As your dentist, dietician and personal trainer can confirm, the cavity-creating chocolate and sugary sweets at Halloween can leave quite the impression on your waistline, blood sugar and dentist bill. The pre-packaged sugar packs a big punch with respect to your carbon footprint, too. Loads of plastic wrappers on fun-sized sweets made of chocolate and corn syrup that were farmed, processed and shipped around the world don’t exactly add up to an eco-friendly holiday. To be specific, Cadbury estimates that about 6 ounces of carbon dioxide are emitted for every milk chocolate bar it produces (and that’s a normal British-sized candy bar, not a super-sized American block of chocolate).
This Halloween holiday, cut down on the sugar and artificial color and flavor content of your candy stash by sharing with your trick-or-treaters those greener, more sustainably produced goodies. Check out your local organic supermarket or gourmet deli for treats and snacks made from organic ingredients.
If you’re taking treats to a Halloween party or handing them out to non-strangers, consider making your own candy. Homemade treats bring bonus points, too: none of the non-recyclable plastic packaging.
Or start a new trend and skip the candy handouts, opting for more sustainable treats as a greener way of participating in the festivities. Instead of candy coated, sugary bites, offer up little storybooks, crayons, playing cards or toys.
Even with these tips in mind, it can be difficult to resist the temptation of those yummy, pumpkin-shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Fortunately, you can cancel out the carbon footprint of your favorite candies by purchasing Carbon Offsets from Terrapass. Offsets reduce your environmental footprint and support emission reduction projects that make a lasting difference.
For more eco-friendly holiday advice to serve you through the rest of the year and into 2017, stay connected to the Terrapass Footprint Blog. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook, where we’re always sharing tips and information on living an eco-friendly, green lifestyle.
Brought to you by terrapass.com
Sources:
https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2008/10/black_and_orange_and_green.html
https://www.wri.org/blog/2015/08/how-much-rainforest-chocolate-bar
https://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/green-food/10-treehugger-friendly-halloween-candy-treats/#slide-top
https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/halloween/g1173/homemade-halloween-candy/
10 Things Besides Candy You Can Hand Out to Your Trick-or-Treaters
