toys
Remember, try to reuse or make your own decorations or costumes! Use things like reusable bags, pillowcases, or buckets to hold your candy when trick-or-treating.