Beyond Candy
Help make Halloween better!
Hello! My name is Eric. I'm 16 years old, love Halloween, and I'm trying to make it better. I'm looking to reduce sugar consumption on Halloween -- while supporting charities and making trick-or-treating more fun.
Why not Candy?
The first issue I'm trying to address is kids' health. It's no secret that candy is unhealthy, but many people aren't aware of the full risk. Added sugars contribute to obesity [1], diabetes [2], cardiovascluar disease [3], and tooth decay [4].
Each Halloween, the average American child gets about 3.4 pounds of candy [5]. The top 10 Halloween candies in the US are 58% sugar on average [6], so each child gets about 2 pounds of sugar on Halloween.
The American Heart Association's guidelines say that children should eat no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day [7]. The typical trick-or-treater collects 35 times the recommended daily maximum of added sugar, or a significant contributor to a child's maximum intake of added sugar for the entire year.
Furthermore, childhood is the time when eating habits are developed. Giving kids candy as a reward is doing them a disservice in the long run [8].
While some parents try to protect their kids by throwing the candy away, this doesn't address the environmental impact. Candy wrappers are a source of plastic waste, and the production of the palm oil that is present in most candies is a massive driver of deforestation [9,10].
Giving out candy is harmful, but what's the alternative?
A better way
You can make trick-or-treating positive for kids and the world -- while still keeping it fun.
Instead of handing out candy, I set up a table in front of my house with three shoeboxes. Each shoebox has a slit in the top and is labeled with a charity addressing a different issue. (For 2024, I chose Monterey Bay Aquarium, EatReal, and Rainforest Action Network.) I also fill a bowl with wooden tokens. When trick-or-treaters show up, I hand them 4 wooden tokens and explain that I’ll donate 25 cents per token put in each charity box. I also give a description of each charity.
Even very young kids get it. Sometimes, parents are surprised by the lack of candy, and their kids explain the idea of trick-or-treating for donations.
It's fun watching trick-or-treaters decide. Most kids have never been empowered to make a decision like this before. Some feel passionate about one particular issue and put all of their tokens in one box, with comments like “I like dogs!” or “I want to be a doctor when I grow up.” Others find all of the charities compelling. They put one token in each box, then have a decision to make for the fourth token. This choice can take some time, as kids talk with each other and with their parents about what is more important to them. Virtually all kids find this much more interesting than candy.
Some parents put cash into the donation boxes, adding to the donation totals. I also display QR codes so they can donate directly, but I don't track those gifts.
At the end of the night, I tally up all the wooden tokens in each shoebox and then make the donations, using money I earned from tutoring plus the money my parents didn't spend on candy.
You can make trick-or-treating positive for kids and the world -- while still keeping it fun.
Instead of handing out candy, I set up a table in front of my house with three shoeboxes. Each shoebox has a slit in the top and is labeled with a charity addressing a different issue. (For 2024, I chose Monterey Bay Aquarium, EatReal, and Rainforest Action Network.) I also fill a bowl with wooden tokens. When trick-or-treaters show up, I hand them 4 wooden tokens and explain that I’ll donate 25 cents per token put in each charity box. I also give a description of each charity.
Even very young kids get it. Sometimes, parents are surprised by the lack of candy, and their kids explain the idea of trick-or-treating for donations.
It's fun watching trick-or-treaters decide. Most kids have never been empowered to make a decision like this before. Some feel passionate about one particular issue and put all of their tokens in one box, with comments like “I like dogs!” or “I want to be a doctor when I grow up.” Others find all of the charities compelling. They put one token in each box, then have a decision to make for the fourth token. This choice can take some time, as kids talk with each other and with their parents about what is more important to them. Virtually all kids find this much more interesting than candy.
Some parents put cash into the donation boxes, adding to the donation totals. I also display QR codes so they can donate directly, but I don't track those gifts.
At the end of the night, I tally up all the wooden tokens in each shoebox and then make the donations, using money I earned from tutoring plus the money my parents didn't spend on candy.
Join the fun!
If you want to try this for yourself, it's easy! If you'd like to use the same charities as I did, you can find the QR codes here. Alternatively, you can also print out your own QR codes.
Aside from the labels, all you need is 3 boxes, a table, and a large number of wooden tokens. I used these, but these wood tokens can be replaced with any small object (legos, marbles, etc.). Just make sure you have a lot of them!
Results
In 2024, over 340 trick-or-treaters (and parents) participated. A few kids wanted to keep a token, and the total money donated was $343.75. EatReal was the most popular charity, with many kids commenting on the quality of the food in their school cafeterias. For those who stopped by, thank you! Your enthusiasm was really appreciated.
In 2024, over 340 trick-or-treaters (and parents) participated. A few kids wanted to keep a token, and the total money donated was $343.75. EatReal was the most popular charity, with many kids commenting on the quality of the food in their school cafeterias. For those who stopped by, thank you! Your enthusiasm was really appreciated.
Sources:
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5133084/
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4822166/
[3] https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar
[4] https://www.actiononsugar.org/sugar-and-health/sugars-and-tooth-decay/
[5] https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/food/how-much-candy-do-we-eat-halloween
[6] https://www.realsimple.com/most-popular-halloween-candy-6755282 with sugar content here
[7] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000439
[8] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5622750/
[9] https://www.rts.com/blog/reduce-your-halloween-candy-plastic-waste/
[10] https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/don-t-get-tricked-passing-out-industrial-palm-oil-halloween
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