# Throwing candy away



## aspenleaves (Oct 23, 2008)

So I have read in several threads about how others 'do' candy at Halloween or at other times. It is so interesting to read about others ways. I always learn so much.

Anyway, I am trying not to be too judgemental in any of my friendships and acquaintences but one friend recently told me that she allows her children to eat all the candy they want on Halloween night and then they throw it away.

I found myself being so irritated by this. Like why even trick or treat? Why wouldn't you let your children (ages 11 - 5) eat more of the candy on a different day?

What do you think?


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

We don't throw it away the next day but we do keep it in the house for a couple days and then it disappears to Dh's office. The kids don't miss it, and they get of fun of trick or treating.


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

I think it's horrible to throw out the candy. I think it teaches children a very bad message about it being OK to be greedy and then just discard.

It makes me so mad when people do that. If you don't want your kids to have alot of candy, then don't let them go out trick-or-treating. It's really not hard.


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

I don't understand throwing it in the garbage. I imagine most people know someone who would enjoy having it. I've heard of some people letting their children eat as much as they want on Halloween night and then having them put the rest out to be swapped in the night for a little non-candy gift. Tooth-fairy style. But I don't think they threw the leftovers in the trash can, I assumed they gave it away to someone.

We just eat the candy over here. We pretty much love candy, especially me


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## just_lily (Feb 29, 2008)

I think it is really rude to the people who paid good money to give out candy to trick or treaters to have it only go into the garbage. Some people have to scrimp in other areas to pay for candy to give out (where I used to live we would get 200 kids!) and to have it just go into the garbage is such a waste.


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## momoftworedheads (Mar 6, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *aspenleaves* 
So I have read in several threads about how others 'do' candy at Halloween or at other times. It is so interesting to read about others ways. I always learn so much.

Anyway, I am trying not to be too judgemental in any of my friendships and acquaintences but one friend recently told me that she allows her children to eat all the candy they want on Halloween night and then they throw it away.

I found myself being so irritated by this. Like why even trick or treat? Why wouldn't you let your children (ages 11 - 5) eat more of the candy on a different day?

What do you think?

I think this is just sad. Give the candy away or give it to those who will eat it. Throwing it away is just teaching them such negative things. Like it is ok to be greedy and wasteful. My kids eat some of their candy and then Daddy takes the rest to work to eat.

take care!


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## OGirlieMama (Aug 6, 2006)

That's really wasteful and sad. I wonder how they've managed to not have the kids rebel, too. I'd probably have taken it out of the trash in the middle of the night!

The past 2 years my kids were young enough that they ate some candy that night and forgot all about it afterwards. But no way did we toss it. Well, actually, my husband and I tossed most of it - in our mouths.







This year I imagine will be a different story, and I think it's a great opportunity to teach them about moderation. A little binge on Halloween night for sure, and then 1-2 pieces as a treat here and there until it's gone.


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OGirlieMama* 
That's really wasteful and sad. I wonder how they've managed to not have the kids rebel, too. I'd probably have taken it out of the trash in the middle of the night!

I had a good friend in grade 7 who only took home about 1/2 her candy. She knew her mom was going to make her get rid of 1/2 of what she took home. Then I took the other half to school the next day and she kept it there until it was gone.


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## shepremiers (Jun 18, 2008)

I have a 5 year old and now a 10 month old. We will pig out on Halloween night and then use the rest as treats for lunch boxes and after school snacks. With me around it won't last too long anyway!


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## lolar2 (Nov 8, 2005)

OMG Why isn't she sending it to me?????


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## kcstar (Mar 20, 2009)

I've known several coworkers who bring it in to the office a day or a few after Halloween.

I know my parents would always have us throw away the candy cigarettes. There might have been one or two other things they were absolutely opposed to, but not much. We'd always sort out and toss the ones where the wrappers weren't secure, but that's mostly due to urban legends.

I'm sort of in the "wasteful" camp, except it does remind me of the cafeteria on campus: dessert portions would be way more than I wanted/needed, so I learned to take a few bites, and when I was full toss the rest. But I didn't have any way to "take out" or save those. Candy's different, it doesn't really go bad.


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

I can't imagine getting that much extra candy! Maybe we don't trick or treat for long enough, but we never have, like, pillowcases full.

ETA: I would say on average, our Halloween candy lasts 2 weeks, if that.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

It doesn't bother me.

When I hand out candy, to be honest, as long as it's not illegal I really couldn't care less about what people do with it. I just love to see all the sweet kiddos in their costumes. If throwing out the candy after allowing a pig out is the compromise the parents have come to (vs. not allowing their children to go at all!) then that's fine with me.

I think most multinational corporation candy is already pretty much a waste anyway.

Will some kids rebel? Of course. Some kids always rebel in all situations. Some of these kids might decide that their children will receive NO candy and hand out broccoli at Halloween. Some kid who never got to T&T might grow up to become the CEO of Nestle or Hershey's.

Most people I know only allow the kids to keep half, or only keep it around for a few days and then take it to an office, or have the 'halloween fairy' take all of the candy that night (except for the handpicked selection, to fill a cup or something small, that the child decides to keep) and leaves a toy or a book in the place of it.

For a long time DH didn't work at an office and I was a SAHM with lot of young non-schooled children--I dumped the candy because I am a compulsive overeater and I didn't want to deal with a huge binge and then all the shredding of myself that I do when that happens. My kids didn't really care, they lost interest after the first 3 days anyway.


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## Pkutniewski (Sep 7, 2009)

I'll be the lone dissenter here.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
I think it's horrible to throw out the candy. I think it teaches children a very bad message about it being OK to be greedy and then just discard.

It makes me so mad when people do that. If you don't want your kids to have alot of candy, then don't let them go out trick-or-treating. It's really not hard.


So our kids who can't have a lot of candy should go without trick-or-treating, is that what you are saying? I think that keeping my kids from enjoying a fun day that most of their friends enjoy would be far more cruel than just tossing most of the candy when they aren't looking. I toss it because, realistically, WHO am I supposed to give it to? None of the people I hang out with eat anything that has HFCS or artificial anything in it and I don't have the time to drop off a few pounds of candy at a shelter. I do not even know if they would take loose candy such as it is. My DS is quite sensitive to food containing artificial colorings and flavorings so we absolutely must keep his consumption down or he is an absolute wreck. I see nothing at all wrong in letting him enjoy dressing up and going door-to-door. As for the PP who spoke of paying good money for candy why does it matter to you what is done with it after you have GIVEN IT AWAY? Honestly, it makes no sense to be insulted by something that you have given to a child to do with as they please. they may dislike the kind of candy given to them and throw it out anyway. Would that be any different?


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pkutniewski* 
So our kids who can't have a lot of candy should go without trick-or-treating, is that what you are saying?

Yes.

There are plenty of non-candy alternatives for celebrating Halloween. Many neighborhoods or communities have parties. You can throw a party with limited candy.

Your kid can go out trick-or-treating and simply not have a pillow but still have a blast with his friends.

Taking candy knowing you are going to throw it away is greedy and wasteful.


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

Are we seriously saying that it is wasteful to throw out candy? How exactly is candy something that is useful?

I would say at least half of our Halloween candy gets tossed. Some because DD opens it, tastes it, and spits it out. Some because there is no way I want her eating it. And the rest because it's been a few weeks and we really don't need all this candy in the house. Plus all the good stuff gets gobbled up pretty fast so why clutter up the kitchen with the stuff no one really likes.

I also find that DD's ability to carry and interest in trick-or-treating seems to equal a reasonable haul anyway.


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## Vermillion (Mar 12, 2005)

Yikes! I can't believe people actually do this. Not only do I feel like it's greedy and wasteful as others have mentioned, but the whole eat as much as you want on one night only seems like setting kids up to have issues with binge eating.


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## Pkutniewski (Sep 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
Yes.

There are plenty of non-candy alternatives for celebrating Halloween. Many neighborhoods or communities have parties. You can throw a party with limited candy.

Your kid can go out trick-or-treating and simply not have a pillow but still have a blast with his friends.

Taking candy knowing you are going to throw it away is greedy and wasteful.

Wow. I can't imagine telling a 5 year old "here honey, let's go door-to-door and say trick or treat and NOT take their stuff"! As for being greedy and wasteful what exactly are we wasting here? It's junk food. Not steak. There is no "starving kids who would love to have it" guilt attached to junk food. I don't know a single person who isn't wasteful with most things. Anyone who produces more than that one tiny bag of garbage that couple made a documentary of, is wasteful to an nth degree comparatively speaking. Those that don't recycle are wasteful, those that do not reuse what they can are wasteful but throwing out junk food to me, is not wasteful. Nor is it greed. We don't go to to other neighborhoods to see how much candy we can get. We stay in our 24 house development and see our own neighbors. I see no greed whatsoever about it.


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## sunshadow (May 17, 2009)

My daughter is only 2 so we haven't faced this yet, but I've heard of saving some of the candy in the freezer and then using it in Christmas cookies.

Growing up I had full control of my candy and I pretty much ate it all in a day or two.







I have always been healthy and never had any weight issues, so I don't know why it's that terrible to just let them have their candy. I don't know if in reality I could let my child down a bag full of candy though, but that's because I don't want to deal with her sugar crash!









*eta* I kind of think it's wasteful to throw it out too, but only because I really could have eaten all those kit kats I handed out myself! (but that's the inner child talking!)


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

actually reading stuff like this on mothering for the last few years is why I don't give anything out. candy is bad. trinkets are bad. good grief...why bother if every little gift is just going to go in the garbage?


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pkutniewski* 
Wow. I can't imagine telling a 5 year old "here honey, let's go door-to-door and say trick or treat and NOT take their stuff"!

Why not? Only because you've taught your child that the point of ToTing is to collect a bagful of candy (which you then throw away). So, for your kids, the point of Halloween is that you go around and take stuff people are giving you and throw it away. Why not just make the point be going around and showing people your costume?

To me, the throwing away candy would be like if I went into my department and found that someone had brought in some kind of treats and was offering them, and I took a serving and went and threw it away...

Quote:

As for being greedy and wasteful what exactly are we wasting here? It's junk food. Not steak. There is no "starving kids who would love to have it" guilt attached to junk food. I don't know a single person who isn't wasteful with most things.
I like candy. It tastes good. I would eat it. I don't think I'm wasteful with most things. I try not to be. We certainly never threw away Halloween candy.

I'm really thinking that spending half my weekly food budget on something to give a bunch of kids who don't even want it isn't how I want to spend my money this year. I think I'll leave the light off and donate what I would have spent to charity...


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## Calidris (Apr 17, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 

Taking candy knowing you are going to throw it away is greedy and wasteful.

really?

Whether it goes into the bin, or through your gut into the toilet isn't that big a difference is it? It's not like there is any significant nutritional value being wasted. I could understand the outrage if it was organic meat and veggies being tossed, those could do good for someone else. But junk candy is not contributing anything (except a few calories).


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## greenmansions (Feb 16, 2005)

I'm with Pkutniewski. I let my kids go trick or treating, but I throw away a lot of the candy they get - it's total crap. Why help them develop a taste for it? We limit candy around here and there are lots of kinds I don't let my kids eat. Maybe if people don't want their candy thrown out, they should give away less-unhealthy treats like honey sticks or something.

For us, so far, it's been for every piece I hand out from the cupboard, I throw one piece out later on of something I find particularly icky. Last year it was chocolate after that tainted milk scare from China. The kids never missed any of the candy, though this year may be different because DS is wising up as he gets older. What I like about the eat one, toss one is that they get to eat treats in moderation, but the total time they are available in the house is reduced.

We also trick or treat only on our block and we go to the zoo's Halloween party which has a lot of neat entertainment but does not have candy - they give away honey sticks and clif bars and it's pretty easy to avoid the treat tables.

To the OP, I really think what your friends do is a poor way to handle the candy deluge. There is no learning moderation with that.


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## Dandelionkid (Mar 6, 2007)

Yup- candy is total crap. I don't feel a shred of guilt throwing it out. It is complete garbage for human bodies so really, it's either our bodies as a dumpster, or a dumpster as a dumpster








That being said, this thread has got me thinking....nah- Ill still throw away extra candy. Like I said- no guilt at all about it


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## WC_hapamama (Sep 19, 2005)

Honestly, even if Halloween candy isn't ideal nutritionally, I still think it's wasteful to throw it away.

If you insist on having your kids trick-or-treat despite the fact that you won't let them eat the crappy candy, why not donate the candy you won't let them eat to a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, meals on wheels program, nursing home or food pantry. Even poor people and old people like a treat occasionally, and even a handful of fun sized Snickers bars is better than going hungry.


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## mandib50 (Oct 26, 2004)

i've thrown halloween candy out before. honestly, some of the candy is just horrible and not fit for anyone to eat. i'm not talking the little chocolate bars and such, or even some of the hard candies (which i like), but some of the candy you can buy around here is just nasty.


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

But why not just say "No, thank you"? My daughter has said this before at houses giving away candy she didn't like (and that she knew I didn't like







), and it wasn't a problem. She was with friends who took the candy. No one ever seemed offended.


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## mandib50 (Oct 26, 2004)

well sometimes it's candy like double bubble gum which turns out to be as hard as a rock, or little bags of jujubes that are also hard as rocks, and some candies you don't realize until you bite into them and they taste like soap. it's sort of hard to tell sometimes what you are getting because you might get a mix of stuff you like and stuff that isn't as good.

anyway, we don't throw out a lot, just the stuff like i mentioned above.


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## aspenleaves (Oct 23, 2008)

Well I too throw out some of the candy. The stuff my DD would break her jaw on or the really sticky - can't get it off her teeth stuff. But I can't see throwing away all the Halloween candy because you don't want your kids eating any of it.

Like I said, why trick or treat then? If you wan the fun of dressing up and going out, why not give your neighbors something? or just not take the candy or just take the really choice pieces for your one night binge! Frankly I agree with most of you that it is not good practice and wasteful. I'm surprised more folks aren't speaking to the bad practice of it instead of the waste. Sure it is wasteful, but I know this family to a certain degree and they choose to live in deprivation. They choose a scant exsistance (or I should say the parents choose it) and I just don't completely get it. (But that is a different thread). I guess throwing away the candy was just icing on the cake for me. Just let your kids have the candy for goodness sake they have nothing else!!!


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## tankgirl136 (Dec 13, 2008)

For those against candy why not have your kids tot for Unicef or something similar instead?

http://www.unicef.org/support/14884.html

I personally will not throw candy away, I hate some candy, but hate the idea of teaching my DS to waste more, personally. I think there are better options.

nak


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
I think it's horrible to throw out the candy. I think it teaches children a very bad message about it being OK to be greedy and then just discard.

Yeah, I'd rather just limit the number of houses we go to and portion out the candy when the kids want a treat. Having to walk the hilly streets to all the houses, combined with the cold weather, means trick-or-treating is fairly limited anyway. But there will always be candy that goes in the trash because the kids just don't like some of it, or it gets put on a shelf and forgotten. My older daughter was not all that into the candy, but she'd get some from parties and things at school and it was precious to her, so we put it in the pantry. Five years later it was still there, and my younger daughter found it and tried to eat some of it, but she ended up spitting most of it out.









I used to do the same thing, though. I'd go to lots of houses and I wanted to get a lot of candy, but I knew there was only a limited subset of stuff I'd eat. I started saving it and giving it to my younger sisters for Christmas.


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## emaye_to_2 (Jan 16, 2008)

We've allowed our children to go trick-or-treating for the fun of it altho it's not in much accordance with our spiritual beliefs. My kids have never been into candy so it's not a big deal to them when we get rid of the treats they collected. They've never missed any of the candy (so far). I sight the hypocrisy in the whole thing but I definitely throw away the candy! I don't need my children eating all that junky sugar.


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *greenmansions* 
I'm with Pkutniewski. I let my kids go trick or treating, but I throw away a lot of the candy they get - it's total crap. Why help them develop a taste for it? We limit candy around here and there are lots of kinds I don't let my kids eat. Maybe if people don't want their candy thrown out, they should give away less-unhealthy treats like honey sticks or something.

For us, so far, it's been for every piece I hand out from the cupboard, I throw one piece out later on of something I find particularly icky. Last year it was chocolate after that tainted milk scare from China. The kids never missed any of the candy, though this year may be different because DS is wising up as he gets older. What I like about the eat one, toss one is that they get to eat treats in moderation, but the total time they are available in the house is reduced.

We also trick or treat only on our block and we go to the zoo's Halloween party which has a lot of neat entertainment but does not have candy - they give away honey sticks and clif bars and it's pretty easy to avoid the treat tables.

To the OP, I really think what your friends do is a poor way to handle the candy deluge. There is no learning moderation with that.

So then why send your kids out to knock on doors and ask for crap?


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar* 
Why not? Only because you've taught your child that the point of ToTing is to collect a bagful of candy (which you then throw away). So, for your kids, the point of Halloween is that you go around and take stuff people are giving you and throw it away. Why not just make the point be going around and showing people your costume?

It's not like I am throwing away the candy in front of DD. In our house it is more of a cleaning out the refrigerator kind of discarding. I just do it over time and DD never notices. DD gets to eat what ever she wants and she shares with DH and I so it's natural for things to disappear.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar* 
To me, the throwing away candy would be like if I went into my department and found that someone had brought in some kind of treats and was offering them, and I took a serving and went and threw it away...

You have never tossed food at work? I certainly have. It's never my intention when I take the food. Sometimes I just don't like it after tasting it.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar* 
I'm really thinking that spending half my weekly food budget on something to give a bunch of kids who don't even want it isn't how I want to spend my money this year. I think I'll leave the light off and donate what I would have spent to charity...

I think that giving out candy on Halloween is something that people do because they enjoy it. There are no strings attached. I do not feel that the kids are under any obligation to like and consume my treat.

Growing up it was just a given that you would get a mix of treats from every house and you had fun pouring through it later. Then you could trade or give away what you didn't want. Ultimately there were always treats left at Thanksgiving that no one really wanted so they were tossed.

Where is the greed and waste here?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tangible* 
I personally will not throw candy away, I hate some candy, but hate the idea of teaching my DS to waste more, personally. I think there are better options.

So you choke down candy that you don't even like to prove a point?


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## aspenleaves (Oct 23, 2008)

The throwing away the candy measuring tool for waste is very large. My original post was that the bag of candy at the end of the night, irregardless of what it contained or how much it contained got thrown away. There is no picking through to save your favorites, or putting 2 pieces aside for the next day, it was described to me as a ritual of Halloween. I think they even have a certain amount of time on Halloween to eat what they can and then the buzzer goes off and the candy gets tossed.

I don't think anyone who throws away a jaw breaker would call you wasteful and I'm sure no one is choking down candy they hate. I just can't believe people won't let thier kids enjoy eating the candy they get on Halloween. Like it is evil to eat candy.


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## eepster (Sep 20, 2006)

We often do ToTing at the mall, if it is cold outside but heated at the mall. Last year, by the time we got there, a lot of the shops had run out of candy already.

DS doesn't eat every bit of candy he gets, he enjoys sharing it. Sharing candy with GM was one of his great joys these last two halloweens (my mom has a major sweet tooth.) The way he says "OK" when DH asks if he can have a piece of candy is so cute. It's a wonderful opportunity for DS to share and be generous.

When I lived in the Bronx, not many kids went out ToTing. One group came around to our apt unexpectedly, and I went looking for a bag of werthers I happened to have. I had been the first person to answer the door, so that day, those kids went home with nothing more than a handful of werthers each.

So, yeah the idea that some people go around grabbing up all the candy, that our family would have enjoyed, that there are kids who don't get, then just throw it away bugs me.


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## alacrity (Oct 25, 2008)

I have no idea what I am going to do with my daughter for halloween because we are vegan and even if we were not we do not eat things with HFCS or artificial flavorings and colors. I want her to have the trick or treat experience but no one wants candy after halloween so what should we do with it?? I cannot imagine throwing it all out either.


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## bender (Mar 23, 2007)

A family I babysat for gave out things when they went trick or treating. The parents didn't want to teach their children that it was just an excuse to get things without giving in return. Each year, the kids made something to give at each house. They weren't allowed to say 'Trick or Treat', but if candy was offered, they could take a piece.


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## TEAK's Mom (Apr 25, 2003)

We like to make cute little gift bags with the excess (the kids decide what is excess, but we make sure it is unopened, etc) and take them to the homeless and domestic violence shelters. A little luxury treat can mean a lot to someone in a bad situation.

But then, we give granola bars to homeless folk on our way to the library if they ask. It started when a gentleman asked me if I had money for food. I didn't, but I didn't want my dds to see me disregard a hungry person, so I offered him a granola bar from my bag. A few weeks later, he brought a friend up to us who needed something to eat. I sort of feel good when people know that "the Granola Bar Ladies" (which is what they call us) will share.

Why waste food that could make someone happy?


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## velochic (May 13, 2002)

I'm not sure why people are throwing out the candy within days or weeks. We actually still have some candy from last year! No, it probably doesn't taste as fresh as it did a year ago, but it takes forever to "go bad". What is the point of trashing it the next day or week? That does seem wasteful unless you don't buy another single piece of candy for the next year. It's a waste of money. Just put it in a cabinet and use it as treats throughout the year. I literally *never* buy any candy, although dd has food intolerances and can only rarely eat anything that is not all-natural, so it doesn't take a ton of candy to last us a whole year.


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## ShwarmaQueen (Mar 28, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *aspenleaves* 
Like why even trick or treat? Why wouldn't you let your children (ages 11 - 5) eat more of the candy on a different day?

What do you think?

Trick or treating might just be the most fun part for the kids, maybe?

I totally don't agree with letting them pig out though. Eating candy during the evening is fine, but then at home it goes up in the cabinet with all the other 'treats', which we do eat, but in moderation.









(I do throw away candy that I don't approve of though- most chocolates are fine.)


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## giftedwith2 (Apr 4, 2007)

I don't think it's fair to let kids "work" so hard to collect a pile of candy and then just throw it away.







At the same time I can understand the parent's desire to prevent their kids from loading up on sugar day after day. We've worked out a compromise at my house. My son is allergic to nuts so all of the nutty candy goes home with grandpa after trick-or-treating. Even so we still have a TON of candy in the house. I let my kids have whatever they like on Halloween night. They then put most of the candy into a cookie jar and for the next few days can pick out 2-3 items a day. After a few days they start to lose interest and the rest goes into the freezer to be used to decorate gingerbread houses at Christmas time. We love to do the gingerbread houses but buying all that candy to decorate them is spendy so the leftover Halloween candy (M&M's, Skittles, Dots and mini chocolates) is not only colorful but saves us $$ too.


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## betsyj (Jan 8, 2009)

This has been an interesting thread.

My husband grew up in Kenya. On Halloween his mother scoured all of East Africa for pumpkins for the kids to carve. They carved them, lit them at night for a few nights and then his Mom got ready to toss them.

The Kenyans who worked for them at the factory and on the farm land were moritifed. How could you throw away perfectly good pumpkin? Those pumpkins could have fed an entire family.

It really opened his mother's eyes to how different people view food and waste.

So, throwing away all the pumpkins, or composting them or whatever is technically really wasteful.


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## jjawm (Jun 17, 2007)

Eh, I could really care less either way. I allow the kids to eat what they want for a few days, then it goes into the pantry for lunch treats, and after 1 month, it goes away, either to dad's mouth, or in the garbage. Actually, I can't think of any that's been thrown, because dh eats it. But I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Seriously, it's junk.

Once I give it to the kids, I could care less what happens with it. I'd rather it go in the garbage than contribute to obesity.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

Well, we don't trick or treat at all. Both for religions reasons and we just don't want that amount of candy coming into our house.

However, we somehow end up showered with way more candy than we want during October (pretty much any event we go to, and friends, and family, etc).

Most of it does end up in the trash. For a week or two, I will occasionally let the boys each pick something out of the collection, but then we're done. My dh is also from Africa and has a huge problem with wasting food, but he doesn't consider candy "food", so he would actually prefer we just throw it all away and not eat any of it.


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## StrawberryFields (Apr 6, 2005)

Well, my kids are still little (1.5 and 3.5) so what we do now will probably change 1000 times over by the time they are older. Not only are my kids not physically capable of eating a lot of the candy that is handed out (taffy, gumballs, jawbreakers, etc. etc.) but at such a young age I don't think they need two large bowls of candy to eat day after day until it is gone. But dressing up and trick or treating is SO much fun! Running around with their friends and cousins, pretending to be a fireman or a ghost or whatever, collecting candy and eating suckers. When we get home I talk to them about which candies are for bigger kids and remove those items. Then they can pick what they want to keep out of what is left, and the rest is traded in for a new toy. Dh takes any chocolate/candy bars/etc to work, I save what I can for baking (M&Ms, etc) or potty training (Smarties, Jelly beans
, gummy bears, etc). The rest gets thrown away.

IMO they participate in an age-appropriate level at this time and as they get older the amount of candy they keep will grow and change. But as a child I remember a lot of my Halloween candy going stale and eventually getting tossed too... the Smarties, the red and black peanut butter things, the things that no one liked. No way am I going to either tell my kids they either have to eat it all, or be banned from trick or treating because they are being wasteful.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Calidris* 
really?

Whether it goes into the bin, or through your gut into the toilet isn't that big a difference is it? It's not like there is any significant nutritional value being wasted. I could understand the outrage if it was organic meat and veggies being tossed, those could do good for someone else. But junk candy is not contributing anything (except a few calories).

Well, one could argue that it's wasteful in the production, etc...not to mention people's buudgets. I think you're better off not taking it.

I let my kids eat some candy, I save anything chocolate for baking, if I can. And if there is anyleft a week or so later, they don't really care and I donate it to PADS.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *greenmansions* 
I'm with Pkutniewski. I let my kids go trick or treating, but I throw away a lot of the candy they get - it's total crap. *Why help them develop a taste for it?* .

Why help the develop a habit of taking and tossing? That everything we don't want can be put in the garbage. We are running out of room.


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## Quinalla (May 23, 2005)

I think it would be better to find someone to give it or to send a couple pieces each day in their lunch for awhile or something like that. We just ate ours over the next month or whatever as kids and after a week all of it went into a general family candy bowl. My Mom also made sure we only took one piece of candy at each house so we didn't have such an overwhelming amount.

Once we were older, we started trick-or-treating with my church youth group and went to the same neighborhood each year and collected non-perishable food to donate to a food bank. We didn't collect candy, though we would take a piece if someone really, really wanted to give it to us. It was a nice way to have the fun of dressing up and visiting all the houses without feeling like we were just teens trying to get some free candy and the neighborhood we went to caught on fast and would have bags of stuff waiting for us for Halloween.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Our kids trick or treat because they love it. We keep all the candy in a bucket (once I've taken out all the ones they can't have because of allergies). The candy stays in there usually until we get buried in Valentine's candy and we empty the bucket and start again. Seriously, 5 months after Halloween, some of that stuff could break windows. I don't feel bad at all. And I do let my kids have candy regularly. I don't eat candy so it takes awhile to get through all of it.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pkutniewski* 
As for the PP who spoke of paying good money for candy why does it matter to you what is done with it after you have GIVEN IT AWAY? Honestly, it makes no sense to be insulted by something that you have given to a child to do with as they please. they may dislike the kind of candy given to them and throw it out anyway. Would that be any different?

I was wondering that too. If you don't want to waste your money on candy, don't get any and leave your light off. We don't get trick or treaters out in the country so I don't worry about it, but really, who cares if a kid eats it or throws it away?

I think this thread is funny. So many posts here about these awful mainstream parents giving their children candy and yet those of us who do throw away some candy are horrible. You just can't win.


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## SquishyKitty (Jun 10, 2005)

We keep it around for a few months and then toss it out when the next big holiday loaded with treats rolls around.

DS doesn't get a ton of candy from TOT, and truthfully he doesn't care much for it. We eat the good stuff, the rest basically sits there until I come across it a few months later and throw it out.

I don't really care for throwing out the candy the very next day, but I'm coming from a place where my mom used to just take the candy and not give us any after we spent hours TOT.


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## mamatoablessing (Oct 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jjawm* 
Eh, I could really care less either way. I allow the kids to eat what they want for a few days, then it goes into the pantry for lunch treats, and after 1 month, it goes away, either to dad's mouth, or in the garbage. Actually, I can't think of any that's been thrown, because dh eats it. But I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Seriously, it's junk.

Once I give it to the kids, I could care less what happens with it. I'd rather it go in the garbage than contribute to obesity.











ITA.


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## JamieCatheryn (Dec 31, 2005)

When we go (not every year, sometimes we do something else), we take a walk around the neighborhood. We visit some houses to collect candy, and end up with about 10 houses' worth. Not enough to go to waste. We throw out really nasty candy but besides that we eat it or DH takes it to work to share.

If we are home, we either hand out candy bars, or glow sticks or playdoh or something.


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## Dizzie (Nov 28, 2007)

Wow! Being classified 'junk food' group makes it ok to take and toss? If you think it's junk why allow your children to take it in the first place?

I don't understand this. Regardless of the nutritional value - energy, water, labour and other resources are put into making this stuff. Taking something you don't need or want because it is there and available or because it is tradition just seems so wrong to me. What is wrong with "No, thank you" or "Thank you, we're going to pass on the sweets this year". Just because it is readily available in excess it doesn't make it ok to dispose.

I don't think it's that the candy could've fed to an otherwise starving child, it's about teaching children to take only what they need and to be responsible with resources - big and small.

Whilst my suggestions might not be the best options and some members may not see it the way l do, there are always alternatives, always other ways to do things. I think we probably all have some room in our lives to be more waste wise and less a part of consumerism.


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## Ellien C (Aug 19, 2004)

This reminds me of a story:

When I was 19, I went to Italy on a tour with my mother and my brother. The tour included an evening at a restaurant with "half a bottle or wine/person." My brother and I sat at this table "manfully" trying to finish our wine so it didn't go to waste. My parents, while they weren't strict followed the law. I wasn't allowed alcohol at 18 because they law said I had to be 21. But in Italy, of course, the law was different. And let's just say I didn't have a lot of experience with "vino." At the end of the night, as the tour got ready to leave, I was standing up, trying to suck down the last of the wine. And my mother said something very wise - better in the trash, than in your stomach. And she was really right about that. I had enjoyed the wine with dinner. I was done enjoying it. There was no point in putting MORE wine in my stomach, just to not waste it. It really was better off in the trash than in my stomach.

We get to that point with our candy. It's not necessarily on Halloween night, but at some point, I determine that the candy has been enjoyed, is just temptation, ant-trap, stale, causing issues, and it goes out. And I think that this garbage is better off in the trash than hanging around my house. I might bring it to work, but then I have the same problem. It will end up in my stomach. And DH, of all people, does NOT need the tempation.

I could see how if sugar really caused your kid issues - like aggression or hyperactivity that it would be better to just get it all over with in one night and get rid of the candy. Sometimes it's better not to have the temptation around - the power struggles, the fights, the begging, the bargaining.

We get a LOT of kids at our house on halloween. We plan for 10 bags of candy and Dh buys about 2 per week all through October. With something like candy, I don't really care what anyone does with it when it's gone. The joy is in giving it out. Now, if I made someone a handmade gift (knitted or sewn), I might care if it got tossed. But not candy. Our houses are very close together, so we also GET a lot of candy. Our neighborhood is a "destination" neighborhood and kids from other neighborhoods arrive by the carload to ToT here. And DH and I think that is AWESOME.

I have a bigger issue with what to do with crappy strings of beads - like from Mardi Gras parades, pirate parties, pinanatas. And those crappy little toys from the doctors office. We are inundated with them. My next plan is to let DD keep 3 strings of each kind and see if we can purge the remainder.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

I don't really care if people throw it away. But I think if the kids know it's going to get tossed the very next day (like in the OP), it could make them more likely to eat way more than they normally would on Halloween night.

I'm not against a Halloween pig-out, but if I knew I only had a few hours' access to my candy as a kid, I probably would have eaten as much as I possibly could instead of just having several pieces and saving the rest for later.

For that reason, even if I were the type to throw away leftover Halloween candy, it'd probably spend at least a week in the house before I'd toss it.


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *betsyj* 
This has been an interesting thread.

My husband grew up in Kenya. On Halloween his mother scoured all of East Africa for pumpkins for the kids to carve. They carved them, lit them at night for a few nights and then his Mom got ready to toss them.

The Kenyans who worked for them at the factory and on the farm land were moritifed. How could you throw away perfectly good pumpkin? Those pumpkins could have fed an entire family.

It really opened his mother's eyes to how different people view food and waste.

So, throwing away all the pumpkins, or composting them or whatever is technically really wasteful.

Not every one throws out pumpkins! I also consider that to be a waste. They are carved the day of, and then the next day I bake them until they are soft and freeze them in 1 cup amounts to use in baking and soups.

Waste is waste.

I am SHOCKED on MDC to see so many people OK with just throwing things out. It's really very horrible. Why not just do disposable diapers then? Why bother buying bulk and using reusable containers to take snacks?

It's actually quite sickening to read how many people think it's perfectly OK to just throw out the candy rather than donating it to charity or giving directly to the less fortunate.


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## Youngfrankenstein (Jun 3, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dizzie* 
Wow! Being classified 'junk food' group makes it ok to take and toss? If you think it's junk why allow your children to take it in the first place?

I don't understand this. Regardless of the nutritional value - energy, water, labour and other resources are put into making this stuff. Taking something you don't need or want because it is there and available or because it is tradition just seems so wrong to me. What is wrong with "No, thank you" or "Thank you, we're going to pass on the sweets this year". Just because it is readily available in excess it doesn't make it ok to dispose.

I don't think it's that the candy could've fed to an otherwise starving child, it's about teaching children to take only what they need and to be responsible with resources - big and small.

Whilst my suggestions might not be the best options and some members may not see it the way l do, there are always alternatives, always other ways to do things. I think we probably all have some room in our lives to be more waste wise and less a part of consumerism.

I agree. I don't think the candy is sacred food but it seems wasteful to toss if and take it if you know you don't want it.


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## crl (May 9, 2004)

Wow, I'm surprised that so many people feel so strongly about throwing out some candy.

DS has food allergies. I'm not going to stop at every place, read the label to decide whether the candy is safe for him to eat and then reject the candy that he can't eat. (I can't even imagine how that exchange would go: DS: "Trick or treat" Me: "Let me see the label for that candy. No, no, he can't have this. DS, say no thank you." Umm, no.)

We go trick or treating and when we get home I sort through his stuff and pull out what he can't eat. If it's most of the candy (often it is), I trade him some candy he can eat from what we bought to hand out. DH and I eat some of DS' discards, but some of it is stuff we don't like. DS doesn't usually have all that much candy to start with, maybe 30 to 40 small pieces?

So in the end we probably have 10 to 20 small pieces of candy that DS can't eat and we don't want. It's junk food. I'm not sure that giving it to someone else is really a kindness. It's sort of like giving an Ezzo book to someone else because you don't want it. Not to mention that I can't see it being worth the effort for the small amount of candy we have laying around. Really, you all think I should use a gallon or more of gas to drive to a homeless shelter to give them 10 to 20 tootsie rolls?

Catherine


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

I've been known to add the candy ds won't eat to the treats we hand out since he is usually done trick or treating before the older kids give up. I do feel guilty donating candy that I don't want my own ds to eat, stuff with trans fats particularly. When he is given a choice of different candy, I'll help him pick the kind he would like. Since he doesn't like nuts or super sour things, I can steer him toward his preferences when he isn't familiar with the choices. So we try not to take things ds wouldn't eat. He'll decide he has lots of candy and say it's time to go home, at some point long before he really has a lot, imo. I will throw out the random pieces of candy with trans fats that we didn't manage to avoid during trick or treating. I hate waste but I also feel like it isn't ethical to give other kids things I don't want my own child to eat.


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Why throw out stuff rather than donating it?

That's the part that's really bothering me. Someone who has nothing might appreciate a treat too.


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## Calidris (Apr 17, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vbactivist* 
Well, one could argue that it's wasteful in the production, etc...not to mention people's buudgets. I think you're better off not taking it.

you probably are. But the way Halloween is marketed it is pretty hard to deny a child the ToTing experience unless you are very strongly driven by principles. I don't think this thread is about those issues.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
I think it's horrible to throw out the candy. I think it teaches children a very bad message about it being OK to be greedy and then just discard.
.

well the flip side to that is the "eat everything on your plate" message. And I don't like that that message at all. I struggled with that for a bit, but in the end I decided that i would rather throw away what DD doesn't want than eat it myself (feed here not junk).


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## meowee (Jul 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *aprons_and_acorns* 
I don't understand throwing it in the garbage. I imagine most people know someone who would enjoy having it. I've heard of some people letting their children eat as much as they want on Halloween night and then having them put the rest out to be swapped in the night for a little non-candy gift. Tooth-fairy style. But I don't think they threw the leftovers in the trash can, I assumed they gave it away to someone.

We just eat the candy over here. We pretty much love candy, especially me









If your children were given poison trick or treating would you let them eat it? In terms of nutrition candy is not much better than poison. Yes it is hard to explain this to a child, even harder to tell a child "no trick or treating because candy is bad." Best path of moderation is to let them go out, have fun, eat some of the candy and then throw away (hopefully) most of it. Knowing what I know about nutrition, you couldn't pay me to eat candy. It would be like eating soup someone had spat in-- worse, actually.


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## meowee (Jul 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
Why throw out stuff rather than donating it?

That's the part that's really bothering me. Someone who has nothing might appreciate a treat too.

If someone gave you a pack of cigarettes would you throw them away or donate them? Candy is not much better than cigarettes. You're doing the world a favor by throwing it away. Sugar, HFCS, artificial flavors/ coloring, hydrogenated fats, preservatives, an often sticky consistency which is horrible for teeth and gums.


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## karemore (Oct 7, 2008)

Didn't read all the way through but of course we throw away candy!

I find it much harder to believe that people let their kids eat that much candy then to understand why mom's throw it away.

Nobody needs to eat candy.

I wouldn't dream of throwing away fruit, or veggies, or beans, or water, or cereal, etc etc etc......if we have something we can't use we donate it or share with friends/family.

But I can't see how chemical filled sugar treats would benefit anyone else so much that it's a shame to throw it away.

My DD is 4. She loves to trick or treat, she loves parties, she loves parades. We get candy, we eat a bit for a day or two and then it goes into the cupboard. After a couple months I realize it's still there and it gets tossed.

I'm not going to stop taking my child to parades or parties, or tell her she can't trick or treat. If someone is offended perhaps they could hand out pretzels, or popcorn, or raisins, or crayons or something.


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

We keep it and slowly dish it out until its gone. So slowly that I'm about to throw away what's left from last year.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
Why throw out stuff rather than donating it?

That's the part that's really bothering me. Someone who has nothing might appreciate a treat too.

i agree. someone at the beginning of the thread said it was too much trouble to donate it. that broke my heart. as a kid i never got candy because we were too poor. one fun sized bar would have mede my day. someone brought us groceries once and can still remember exactly what fun cereal was in that bag. junk yes. some yummy, fun and like the other kids though. I am so glad someone took the time to donate that! it filled more than my tummy







our soup kitchen asks people to bring in their mcdonalds toys and they put them in gift packs for little kids. how awesome to have a little peice of chocolate and a peice of gum in those bags. no it is not nutritious but it the stomach isn't the only thing that needs care when you have nothing. no amount is too small. our church has a shelf. perhaos we will even trick or treat extra this year so we have enough to donate so each person can have a peice or two in their lunch (the soup kitchen also sends a sack lunch with each person). its not a lot. 40 peices is all it takes to offer one to everyone.

and if you don't want your kids to have all the candy but still want to trick or treat why not redistribute along your walk? do you feel virtuous not giving it to others, getting it off the street? or go to the sort of party where you can just leave it there. there are plenty of ways to have fun on halloween besides asking for something you know you will throw away.

don't get me wrong, if it is bad candy (stale, nasty, hard etc) of course you are going to throw it away. i am talking about throwing away perfectly good anything someone else would like.


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## inkslinger (May 29, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka* 
i agree. someone at the beginning of the thread said it was too much trouble to donate it. that broke my heart. as a kid i never got candy because we were too poor. one fun sized bar would have mede my day. someone brought us groceries once and can still remember exactly what fun cereal was in that bag. junk yes. some yummy, fun and like the other kids though. I am so glad someone took the time to donate that! it filled more than my tummy







our soup kitchen asks people to bring in their mcdonalds toys and they put them in gift packs for little kids. how awesome to have a little peice of chocolate and a peice of gum in those bags. no it is not nutritious but it the stomach isn't the only thing that needs care when you have nothing. no amount is too small. our church has a shelf. perhaos we will even trick or treat extra this year so we have enough to donate so each person can have a peice or two in their lunch (the soup kitchen also sends a sack lunch with each person). its not a lot. 40 peices is all it takes to offer one to everyone.

and if you don't want your kids to have all the candy but still want to trick or treat why not redistribute along your walk? do you feel virtuous not giving it to others, getting it off the street? or go to the sort of party where you can just leave it there. there are plenty of ways to have fun on halloween besides asking for something you know you will throw away.

don't get me wrong, if it is bad candy (stale, nasty, hard etc) of course you are going to throw it away. i am talking about throwing away perfectly good anything someone else would like.

I almost commented on the 'having no time to take it to a shelter' but I didn't. That made me really sad.


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meowee* 
If your children were given poison trick or treating would you let them eat it? In terms of nutrition candy is not much better than poison. Yes it is hard to explain this to a child, even harder to tell a child "no trick or treating because candy is bad." Best path of moderation is to let them go out, have fun, eat some of the candy and then throw away (hopefully) most of it. Knowing what I know about nutrition, you couldn't pay me to eat candy. It would be like eating soup someone had spat in-- worse, actually.

I guess I don't understand why this was directed at my post. All I said was that I know some families that let the kids trade in their Halloween candy for a non-candy treat. (And that I assumed the candy was passed on to other people and not dumped in the trash.) I think that is a nice idea if you want your children to have the fun of trick or treating but you don't want them to eat the candy.

And no I wouldn't let my children eat poison. To our family candy is not poison and so we do eat all or most of the candy.

ETA: Oh, probably because I said I don't understand throwing it in the trash. I guess if new, wrapped candy to you is worse than soup that's been spat in, then the garbage can is the place for it. I didn't mean to sound judgemental toward trashing it. We just have different points of view on candy. What makes sense to one family doesn't work for someone else.


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## MammaG (Apr 9, 2009)

Here's how we handle Hallowe'en in our house (so far!). I don't hand out candy because I don't like candy....we always manage to find tattoos that even the bored-and-jaded preteen set have deemed 'cool'. We take our kids trick-or-treating and they sometimes say 'no thanks' to the candy, but thanks for the hospitality. They usually end up with quite a bit of candy at the end of the evening, though.

The past few years, the Great Pumpkin has visited our house on Hallowe'en night. We help the boys read food labels on their 'stuff' and allow one or two special peices, but the rest gets left out for the Great Pumpkin, who then leaves a new game or toy in thanks. Candy went to DH's work, or last year a friend gathered it from many families and sent it to the troops in Iraq.

Now that my oldest is 5, I think that he's capable of understanding more about nutrition, waste and charity. This year, we'll do fund-raising for Unicef, plus accept candy if uit's offered. We'll still do the Great Pumpkin thing, but now I have a few options for my oldest to help the Great Pumpkin decide where to donate the candy:

1) Our local Boys and Girls Club would take some (some of those kids don't get to go trick-or-treating and I'm assured that one or two peices would be given to each child....not a glut that I wouldn't approve for my OWN children).
2) I met a woman at a perty a few weeks ago who works at a local homeless shelter and they'd be happy to take it. I feel that adults can make their own decisions about the foods they choose to eat.
3) Sent it to troops again. Again, adults can make their own decisions and I have the idea that a familiar and favourite candy might just make some soldier's day....might remind him or her of a child back home, for example.

While I do agree with the substance of the argument that wasting is wasting, it really is taking it a bit to the extreme to condemn throwing away some excess. As pps have said, some of the stuff you get is barely fit for human consumption and I don't feel badly putting that in the garbage. I would (and have) happily thrown out, for example, a 'fruit drink' that I bought in a hurry and later discovered had HFCS in it. I feel that tossing it would do less damage than imbibing it. Not everyone has the luxury of time that I do to find places to donate 'the haul', and tossing it is surely a better option than letting your kids eat it. But why not try do more 'tricks' than 'treats' if you know you don't want it? Teach your kids some good knock-knock jokes and let them ham it up on Hallowe'en night.


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

I just want to note that I think there's a big difference between going out ToTing intending to throw away most of all of the candy you get and throwing some away later because you tried it and didn't like it. The latter is fine - why force yourself to eat something you don't like - but taking a gift with the intent of throwing it away bothers me a lot.


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## hippiemommaof4 (Mar 31, 2008)

I dont see why people get so worked up over candy. i let my kids have it in moderation. i eat more than moderation because i like it lol







. i would never waste candy and even to prove a point. if i did well it really wouldnt matter because there are still people who are going to keep producing it and many more who will eat it soooo i think i would rather save my battles for something really meaningful and stuff my face with some chocolate its a win win situation in my house lol


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## CyclingMom (Nov 16, 2004)

Why must people throw the candy in the trash? That is wasteful. Would it really be that hard to get it to someone who might enjoy it? Giving it away is one thing, but just tossing it in the trash seems wasteful.


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dar* 
I just want to note that I think there's a big difference between going out ToTing intending to throw away most of all of the candy you get and throwing some away later because you tried it and didn't like it. The latter is fine - why force yourself to eat something you don't like - but taking a gift with the intent of throwing it away bothers me a lot.

I agree, and that's what I was thinking. I don't think it's odd at all to toss out stuff with red 40, or nuts if your kid is allergic, but knowingly going out and collecting a bunch of candy with intentions of throwing away the majority of it doesn't make much sense to me.

I know much of what is given out is pretty awful (artificial flavors/colors, etc.) and I totally get how horrid sugar is for our bodies. I am big on nutrition and feed my family quite well, tyvm. But Halloween is just not an issue because it's once a year, it's not going to ruin all the good stuff I've fed them all the other days, and we simply do not get tons and tons of candy.

Really, how long are you all out trick-or-treating? Maybe it's because we have four little ones (and DH and I would not enjoy staying out for an extended period of time ourselves watching them ring doorbells) but I would say, at tops, we are out for an hour. And that includes a lot of walking, and visiting with neighbors and other TOT'ers. We hit up, maybe, 15-20 houses. That's not really that much candy - especially when some houses give out other things for treats.

I would have been super upset, I'm sure, as a kid if my mom said, "okay, now that we are back home eat X amount and then the rest is going in the trash!" wtf?! even if it's in the name of our health and well-being, it's over the top. My mom was very strict about our nutrition (ie the only soda we had was Hansen's every great once in a while) but not only did she not take trash our candy we collected, she didn't dictate when we could eat it, either. I'm sure that doesn't work for every kid, and it may depend on the age - but I would much rather leave it up to my kids as to when and how much they want to eat of it (since again, I am not talking about pillowcases of candy - don't go to that many houses, if it's too much!).


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## BlueStateMama (Apr 12, 2004)

Our neighbors give out TONS of candy to the TOTers from the street. Here's what we do:

Halloween night = eat what you want. It's a once a year candy gorge I'm fine with. Once we're home, while snacking on the goodies, I have each child pick 10 pieces. Those are theirs to do with as they wish - eat all at once the next day, space them out, whatever. Their choice.

They leave the rest of the candy out for the "Halloween Witch" (at bedtime), who spirits it away while they sleep. That's in exchange for a small toy they get to pick out.

So, the deal is we make a trip to the toy store and let them choose something small. They've had their fun with candy, I get an end to them munching away forever, and they are happy with the exchange. It's been an enjoyable way for all of us to handle the candy situation.

(of course, the witch spirits the candy off to the upper-most regions of our cabinets, where mommy gets to eat her favorites when everyone's in bed







)


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## EnviroBecca (Jun 5, 2002)

Quote:

Are we seriously saying that it is wasteful to throw out candy? How exactly is candy something that is useful?
The usefulness of the finished product is not the only measure of whether throwing it away is wasteful. The ingredients in both the candy and the packaging could have been used for something more worthwhile. Most candy packaging is plastic, which is made from our irreplaceable petroleum and will never break down in a landfill; throwing that away without even using the contents is WASTE.

EllienC wrote:

Quote:

We get a LOT of kids at our house on halloween. We plan for 10 bags of candy and Dh buys about 2 per week all through October....
I have a bigger issue with what to do with crappy strings of beads - like from Mardi Gras parades, pirate parties, pinanatas. And those crappy little toys from the doctors office. We are inundated with them.








You can give those beads and toys as Halloween treats!

We struggle somewhat with the deluge of Halloween candy: We always visit EnviroDaddy's parents, who live in a great trick-or-treating neighborhood, and then in addition to the treats EnviroKid collects, his grandma always wants to unload some of her extra candy on us! Not only do we want EnviroKid to eat candy only moderately, but EnviroDaddy and I both react badly to simple sugars so usually choose to eat other things. Typically we put away the candy and soon forget about it. This attracted mice one year (candy was in a paper bag on the floor) and weevils last year.

*Here is my plan for this year:* We will volunteer to bring the food for a church coffee hour in mid-November. We will chop up all remaining chocolatey candy and mix it into a batch of low-sugar, whole-wheat, oatmeal cookies. This will leave us with only hard candies, which are good to keep around through the winter in case of sore throats.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

We have a program at our church that helps us resolve the problem. It goes hand-in-hand with the trick or treat for UNICEF program that we also do.

We sponsor a Halloween party for kids from a local organization that helps resettle homeless families. The kids from the church bring whatever candy they can't eat or don't want (or their parents don't want them to have). Volunteer adults from the congregation "buy" the candy from them. The money goes into the kids' UNICEF boxes, and the candy gets donated for the Halloween party.


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meowee* 
If someone gave you a pack of cigarettes would you throw them away or donate them? Candy is not much better than cigarettes. You're doing the world a favor by throwing it away. Sugar, HFCS, artificial flavors/ coloring, hydrogenated fats, preservatives, an often sticky consistency which is horrible for teeth and gums.

TBH, if I felt that strongly about candy I wouldn't let my kids trick or treat. I'd have a candy-free Halloween party at my house.


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## LavenderMae (Sep 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
TBH, if I felt that strongly about candy I wouldn't let my kids trick or treat. I'd have a candy-free Halloween party at my house.

Exactly. And that's what I used to do years ago when it bothered me. I'm down with trick or treating now, to my kids' delight (and mine)!


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## jlobe (May 1, 2009)

As pp has said, candy is still food.... farmers produce corn to make high fructose corn syrup,...chocolate is harvested by some of the poorest people in the world... to throw away their efforts seems a little wrong to me. If we don't want our families eating them... why buy them or just limit the amount of ToT'ing. We trick or treat for a couple of blocks so we can have a treat that night and maybe the next couple of days.

I find a harder choice to be what to give kids from my house.... I really wish we could still make popcorn balls and other snacks like we did when we were kids.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Huh. I just threw out some candy yesterday! We have had a TON of birthday parties with candy-laden goodie bags lately. DD is allowed to have a piece or two a day, but it was just too much. It was junk candy that DH and I wouldn't have eaten anyway (like, Pxie Stix and gumballs). Not that I need the calories.

This was, admittedly, a handful of stuff. If I had a whole bunch of chocolate candy I didn't want to have around, yes, I'd have DH take it to his office.

I think I've thrown out Halloween candy before, too. Normally we are very anti-waste, but--it's CANDY.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Calidris* 
well the flip side to that is the "eat everything on your plate" message. And I don't like that that message at all. I struggled with that for a bit, but in the end I decided that i would rather throw away what DD doesn't want than eat it myself (feed here not junk).

That depends, imo, on how you handle the "eat everything on your plate" thing. I don't expect my kids to eat everything on their plates, _if I dish it out_. If they choose to take more food than they want, then they can finish it before taking something else.

I don't mind my kids eating the candy at Halloween. If it were a big problem for me, I wouldn't take them trick-or-treating. There are other fun things to do at Halloween.

As for donating extra candy, I'll admit I've never done that. I'll try to keep it in mind. Honestly...I have trouble with donating, in general. It's not that I object to it - far from it. It's not even that it's too much work. It's just that I have phone phobia issues, and I find it hard to find donation information online (not sure why), and sometimes even find it hard to find phone numbers. I donate gently used clothes, but they're stockpiling a little...because the drop-off bins are all disappearing. I wouldn't know _where_ to donate candy.


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## GuildJenn (Jan 10, 2007)

I love the cookie plan. That's what happened with us last year.

We went to two Hallowe'en events - a trick-or-treat at my son's daycare and then my son went out for half an hour on our block. We ourselves gave out pencils, play-dough, and candy (we let the kids pick out two things).

I thought we would end up with a limited amount of candy. We ended up with a ton!!! Seriously I could not believe it. We couldn't work our way through it so all the chocolate stuff ended up in our Xmas baking (which we give away). I put a bag of extra candy in the food bank bin at the grocery store. But seriously I still don't know how we ended up with so much stuff like that.

I really think if people want to throw it out, it's okay with me. Yes, it's a waste - right now it's the gap between what we kind of know about consuming candy and our need to go through the cultural ritual. When I was growing up we got apples, bags of home-popped popcorn, peanuts, cookies, homemade toffee etc., that were both less packaged and also a broader range of food.

But now that's not the norm - nut allergies, fears of poisoning, etc. have changed that and I just am not sure we've really caught up.

If parents want to bridge the gap with a bit of waste well, that's ok. The packaging is already thrown out, so the waste factor is really high whether it has the food in it or not.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Quote:

Really, you all think I should use a gallon or more of gas to drive to a homeless shelter to give them 10 to 20 tootsie rolls?
Yeah, this is kind of boggling my mind a little bit, too. I mean, if I had a HUGE BAG of candy, like a pound, I wouldn't toss it. But, you know, 20 little pieces? I'm supposed to be agonizing over this? (BTW, I donate and volunteer quite generously.)

How many of you order food that you can't finish in a restaurant? Do you ever throw out the rest of a soda or coffee? Have you ever accepted food at a gathering to be polite but then not finished it? I mean, not that I am advocating this American way of eating wastefully, but I'm just sort of bemused by the judgement and anger here when I think the vast majority of posters probably waste lots of food.

I think it's not so much about food as about a sense of "How dare you throw away something *I* bought???" Well, it happens. You give what you give, and you can't control what happens after it is given.


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## GoBecGo (May 14, 2008)

My azz would thank me if i tossed it, but we all love candy here, so we eat it!







I don't mind if other people toss what i give them, so long as they don't call me to tell me they did (would seem really off/odd to do that). To be fair we give out nuts and fruit as well as candy at hallowe'en and i bet a LOT more of my satsuma's get tossed by kids than my cookies or shop-bought lollies etc. do!


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
I wouldn't know _where_ to donate candy.

If you put it in a decent container like a little Halloween bucket or a gift bag, nothing fancy but just to make it look nice and clean, there are a lot of places you could drop it off as a little treat for people on the job. I would take it to the library, the post office, the bank, the grocer, the child care place, a real estate or insurance office, the school, the hospital, the family enrichment center, anywhere with a lot of customers or employees. Chances are someone will want it and appreciate it, or take it home to their families. A lot of businesses this time of year have a little container of candy up by the register for customers to take one. This is coming from a small town perspective by the way! It might be different in different places. Around here it wouldn't go to waste, and the places I mentioned above would recognize me and it wouldn't be like I was some stranger coming in with candy.


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

By the way, I'm imagining a regular amount of Halloween loot, like a mix of little candy bars, M&Ms, lollipops, etc. when I suggest bringing it in to working people. If it's just the "dregs" of Halloween, a few hard Mary Janes and some old black and orange peanut taffy, stale bubble gum, yeah I wouldn't bother with that. I would just toss it.


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## sunshine's mama (Mar 3, 2007)

I've tossed it bc it gets forgotten about and old.

We go to the neighborhood I grew up in bc old friends bring their friends to trick or treat at grandma/grandpa's.

We start on the right side of the street and hit the 8 houses or so on that side, cross the street and hit the houses on the other side of the street. Sometimes they are all home, sometimes they aren't. So we don't end up with a TON of candy. Some of it dd1 doesn't even like so I'll have a bite and that's about it.

There is a dentist on the street and she looks forward to her new toothbrush and apple (we take the apple bc we know him well)......There is an older gentleman (I'd say early 70s) who passes out little golden books.....so I spose we don't get all candy.

My friends just take it to their office after letting their kids eat a few bites on Halloween and after keeping a few pieces for treats etc.....


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## paxye (Mar 31, 2005)

We love to go ToTing but because of allergies the kids can't keep much of it...

Our solution is to go out early, ToT for a while and then come home and quickly separate what they can and can't have and then give what they can't have out to later ToTers... no waste and as much as my kids love going door to door and getting candy and treats... they also love giving it out again along with something else I get to give out (last year was glow sticks)


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Every single grocery store around here has a donation bin for food! Even the floofy over priced natural/organic store has one.

How hard is it to take the bag of candy you don't want, put it in the large cardboard bin, and then go do your shopping?

There's no phoning or driving or anything beyond what you normally do.

Even the dreaded evil Walmarts have them.

That way the candy could go to people while it's still pretty fresh and be enjoyed by someone who wouldn't otherwise get any.


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## DevaMajka (Jul 4, 2005)

I tend to think that wasting candy isn't the same as wasting food. Eating candy just to avoid wasting it actually has a negative impact on our health. If it's just thrown away, it's still gone, but we are healthier for it.
BUT it does seem wasteful (money, resources, etc) to take it with the intention of throwing it out.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meowee* 
If someone gave you a pack of cigarettes would you throw them away or donate them? Candy is not much better than cigarettes. You're doing the world a favor by throwing it away. Sugar, HFCS, artificial flavors/ coloring, hydrogenated fats, preservatives, an often sticky consistency which is horrible for teeth and gums.

Just to play the other side- wouldn't it be better to not have any money go to the cigarette (or candy) company in the first place? To not waste the resources to make the product?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilyka* 
as a kid i never got candy because we were too poor. one fun sized bar would have mede my day. someone brought us groceries once and can still remember exactly what fun cereal was in that bag. junk yes. some yummy, fun and like the other kids though. I am so glad someone took the time to donate that! it filled more than my tummy









Thank you for sharing that. I will remember it for a very long time, and it will definitely affect my donating in the future







.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
Every single grocery store around here has a donation bin for food! Even the floofy over priced natural/organic store has one.

How hard is it to take the bag of candy you don't want, put it in the large cardboard bin, and then go do your shopping?

There's no phoning or driving or anything beyond what you normally do.

Even the dreaded evil Walmarts have them.

That way the candy could go to people while it's still pretty fresh and be enjoyed by someone who wouldn't otherwise get any.

That's a great idea if it's available to you. I've never seen any food donation bins here that take anything except for boxed or canned items.


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## pjs (Mar 30, 2005)

Wow this thread is so amazing to me! Throwing away candy is wasteful and greedy but on the happy meal thread buying a happy meal so the kid can get a piece of MIC junk and then not have to eat the food (because it's crap anyway and not nutritious at ALL) is ok for special occasions. Huh?

We throw away the candy we won't eat- like almond joys, hard candies, etc

Oh, my dentist "buys" back Halloween candy for so much a pound (I'm sure that ends up in the trash too)


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Alyantavid* 
That's a great idea if it's available to you. I've never seen any food donation bins here that take anything except for boxed or canned items.

Here they are just large cardboard boxes. People put into them what they like.

I went to church with a woman who worked at the food bank and she said that they will accept and use any and all "sealed" type things. So individually wrapped candy is perfectly OK.

Are you sure yours only accept boxed and canned goods? Most of the time they are just labeled against perishables.


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## crl (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
Every single grocery store around here has a donation bin for food! Even the floofy over priced natural/organic store has one.

How hard is it to take the bag of candy you don't want, put it in the large cardboard bin, and then go do your shopping?

There's no phoning or driving or anything beyond what you normally do.

Even the dreaded evil Walmarts have them.

That way the candy could go to people while it's still pretty fresh and be enjoyed by someone who wouldn't otherwise get any.

Ok, that makes sense to me for an unopened bag of Halloween candy. But I can't imagine that they really want individual pieces of candy, like starbursts or tootsie rolls, floating around in there. (Those are the kinds of things that end up left over around here. If it's mini chocolate bars, we eat it.) I'd think it would be hard to sort little pieces like that and the individual wrappers would get torn and it would just end up with the food bank having to pick them all out of the other food and pitching them.

Maybe most of the disagreement on this thread is really about how much candy people are envisioning being thrown away? I can see being more motivated to find a "home" for the candy if it was hundreds (or even dozens) of pieces of candy. . . .

Catherine


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

As far as I know, from people who work at the food bank and work with charities in general, is that they are happy to take pretty much everything. They put together bags of loose candy to give people. Not everyone wants loose candy, but most stuff is still fine to give away.

We have a youth emergency shelter here that will take perishables too. It's pretty awesome.


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## EnviroBecca (Jun 5, 2002)

Loraxc wrote:

Quote:

How many of you order food that you can't finish in a restaurant? Do you ever throw out the rest of a soda or coffee? Have you ever accepted food at a gathering to be polite but then not finished it? I mean, not that I am advocating this American way of eating wastefully, but I'm just sort of bemused by the judgement and anger here when I think the vast majority of posters probably waste lots of food.
I can't speak for the majority, but I'll speak for myself: I normally eat everything on my plate, literally every grain of rice and sauce scraped up with the side of my fork. If a restaurant serves me more than I can eat, I bring home leftovers (if possible, I bring my own containers for them), and I or someone in my family will eat them. It's very unusual for me to throw away part of a non-water beverage, and I even tend to finish my water if possible (sometimes restaurants refill so often I can't keep up!) or give it to a plant. If I've accepted food to be polite, I'll eat it if I possibly can (I'm not painfully full, and it doesn't literally make me gag) and adjust my eating later in the day to compensate. My partner and I finish things our kid doesn't want. I don't care what's the American way or what "everyone" does; I hate seeing stuff go to waste! When I worked as a restaurant dishwasher, I actually found it difficult to resist _eating leftovers from strangers' plates_; I did refrain, because of germs, but it was hard to scrape all that good food into the garbage. We do sometimes have food go bad in our house, and it makes me so sad, even if we can compost it to make fertilizer for our flowers, because the resources and human effort that went into growing the ingredients and preparing the food did not get used as efficiently as they should.


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
How many of you order food that you can't finish in a restaurant? Do you ever throw out the rest of a soda or coffee? Have you ever accepted food at a gathering to be polite but then not finished it? I mean, not that I am advocating this American way of eating wastefully, but I'm just sort of bemused by the judgement and anger here when I think the vast majority of posters probably waste lots of food.

I think a better analogy would be whether or not posters go to a buffet and load up 5 plates full of food, then eat 2 bites off each plate, and throw the rest away.


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

I agree that it's wasteful, but I also don't want my kids to miss out on the fun. So here's what we do......when we notice the bag of candy is getting too full....we stop trick or treating. I tell the kids that it's mean to take more than you can use...that it makes it so that some other kids might not get any.

Then we come home....and pick out the things that they can eat (things that don't adhere to teeth) and the rest gets dumped in the bowl along with the candy that we purchased for trick-or-treaters...and we give it out to the kids that knock on our door.

Examples of candies that we keep....we keep chocolate, hard candies, pixie sticks...but not taffy, caramels, tootsie rolls or sugary gums...we try not to eat things that are hard to remove from your teeth afterward because dental problems are really prevalent in our family on both sides. But most of the time we're able to give them out to other trick or treaters. Any that is left at the end of the night though, does get tossed. We just CAN't have tons of candy in our home. It will get munch on constantly until it is gone....and dh and I have both had weight loss surgery.


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## littlemizflava (Oct 8, 2006)

yes i really feel like that would be a waste of money, someone bought it to give out to be nice. i would feel hurt knowing i spent enough on buying treats and they are thrown in the trash my money was wasted. we get 200-300 kids some years even more so yes that is alot of money buying treats.

if you dont want your dc to have lots of candy when you go to the door you can say "just give them one candy please" ya i have done it before. the point of trick or treating should be the fun not just the candy.

we shell out and we go out trick or treating. i dont want my kids to bring home huge amounts of candy so i just let them take a really small bag for the candy when it is full we go home. if there is things i dont want them to have or no one likes it goes in the shell out bucket.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

EnviroBecca, I am being quite serious when I say that that is great. But I would bet good money that 90% of the posters decrying the waste of candy are not as conscientious as you.

Are all of you who think this is so horrible doing everything possible to eliminate food and packaging waste elsewhere? Yes, EnviroBecca is, but what about the rest? Do you go to fast food restaurants? Do you get take-out? Do you buy disposable items for parties? How is your child's lunch packaged? Do you compost? What percentage of your groceries are not packaged?

I still maintain that what is really getting people riled is not the waste of food or packaging, but the perception of rudeness/entitledness that comes of accepting a gift and throwing it out. I sort of get that, but I really, really think the waste issue is a red herring, and that part of giving is accepting that the recipient may not use or "appreciate" your gift as you might like.

I wonder what you all think about crap plastic goody bag junk? Can I throw that away? I mean, it is JUNK. I would be embarrassed to donate that to a shelter.

Actually, we managed to leave without the goodie bag at one recent party. It was intentional on my part, but the goods had already been bought, so... (We don't do goodie bags at our own parties. Absolutely not.)


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
EnviroBecca, I am being quite serious when I say that that is great. But I would bet good money that 90% of the posters decrying the waste of candy are not as conscientious as you.

Are all of you who think this is so horrible doing everything possible to eliminate food and packaging waste elsewhere? Yes, EnviroBecca is, but what about the rest? Do you go to fast food restaurants? Do you get take-out? Do you buy disposable items for parties? How is your child's lunch packaged? Do you compost? What percentage of your groceries are not packaged?

I'm not as conscientious as EnviroBecca, but I do make a serious effort to reduce and eliminate packaging and waste.

Quote:

I still maintain that what is really getting people riled is not the waste of food or packaging, but the perception of rudeness/entitledness that comes of accepting a gift and throwing it out.
I don't see this as the same thing as a gift. People go trick-or-treating. This is a socially sanctioned (maybe the _only_ socially sanctioned) way of _asking_ for a gift. People deliberately knock on doors to ask for candy - because we all know that's what the vast majority of people hand out - then throw that candy away. I can't even wrap my brain around that. I'm not talking about a few dregs at the bottom of the bag that nobody likes and they didn't get eaten and then went stale. I'm talking about planning to just throw it away when you go out to get it. That's what I _thought_ was under discussion in the OP.

Quote:

I wonder what you all think about crap plastic goody bag junk? Can I throw that away?
Do you go to a party, and say "Hey - can I have a goody bag?" I'm guessing you don't. It's just not the same thing.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

I'm sure everyone here does something that someone else here would consider wasteful. No one is perfect. That said, I think it's really strange to have kid's go out ToT with the _intent_ of throwing most of the candy away. If I felt candy was that terrible, I would either find a different activity to do on Halloween or I would find something to do with the candy. I just don't get taking something you know full well you aren't going to use and think is complete crap just to throw it away. Now I'm not saying that I think it's evil to throw away a petrified piece of bubble gum or something but rather addressing the scenario in the OP.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
Are all of you who think this is so horrible doing everything possible to eliminate food and packaging waste elsewhere?

I'm trying but in no way fully there. It's a process for me. It's hard to start living in a completely new way than how I was raised. I make small changes here and there. But I wouldn't take something I didn't want and thought had no value just to get it and then throw it away. That just seems deliberately wasteful to me, ykwim?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
I wonder what you all think about crap plastic goody bag junk? Can I throw that away? I mean, it is JUNK. I would be embarrassed to donate that to a shelter.

We have a "salvage shed" at the recycling center. You can take pretty much any usable item there besides clothes. It's the best thing ever! And people take away like everything. They're like vultures







. Pretty much everything I take is gone before I drive away. There is also a place here called the Scrap Exchange that takes pretty much anything that can be used in an art project. But honestly, I think any shelter that took in children would be thrilled to get those cheapo dollar store type items to provide a little diversion. I would just save up a decent amount and then take it in.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

One of many things I have learned from MDC is how toxic it is to give a gift and not be able to let go of it afterwards. It brings such horrible emotions and energy to both the giver and receiver when that happens--and yet STILL it's not like it changes the control issue.

So to those who are shocked that someone could be a member of MDC for years and 'waste' candy or a gift--I ask you, how in the world could you read all these stories of family feuds over dispensation of gifts, ect, and not come to the conclusion that if you're GOING to give something then do everyone a favor and give it willingly, freely, and with no strings attached!!!

I cannot believe the amount of spite and anger over what other people do with their halloween candy. The reverse is also true--if you can't hack people not eating the candy you chose then don't hand it out!!

Do people really spend time being angry over this? Or is this riling up for the purposes of debate?

Let anyone who wants to ToT do so. Let anyone who does not want to not. Let anyone who wants to give out candy, broccoli, toys, stickers, juice boxes, whatever is legal to give out give it! Let anyone who wishes to take it take it. And let whatever happens after Halloween be the business of people in their own families.


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## ShadowMoon (Oct 18, 2006)

Quote:

Let anyone who wants to ToT do so. Let anyone who does not want to not. Let anyone who wants to give out candy, broccoli, toys, stickers, juice boxes, whatever is legal to give out give it! Let anyone who wishes to take it take it. And let whatever happens after Halloween be the business of people in their own families.
This, and what Tigerchild said before, hits the nail on the head.

We may eventually go ToT because Ds may want to and will inevitably have to give away or discard some candy because of our vegan lifestyle. Oh well.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Storm Bride, I think maybe you are focusing on the "TorT is ASKING for something" aspect much more than I do, and even most young kids do. I don't think my DD thinks of it as going door to door requesting candy to be given to her. I think she sees it as an exciting ritual that mysteriously ends in candy. I don't even think most kids get the literal meaning of "trick or treat."

I think the goodie bag parallel holds. Many here are saying "Well, if you don't want the candy, then don't trick or treat." To me that makes as much sense as saying, "Well, if you don't want the goodie bag, don't go to the party." Just because you may not use the party favor/candy you are given doesn't mean you have to miss the whole event, in my book!

We really don't TorT for the candy here. I mean, a little bit, but till she was 4 we didn't even show DD the candy and she was thrilled, THRILLED to TorT. It's about the fun of the costume and showing it off, the excitement of being out after in the mysterious after-dark world, the strangeness of knocking at unknown doors, seeing jack-o-lanterns...wow, I love Halloween.







Honestly, I would not take my children to a church event or probably a mall event, which seem to be the common TorT alternatives. They seem very antiseptic to me, and we are atheists who hate the mall! Also, wait, don't these events have candy too?? Realistically, how many Halloween events are there that don't involve at least some candy??? I've never even heard of one.


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## Black Orchid (Mar 28, 2005)

We give out glowsticks and playdough. We're the most popular house in the neighborhood. Even the older kids exclaim "COOL! Playdough" as they are walking away...








Yes, we throw candy away. Kids can't have artificial colorings and so anything with it gets thrown away. They are too little to determine on their own whether they can have it or not. And no, I'm not going to say "no thanks" to houses that give out candy with it in it. No way. It would be taken as rude and my 3 YO might throw a tantrum. I'm LOLing a little at this thread... geeze, its Halloween... and everyone throws things away sometimes...

They can eat all the want that night and I'm pretty lose with it until its gone. They just can't have it within an hour before a meal. And I usually discard anything that hasn't been eaten by Christmas.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Oh, and also--YES, what Tigerchild said! That was part of what I was trying to say, but she did it better.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

Also wanted to say that my children as well are far more fascinated with going up to strange houses and ringing doorbells than they are with the candy. A lot of people in the neighborhood go all out with decorations, come to the door dressed up themselves, ect. Don't get me wrong, they like the candy (and while I don't buy it really we do not see candy as forbidden). They have fun sorting it later. We also found it a good way to practice manners (the kids always say thank you afterwards) when they were littler.

There is more to ToTing than candy. And we DO do ToT for UNICEF (though to be honest my kids are more into other more locally tangible charities).

Just because you throw a HFCS encrusted nugget of trans-fat into the garbage can doesn't mean much. For us, the fun of Halloween has been more about other stuff (like homemade costumes, parties with friends, getting to run around the neighborhood in the dark with a flashlight on a school night) than the candy.


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## pjs (Mar 30, 2005)

Again, I am so surprised that this outcry of intentional waste was no where to be seen or heard in the happy meal thread where people are BUYING happy meals with the intent of throwing the food away. Is it solely because it is McDonald's that makes that waste ok?


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ellien C* 
And my mother said something very wise - better in the trash, than in your stomach. And she was really right about that. I had enjoyed the wine with dinner. I was done enjoying it. There was no point in putting MORE wine in my stomach, just to not waste it. It really was better off in the trash than in my stomach.

I agree with this, and I think that eating food you don't need to eat for nourishment or even pleasure, is wasting it. It's overconsumption, which is waste. All things being equal, however, I still would rather not drive up the production of a junk product just to enjoy collecting it. I like the Unicef idea, actually. I can't really comprehend the environmental implications of all this manufacturing of plastic and food items for Halloween, and I suppose taking it and eating it is just as bad as throwing it away. But there are parents who allow their children to go Trick-or-Treating, have a piece or two of candy, then allow their children to trade it in for a toy and the candy is trashed. I can understand why people do it, I'm not criticizing because I am a huge consumer. I just bought a junky cake for my daughter's birthday, and I'm going to throw it away soon--she hasn't asked for any of it past the first piece. In retrospect I shouldn't have bought it.

So I am just saying that while I understand why people do it and I may do it, it doesn't seem ideal, and I don't think there is anything wrong with challenging ourselves to do better.

On the other hand, I don't know what the implications are in the lives of the families who produce the candy and wrappers and toys. It probably does allow them to make a living. But I'd rather buy fair trade or something else that I think will actually get consumed and give pleasure to the consumer. I hate the really junky candy full of artificial colors and who knows what else, that kids won't even eat. I've taken to putting some of my kids' candy back in our bowl to redistribute--maybe the same stuff gets passed around and given out year after year.


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pjs* 
Again, I am so surprised that this outcry of intentional waste was no where to be seen or heard in the happy meal thread where people are BUYING happy meals with the intent of throwing the food away. Is it solely because it is McDonald's that makes that waste ok?

Do you have a link to that thread?


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EnviroBecca* 
If I've accepted food to be polite, I'll eat it if I possibly can (I'm not painfully full, and it doesn't literally make me gag) and adjust my eating later in the day to compensate.

I don't understand how this leads to less waste. The food has already been used up in preparation/plating. Whether it goes in your stomach or in the trash, it can't be used to feed someone else who is hungry at that point.

I don't get how eating past the point of comfort is helpful at all. I can see how not accepting food when you're not hungry could be helpful, because then that food would still be available for someone else to eat. But shoving stuff down your gullet when you'd rather not? That's very unappetizing, and could lead to a really weird relationship with food, I would think.


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## crl (May 9, 2004)

I've seen a few references to trick or treating for UNICEF instead of candy. I just wanted to point out that not everyone supports UNICEF. http://www.newsweek.com/id/105531

Catherine


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## Teensy (Feb 22, 2002)

In addition to donating candy or saving saving it for Christmas/holiday baking, there are two other things you can use it for:

You can use it to decorate gingerbread houses.

You can use it in science experiments. I read an article recently where a mom encouraged her kids to do this. They tested what melted in water and what happened when you heated different candies. Also, they put them in vinegar to see if any caused fizzing. I can't find a link to the article, but it I do I'll post it. I plan to suggest this to my kids this year.









BTW - I think the soldiers overseas use some of the candy to give to local children to help promote good relations between the military and the locals.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EnviroBecca* 
This will leave us with only hard candies, which are good to keep around through the winter in case of sore throats.

hard candies can be used in stained glass sugar cookies. cut out the cookie, then cut a smaller shape from the middle. drop some crushed hard candy in the middle. it will melt and give is a stained glass window effect. things with peppermint taste good mixed into chocolate.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
Storm Bride, I think maybe you are focusing on the "TorT is ASKING for something" aspect much more than I do, and even most young kids do. I don't think my DD thinks of it as going door to door requesting candy to be given to her. I think she sees it as an exciting ritual that mysteriously ends in candy. I don't even think most kids get the literal meaning of "trick or treat."

I think the goodie bag parallel holds. Many here are saying "Well, if you don't want the candy, then don't trick or treat." To me that makes as much sense as saying, "Well, if you don't want the goodie bag, don't go to the party." Just because you may not use the party favor/candy you are given doesn't mean you have to miss the whole event, in my book!

We really don't TorT for the candy here. I mean, a little bit, but till she was 4 we didn't even show DD the candy and she was thrilled, THRILLED to TorT. It's about the fun of the costume and showing it off, the excitement of being out after in the mysterious after-dark world, the strangeness of knocking at unknown doors, seeing jack-o-lanterns...wow, I love Halloween.










Quote:


Originally Posted by *Black Orchid* 
We give out glowsticks and playdough. We're the most popular house in the neighborhood. Even the older kids exclaim "COOL! Playdough" as they are walking away...

So, if I'd ever met kids who were like this, I might have been able to understand where you're coming from. If kids around here know that a house hands out anything but candy (and _maybe_ glowsticks, but nobody does that around here), they don't bother going there. I've _never_ heard "cool Playdough". The kids say "thank you" or don't, depending on their upbringings/personalities, but they don't like that stuff. They want candy. I've never met a kid who doesn't trick or treat for the candy first and the costume second. Heck - I know kids who don't even like to trick-or-treat (scared), but do it for the candy. So - yeah - I see it as asking for candy, because that's what it _is_ for the ones I've met.

As for the goody bag thing? I don't even get what that has to do with it. Kids have been going to each other's parties since long before the goody bag craze started.

Quote:

Honestly, I would not take my children to a church event or probably a mall event, which seem to be the common TorT alternatives. They seem very antiseptic to me, and we are atheists who hate the mall! Also, wait, don't these events have candy too?? Realistically, how many Halloween events are there that don't involve at least some candy??? I've never even heard of one.
If I objected to Halloween candy, I'd throw party, with Halloween themed food, and no candy. I wouldn't attend a candy-based event, trick-or-treating or otherwise.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meowee* 
If someone gave you a pack of cigarettes would you throw them away or donate them? Candy is not much better than cigarettes. You're doing the world a favor by throwing it away. Sugar, HFCS, artificial flavors/ coloring, hydrogenated fats, preservatives, an often sticky consistency which is horrible for teeth and gums.


I would not accept the cigarettes int he first place.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Viola* 
So I am just saying that while I understand why people do it and I may do it, it doesn't seem ideal, and I don't think there is anything wrong with challenging ourselves to do better.

I think this is an excellent point! I don't think anyone should be banned from MDC or loses crunchy points for throwing Halloween candy away. I am certain I do things that would horrify some people here. But I think it's worthwhile to discuss alternatives and look for better ways of doing things. I've gotten lots of ideas from this thread







.


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## velochic (May 13, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
Are all of you who think this is so horrible doing everything possible to eliminate food and packaging waste elsewhere? Yes, EnviroBecca is, but what about the rest? Do you go to fast food restaurants? Do you get take-out? Do you buy disposable items for parties? How is your child's lunch packaged? Do you compost? What percentage of your groceries are not packaged?

Well, as for us... we buy in bulk and avoid excessive packaging. Dd has never even had McDonald's and we do not eat fast food. We don't get take out, but we also don't bring our own packaging when we bring food home from the restaurant. The packaging does get recycled, though. We have about twice the amount of recycling as we do garbage, and mostly that is because of the limitations of our recycling provider. We compost, of course, we are gardeners. We don't use paper plates, napkins, paper towels (yes, toilet paper), etc. Dd has a planet box and a metal lunch box and we use homemade "ziplock" bags and sandwich wraps. We use Klickbox for fruit and such for the metal lunch box. Even her yogurt is bulk yogurt mixed with homemade, canned fruit spreads. Yes, we still have garbage. Yes, we still have packaging that goes to landfill. But... there are also a lot of people out there that are also trying... in every.single.way... to not waste our resources. I'm one and I'm not alone. Your post is a challenge, but there are a lot of people here who are up to it.

Uneaten Halloween candy in our house gets recycled for advent calendars, Birthday treats, Valentine's candy, Easter candy, general treats... etc. We still have about a handful that will be baked into a thank you gift for our neighbors who are letting us borrow their tiller tomorrow.

Don't underestimate what NFL people are really able to do. And I'm a slacker compared to some of my friends!


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## sisteeesmama (Oct 24, 2008)

I think this thread has been pretty amazing. That said~
I loved the idea of sending the candy to soldiers in IRAQ, that is just perfect!

What I really don't understand is the THROWING it in the TRASH part. I mean, by all means take your kids out, yes, the people are giving out the candy and yes you are free (FREE!) to take it, but by all means, don't throw it in the friggin trash! Please, just give it to someone, even if you think candy is junk, other people LOVE it and it really is a waste, other people really would like to have it!


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Hey, I do all that stuff too. Um, seriously. But I sort of doubt most people here do--even on MDC. In my experience, even people who eat all organic, etc are still often very wasteful. It's sort of a different level of consciousness.

Quote:

Uneaten Halloween candy in our house gets recycled for advent calendars, Birthday treats, Valentine's candy, Easter candy, general treats... etc. We still have about a handful that will be baked into a thank you gift for our neighbors who are letting us borrow their tiller tomorrow.
Okay, here's one thing. I live in a lower-middle class neighborhood. A high number of people do NOT hand out chocolate. It's the cheaper stuff--Smarties, SweetTarts, Nerds, etc. Basically it's sugar and dyes and artiificial flavors. Honestly, it's hardly even food.

Plus, maybe someone will flame me for this, but I personally don't want to eat year-old candy.

I just...man, I don't know. I do a lot every day to reduce my impact. I don't see how forcing down a box of Nerds really helps any, and I don't get how eating that box of Nerds makes me an environmentalist. It's not like candy is real food that serves nutritional purposes and can replace other food you would normally eat.

The real high ground here would be not to trick-or-treat at all. Whether you eat it or throw it away, you have created the demand and the items have been purchased.


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## 3boobykins (Nov 21, 2001)

I just found out that our kid's new dentist will actually buy their Halloween candy from them, by the pound. I love this--my kids love making money and picking out little toys or saving up for something bigger. The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season. I told the kids already, and they're very excited. We'll let them enjoy some of the mini candy bars, but after the weekend, they're eager to make a sale!


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## sisteeesmama (Oct 24, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3boobykins* 
I just found out that our kid's new dentist will actually buy their Halloween candy from them, by the pound. I love this--my kids love making money and picking out little toys or saving up for something bigger. The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season. I told the kids already, and they're very excited. We'll let them enjoy some of the mini candy bars, but after the weekend, they're eager to make a sale!

LOL, that is so cool!


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## katiesk (Nov 6, 2007)

i'm sure there are _worse_ things to waste...and while i don't really think that in my child's stomach is a much better place for most candy than in the trash...

i don't see the goodness in throwing away something new. why get it in the first place? especially if kids are going to have candy sometimes anyway, why not this candy, saved for those occasions, instead of having trashed the halloween candy and then buying more (or obtaining from somewhere) for treats later on...

obviously, everyone has their different reasons for the different things that they do...personally, i would just rather limit the amount (and quality) ofcandy that comes in the door. dd is pretty small, but imagine that in the future we will have a few pre planned destinations for t or t and it won't be a really big event. but some people probably really want it to be a big event and thus would have a much harder time limiting the candy...since that does seem to be the point of t or t to most people.

anyway...whatever.

yes, it's really ideal to not waste. i personally make a big effort to not waste in many ways. i would rather give away an excess of candy than throw it in the trash...but i would prefer to not buy it or obtain it in the first place. so thats how i solve the "too much candy" dilemma.


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## katiesk (Nov 6, 2007)

having trouble posting...


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## katiesk (Nov 6, 2007)

Quote:

I just found out that our kid's new dentist will actually buy their Halloween candy from them, by the pound. I love this--my kids love making money and picking out little toys or saving up for something bigger. The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season. I told the kids already, and they're very excited. We'll let them enjoy some of the mini candy bars, but after the weekend, they're eager to make a sale!
perfect


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
The real high ground here would be not to trick-or-treat at all. Whether you eat it or throw it away, you have created the demand and the items have been purchased.

While the real high ground may indeed be not to ToT at all, that idea has been rejected by many here for various reasons and doesn't seem realistic for many people. Personally, I think there is an area to be explored between not ToT and ToT and trashing all the candy. I don't see why it has to be so extreme one way or the other. If I thought like that, I would never recycle, reuse, or give away anything but rather trash it all because hey the real high ground would have been to not purchase the item in the first place so why bother trying.


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## inkedmamajama (Jan 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Drummer's Wife* 
I can't imagine getting that much extra candy! Maybe we don't trick or treat for long enough, but we never have, like, pillowcases full.

ETA: I would say on average, our Halloween candy lasts 2 weeks, if that.

come to my neighborhood! we get excessive amounts-for real.

we instituted a fun tradition a few years back-we let them have a piece or two a day for 2 weeks, then we have a bonfire with friends and burn the rest. (after us parents have culled the stuff we love-usually what gets burnt is some of those nasty peanut butter taffy things and some hard candy)

its a very small amount of candy that actually gets thrown out. maybe two or three handfuls.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Quote:

If I thought like that, I would never recycle, reuse, or give away anything but rather trash it all because hey the real high ground would have been to not purchase the item in the first place so why bother trying.
Huh?? No, if you thought like that you wouldn't buy it in the first place.

BTW, I don't trash all the candy. DD can have 2 or 3 pieces a day, but she usually forgets about it or loses interest after less than a week. I am not going to REMIND her about it. At that point, DH or I probably eat the leftovers we like, but if there is stuff we don't want (always a small amount) it goes in the trash. We may have brought it in to DH's office a few times--I can't remember.


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## francie024 (Oct 23, 2007)

I plan on letting my DD dress up and go down the block once for a treat. I do feel she is still pretty young to eat a lot of candy. So, I will probably give most of it away to other trick or treaters we see on the way home.

But really, who cares what people do with the candy. The experience is what counts.


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

Dd loves dressing up. She loves walking to houses with her friends. She loves walking around after dark. She loves "being scared". She loves a few pieces of candy...and only certain kinds.... The people in our neighborhood are very generous with the quantities, especially with little kids. Many are senior citizens and have no idea that our society has changed so much that candy is no longer a "treat". it is everywhere and it is every day. Every event, errand, party, classroom bribe, soccer game, etc....

So, yep, I let dd do the ToTing thing even though I know 99% of the candy will not pass through the bodies of our family. Dd picks through the bag, eats a few pieces, feels sick, then hands the bag over. She does like to save a few pieces for later but even those end up being found uneaten somewhere months later. We try to have dd ToT early then hand out the candy she collects but does not want later in the evening. The rest now goes in the garbage (after dh picks out the dark chocolates). I do not bake with candy. Dh tried taking it to work one year only for it to be set out with the 20 other bowls from every other parent in the office. It all sat for weeks and finally got tossed there....after many complaints from co-workers who are trying to live healthy lifestyles. And honestly, I donate a great deal of food and cash to shelters and food banks but do not consider Halloween candy "food".


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3boobykins* 
I just found out that our kid's new dentist will actually buy their Halloween candy from them, by the pound. I love this--my kids love making money and picking out little toys or saving up for something bigger. The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season. I told the kids already, and they're very excited. We'll let them enjoy some of the mini candy bars, but after the weekend, they're eager to make a sale!

that is so cool!!!!


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

If you donate the candy to the gingerbread house display, it gets trashed afterwards. Just sayin'. And I am pretty sure your local food bank does not want the candy, dumping a bunch of stale leftover or cheap candy in the food donation bins is pretty common (or was when I volunteered at a food bank), and in some cases if the original big bag is not sealed (and thus there's no way to know if the little pieces have been tampered with) it must go...you guessed it...in the garbage dumpster.

Please don't donate things to food pantries that are junk or that you wouldn't eat yourself. I can't tell you how depressing it is to sort through a big container of donated items only to find a lot of expired, old, weird, inappropriate items making up half of it.









A lot of these disposal methods probably wind up with much of the candy being thrown away anyway--it's just that the person dumping it in a different location doesn't have to be the actual person throwing it away. A lot of workplaces will have the night custodial staff throw away old stuff after awhile if they don't want it. So sure, I suppose one can feel morally superior for allowing someone else to put it in the landfill for them but...

Anyway, I think the highest morality responsibility probably belongs on the people who are buying the crap, not the ToTers. Most young kids frankly don't give a rip what they get in their ToT bags. If it really bothers you that your stuff might end up in the trash then get something compostable, whee problem solved. Or does it have to be consumed by a person vs. bacteria/roaches/rats/slugs/cute worm bin worms? Though I guess candy could be construed as compostable (maybe?) as long as you take off the wrappers....


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## GuildJenn (Jan 10, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
So, if I'd ever met kids who were like this, I might have been able to understand where you're coming from. If kids around here know that a house hands out anything but candy (and _maybe_ glowsticks, but nobody does that around here), they don't bother going there. I've _never_ heard "cool Playdough". The kids say "thank you" or don't, depending on their upbringings/personalities, but they don't like that stuff. They want candy. I've never met a kid who doesn't trick or treat for the candy first and the costume second. Heck - I know kids who don't even like to trick-or-treat (scared), but do it for the candy. So - yeah - I see it as asking for candy, because that's what it _is_ for the ones I've met.


Yeah Playdough is definitely uncool in our neighbourhood. Ditto glowsticks. Actually I'm not sure what's in glowsticks but I suspect they're not great for the environment either.

Anyways, like I said, I honestly think the tradition just is behind the reality. We like trick or treating - it's a really nice chance to talk to our neighbours, etc. Last year I was surprised at the quantity of candy - way way beyond what I used to get as a kid. It does create a dilemma that I still haven't myself mentally resolved. I'm unwilling to give up the tradition, but equally unwilling to have the candy in our lives for six months, so hopefully it will be baking-friendly for the most part.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
Huh?? No, if you thought like that you wouldn't buy it in the first place.

I have the flu and maybe am not the most coherent at the moment and quite possibly shouldn't be posting







, but I get that...really I do. I mentioned earlier that if I thought candy was that gross, I wouldn't take my kids ToT, but others said how horrible it was to be left out of trick or treating and how it's not fair, so clearly not everyone feels the same about that. Anyway, you seemed to me (quite possibly mistakenly







) to be saying that if you don't take the high ground and not ToT, then it really doesn't matter what you do with the candy. I just took that a step further. Personally, I think it matters. I don't think it makes anyone a bad person for trashing it, but nonetheless, there are often alternatives.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
BTW, I don't trash all the candy. DD can have 2 or 3 pieces a day, but she usually forgets about it or loses interest after less than a week. I am not going to REMIND her about it. At that point, DH or I probably eat the leftovers we like, but if there is stuff we don't want (always a small amount) it goes in the trash. We may have brought it in to DH's office a few times--I can't remember.

I think that is a lot different than going around and ToT with the intent of throwing most of it away like in the OP. Although I don't recall, I may have thrown some out some that wasn't even worthy of making the trip to DH's office, but those people will usually eat anything so I doubt it







. I figure if it keeps them from raiding the vending machine, it's better than trashing it.


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## Purple*Lotus (Nov 1, 2007)

I used to manage a DV shelter, and I agree that no one _needs candy, but when one person dropped off a bag of the candy her DC couldn't eat *he had multiple allergies*, my clients and their children were so appreciative! Often times children living in a shelter wont be able to ToT because of safety issues *although our staff would do whatever needed to make it possible from buying costumes to driving them to other neighborhoods* so having actual ToT candy to give them was such a treat for them.

So I just wanted to toss the idea of donation in there. I agree that halloween candy is crap, but having seen the eyes of people in a shelter light up getting some makes me want to suggest donation to you







_


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## One_Girl (Feb 8, 2008)

I think that it is horrible to encourage your child to go out and trick or treat and then just throw away the candy because wrapped foods are one of the few things they can actual witness going to someone who will appreciate them if they don't want to eat them. So much other stuff has to be thrown away and wasted that I jump on opportunities to show dd how to not waste something. I also would be offended if my neighbor told me they dumped the candy I gave their children at Halloween the day after Halloween because I do give the extra candy to people who want it.

If you don't want the kids to eat another piece of candy before it goes bad then why not just give it to friend, the people at your work or your spouses work, or bag it up and drop it off at your local shelter, if you live near a college you can drop it off at a dorm or student center, you can even give it to a homeless person. I understand wanting kids to share in the joy of Halloween, but I don't understand wasting food that is wrapped and can easily be donated to someone who will enjoy it and appreciate it. I also haven't found that Halloween candy is stale the day after getting it so I don't see any reason why people should consider it a substandard donation. A food bank that won't sort it for months probably wouldn't want it, but an actual shelter would.


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## crl (May 9, 2004)

I just wanted to say thank you to the person/people who pointed out that it's nice to get treats from the Food Bank. DS and I bought an extra package of Newman's Oreos (he has dairy allergies and I thought maybe someone else would too) and put them in the grocery store donation bin today. It's something I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

Catherine


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Quote:

Please don't donate things to food pantries that are junk or that you wouldn't eat yourself. I can't tell you how depressing it is to sort through a big container of donated items only to find a lot of expired, old, weird, inappropriate items making up half of it.
See, this is why I probably wouldn't donate our leftovers, which would only be really cheap candy anyway, most likely. It just seems...I dunno...like I am saying "This crap candy is such crap that no one here in my house wants it--but those poor people will take anything, so here." Same with the awful cheap goodie bag toys, which I also would not donate. I'd rather throw these items away and buy some healthful food and decent toys. I mean, I do get that some people indeed would be grateful for whatever, but something about the whole idea doesn't sit well with me. I also do not donate clothes that I can't get the stains out of (I use them for rags).


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dandelionkid* 
Yup- candy is total crap. I don't feel a shred of guilt throwing it out. It is complete garbage for human bodies so really, it's either our bodies as a dumpster, or a dumpster as a dumpster









Exactly!!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WC_hapamama* 
Honestly, even if Halloween candy isn't ideal nutritionally, I still think it's wasteful to throw it away.

If you insist on having your kids trick-or-treat despite the fact that you won't let them eat the crappy candy, why not donate the candy you won't let them eat to a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, meals on wheels program, nursing home or food pantry. Even poor people and old people like a treat occasionally, and even a handful of fun sized Snickers bars is better than going hungry.

I have a problem with telling my kids that candy is essentially poison to their bodies....but let's go give it to grandma or that homeless guy.









Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 

I am SHOCKED on MDC to see so many people OK with just throwing things out. It's really very horrible. Why not just do disposable diapers then? Why bother buying bulk and using reusable containers to take snacks?

It's actually quite sickening to read how many people think it's perfectly OK to just throw out the candy rather than donating it to charity or giving directly to the less fortunate.

I am SHOCKED on MDC to see so many people who would allow their kids candy for the sake of not disposing of it. To me it's like if my kid found a bag of crack and I told him he could have some so it wouldn't go to waste. Seriously? Trick or treating is FUN, it's a tradition in our culture, and I think we can come up with a more creative and thoughtful way to respect their bodies and the environment at the same time.

If there was an "all natural ToT party" I would certainly take my kids there. Even if it was junky trinkets, I would rather my kids play with junk than eat junk. But there are no such parties, so we ToT around the neighborhood. Have a few pieces and then it disappears.


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Heatherb917* 
I am SHOCKED on MDC to see so many people who would allow their kids candy for the sake of not disposing of it. To me it's like if my kid found a bag of crack and I told him he could have some so it wouldn't go to waste. Seriously? .

Comparing candy to crack is absurd. Yes, candy isn't the best thing for you, but it's not an illegal drug that can kill you if you eat too much.


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## kcstar (Mar 20, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
Do you have a link to that thread?

Please?

Because I knew in high school that I could go up to a fast food counter and request to buy a toy without buying the kid's meal it goes with. I did that on occasion for my littlest brothers, then-toddlers.


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## mamatoablessing (Oct 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kcstar* 
Please?

Because I knew in high school that I could go up to a fast food counter and request to buy a toy without buying the kid's meal it goes with. I did that on occasion for my littlest brothers, then-toddlers.

I'm pretty sure this is the thread:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1137337


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
If you donate the candy to the gingerbread house display, it gets trashed afterwards. Just sayin'. And I am pretty sure your local food bank does not want the candy, dumping a bunch of stale leftover or cheap candy in the food donation bins is pretty common (or was when I volunteered at a food bank), and in some cases if the original big bag is not sealed (and thus there's no way to know if the little pieces have been tampered with) it must go...you guessed it...in the garbage dumpster.

Actually - many food banks and charities LOVE to get the candy. Some have strict rules, but most don't. If it's wrapped (so no loose jelly beans) they'll take it and give it out. The food bank my friend worked at would package up the ToT candy into 1lb bags and give to families with kids.

My church used to run a homeless shelter during the winter. They'd take candy and give it to people in their lunches as they left at 7am so they could snack on it and it would help them stay warm during the day.


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
One of many things I have learned from MDC is how toxic it is to give a gift and not be able to let go of it afterwards. It brings such horrible emotions and energy to both the giver and receiver when that happens--and yet STILL it's not like it changes the control issue.

So to those who are shocked that someone could be a member of MDC for years and 'waste' candy or a gift--I ask you, how in the world could you read all these stories of family feuds over dispensation of gifts, ect, and not come to the conclusion that if you're GOING to give something then do everyone a favor and give it willingly, freely, and with no strings attached!!!

I cannot believe the amount of spite and anger over what other people do with their halloween candy. The reverse is also true--if you can't hack people not eating the candy you chose then don't hand it out!!

Do people really spend time being angry over this? Or is this riling up for the purposes of debate?

Let anyone who wants to ToT do so. Let anyone who does not want to not. Let anyone who wants to give out candy, broccoli, toys, stickers, juice boxes, whatever is legal to give out give it! Let anyone who wishes to take it take it. And let whatever happens after Halloween be the business of people in their own families.











Well said.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Teensy* 
In addition to donating candy or saving saving it for Christmas/holiday baking, there are two other things you can use it for:

You can use it to decorate gingerbread houses.

You can use it in science experiments. I read an article recently where a mom encouraged her kids to do this. They tested what melted in water and what happened when you heated different candies. Also, they put them in vinegar to see if any caused fizzing. I can't find a link to the article, but it I do I'll post it. I plan to suggest this to my kids this year.









BTW - I think the soldiers overseas use some of the candy to give to local children to help promote good relations between the military and the locals.

Very good ideas. I love the science experiment idea.

I think the cookie idea is also a good one. But in our house, all of the cookie worthy candy gets eaten as is. I can't imagine using the yucky candy in perfectly good cookies. Then I'd be stuck with cookies nobody will eat to throw out.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
If you donate the candy to the gingerbread house display, it gets trashed afterwards. Just sayin'. And I am pretty sure your local food bank does not want the candy, dumping a bunch of stale leftover or cheap candy in the food donation bins is pretty common (or was when I volunteered at a food bank), and in some cases if the original big bag is not sealed (and thus there's no way to know if the little pieces have been tampered with) it must go...you guessed it...in the garbage dumpster.

Please don't donate things to food pantries that are junk or that you wouldn't eat yourself. I can't tell you how depressing it is to sort through a big container of donated items only to find a lot of expired, old, weird, inappropriate items making up half of it.









A lot of these disposal methods probably wind up with much of the candy being thrown away anyway--it's just that the person dumping it in a different location doesn't have to be the actual person throwing it away. A lot of workplaces will have the night custodial staff throw away old stuff after awhile if they don't want it. So sure, I suppose one can feel morally superior for allowing someone else to put it in the landfill for them but...

Anyway, I think the highest morality responsibility probably belongs on the people who are buying the crap, not the ToTers. Most young kids frankly don't give a rip what they get in their ToT bags. If it really bothers you that your stuff might end up in the trash then get something compostable, whee problem solved. Or does it have to be consumed by a person vs. bacteria/roaches/rats/slugs/cute worm bin worms? Though I guess candy could be construed as compostable (maybe?) as long as you take off the wrappers....

I keep thinking as I read all of the donation suggestions, "What would the folks over in the decluttering forum have to say about this?" I think this post summed it up.

And speaking of decluttering, it can be wasteful to hang onto stuff that you really don't want/need. It takes up time and space and other resources to maintain.


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## ainh (Jul 27, 2006)

We recycled last year...DS1 has severe food allergies and we don't keep nuts, seeds, eggs, milk or soy in the house. I let him ToT early and then gave out all his collected candy to our ToTers







This year I might give some dum-dum lollipops to one of our neighbors so that he can eat one thing from his bag and then do the same thing again. He's only three and likes the idea of handing out his own candy just fine for now, especially since he's scared of his allergens and knows that none of it is safe, you know? Seems like others could do this too.... It's a fun tradition, but no one needs too much candy, right? Kids on the block could just dump their loot at home every so often for their parents to re-treat and go out for more


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## ainh (Jul 27, 2006)

BTW, on my allergy forum people many do the "switch witch". They trade the unsafe candy (nearly all, in most cases) for some toy at the end of the evening (and then most of the parents eat some themselves and bring the rest to their workplace or donate it). It's a necessity in the case of severe food allergies, of course...and most parents want their food allergic kid to still have the fun of ToTing, even if they truly can not eat the candy....


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

I think that everyone would agree that the case of an allergic child is entirely different.


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## Multimomma (Jan 25, 2008)

We donate a lot of candy to HUGS, which is a project that sends candy overseas in care packages. Another good place is to take it to your local homeless shelter/mental health center. Often they can use the candy for children that come through, and it makes a big difference. To just throw anything away just isn't something I want my kids to learn, not even just candy. There's a purpose for everything.


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## LiamnEmma (Nov 20, 2001)

My sister lets them eat all they want on Halloween and then buys it from them the next day. They negotiate the fair price together.

I don't let mine eat all they want on Halloween if it's a school night. The November 1st hangover is too ugly for that. But this year it's barfin' all night long if they want it!


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

I guess we are some of the bad people who junk the candy we don't want. It is usually the really weird stuff in the shape of body parts that I question the safety of. I will not pass that crap on to other people as I am pretty sure it is full of stuff that should not be consumed









Honestly, we DON'T ToT for the candy *at all*. We go out because it is fun. Our neighbourhood is full of so many great people and we have only gotten to know most of them from our yearly ToT adventures. We have 4 kids, so our time out is generally not too terribly long, but we always end up going just another few blocks just to see how people are doing. Short, but friendly conversations at every house. Seeing all the other kids in costumes. Checking out some of the really cool decorations. It is purely a social event, and I am always so uplifted by the wonderful sense of community it instills in us.

THAT is the lesson I am teaching my kids, community. The candy is just incidental, and they always end up with a ridiculous amount even in the short time we are out. Actually, our last several walks around the neighbourhood this week has led to people coming out of their houses to remind us to come by because they will have some great treats







I just love that we have a friendly relationship with all these people because of an event I didn't eve want to celebrate for the first several years of my eldest ds' life (eeeek, candy!).

One of my kids does have a severe food allergy and he can't have most of what is given. We always buy chocolate bars that we know he can have and trade him for some of it. Otherwise we make sure to be home early so I can recycle as much as possible to the older kids in VERY generous amounts. But the stuff that seems sketchy (the aforementioned body part candy for instance) goes straight to the bin. Even if it is wasteful I couldn't pass it on in good conscience.

Quote:

Every single grocery store around here has a donation bin for food! Even the floofy over priced natural/organic store has one.

How hard is it to take the bag of candy you don't want, put it in the large cardboard bin, and then go do your shopping?

There's no phoning or driving or anything beyond what you normally do.

Even the dreaded evil Walmarts have them.

That way the candy could go to people while it's still pretty fresh and be enjoyed by someone who wouldn't otherwise get any.
Although this could have been stated with *slightly* less attitude you make a very good point. I never thought of that and will probably do this with the non-scary leftovers this year. We are usually pretty sick of all the sugar after the first couple of days as we don't really eat stuff like this any other time (save for the occasional organic fair trade chocolate bars of course







). I am with the posters who find this all amusing. Such a small thing to get so worked up over.


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## greenmansions (Feb 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
So then why send your kids out to knock on doors and ask for crap?

I stated in my post that we only trick or treat on our block - 10 houses tops. The other Halloween thing we do does not involve candy at all. So I do limit how much candy they are receiving in the first place. They have a lot of fun getting dressed up and going to each house so why should I stop them? We also have a number of elderly neighbors who really enjoy seeing all the kids and handing out some candy. So then if I throw out 20 pieces of candy the first week of November, I don't think that matters much especially relative to how much fun everyone has.


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## seaheroine (Dec 24, 2004)

The only candy that ever got tossed when we were little were the pieces with open wrappers.

I never had my candy micromanaged. We were allowed to do whatever we wanted with our ToT candy and were also allowed to buy whatever candy - and as much of it - we wanted with our allowance. I loved candy as a kid...ate a lot, probably too much...but can say all of my sisters and I rarely eat candy, cake, desserts, etc. now. One pack of M and Ms can last for weeks. We all have a healthy relationship with food and consider desserts/cookies only occasional things.

So, I'm never going to do the "candy bowl" or what not...it's their candy to eat as they wish.

If my DD ended up with food sensitivities, we wouldn't go ToT and I'd try to avoid places where she's going to be on the receiving end of candy handouts. If they were older, though, without serious health problems, I'd let them self-regulate candy consumption...it's the best way to learn.


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## caiesmommy (Feb 26, 2007)

Ds only goes to a few neighbours houses(hes 3) so we go ahead of time w fruit-to-go bars that they give him...works out for everyone!


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## hippiemommaof4 (Mar 31, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Crystal_R* 
Comparing candy to crack is absurd. Yes, candy isn't the best thing for you, but it's not an illegal drug that can kill you if you eat too much.


no kidding







...how ridiculous lol come on now...


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Heatherb917* 







ould allow their kids candy for the sake of not disposing of it. To me it's like if my kid found a bag of crack and I told him he could have some so it wouldn't go to waste. Seriously? Trick or treating is FUN, it's a tradition in our culture, and I think we can come up with a more creative and thoughtful way to respect their bodies and the environment at the same time.

If there was an "all natural ToT party" I would certainly take my kids there. Even if it was junky trinkets, I would rather my kids play with junk than eat junk. But there are no such parties, so we ToT around the neighborhood. Have a few pieces and then it disappears.

So why not send your kids out to trick or treat with a bag full of safe healthy treats to GIVE to the people whose doors they knock, instead of to TAKE and throw away something they are given?


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:

So why not send your kids out to trick or treat with a bag full of safe healthy treats to GIVE to the people whose doors they knock, instead of to TAKE and throw away something they are given?
I can't speak for this poster, but there are lots of elderly people in my neighbourhood as well, and some of them look forward to giving candy to the kids every year. Some of them even dress up! They take great care in rooting through the candy bowl every year and picking out just the right treat for each child. Why would I take that experience away from them? Seems cruel!


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## ollyoxenfree (Jun 11, 2009)

Fascinating thread. I think the immediate binge/purge of gorging on candy on Hallowe'en and then throwing the leftovers away (as described in the OP) is unhealthy. I can't say that I really have a huge problem with tossing the candy though. I often found a half-filled bag of candy in a closet or drawer when I did the big New Year's clean-up in the house. It would all get tossed then because I don't like stale stuff. I certainly wouldn't give it to someone else at that point. Using it for decorating gingerbread houses is a great idea - but again it ends up in the garbage anyway.

I'm looking forward to Hallowe'en this year. We've been living in places that don't celebrate and I missed it. In some countries, the whole event is frowned upon on the grounds that it teaches children to beg and it's an excuse for Hell Night vandalism. They completely don't get the community aspect of Trick or Treating - visiting neighbours, admiring the costumes and decorations, the children's thrill at being allowed to run around after dark....


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## WC_hapamama (Sep 19, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Crystal_R* 
Comparing candy to crack is absurd. Yes, candy isn't the best thing for you, but it's not an illegal drug that can kill you if you eat too much.

Ditto this. Not all of us consider sugar to be poison. I am perfectly okay with letting my kids have access to candy and other junk food in moderation.

As far as my suggestion of donating candy to homeless shelters, nursing homes and food pantries goes, I'll repeat myself, not everyone thinks that sugar is poison.

For a homeless person who doesn't have access to a kitchen and regular meals, that handful of "garbage" or "poison" halloween candy is a source of calories.

IMO, while I think it's fine for parents to eliminate processed sugars from their kids diets if they're really that "afraid" of it, I think it's incredibly short-sighted for parents to teach their kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyle choices, unless you're preparing them for the same treatment in the outside world... and I don't know many of that type who are telling their kids "Hey, most people think we're zealots."


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WC_hapamama* 
Ditto this. Not all of us consider sugar to be poison. I am perfectly okay with letting my kids have access to candy and other junk food in moderation.

As far as my suggestion of donating candy to homeless shelters, nursing homes and food pantries goes, I'll repeat myself, not everyone thinks that sugar is poison.

For a homeless person who doesn't have access to a kitchen and regular meals, that handful of "garbage" or "poison" halloween candy is a source of calories.

IMO, while I think it's fine for parents to eliminate processed sugars from their kids diets if they're really that "afraid" of it, I think it's incredibly short-sighted for parents to teach their kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyle choices, unless you're preparing them for the same treatment in the outside world... and I don't know many of that type who are telling their kids "Hey, most people think we're zealots."


Ok, candy as crack was a stretch....and probaby inappropriate. But I still have a hard time teaching my kids that anything that I say is not healthy for them, we should pass on to someone else. Even a video that I find is not "good" for them, I can't encourage them to give that to their friend. I don't like Ferber books, I find them harmful....I will NOT give it to my friend so it won't go to waste. I'd just as soon throw it in the garbage (I know it can be recycled, not the point!) And I don't feel that I'm teaching my kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyles. I'm teaching my kids to make healthy choices. And I have to be consistent in teaching them to be good stewards of their bodies. If I tell them eating candy is not good for you, how can I possibly tell them to give that food then to someone else....who it also is not good for. If I'm going to teach my kids to be generous to their grandma or to the homeless, then let me teach them that "Hey, homeless people usually have to eat some pretty unhealthy things because that's what is available and cheap. Let's make some heathy treats to give to that homeless man that we see every day. He'd probably really appreciate a homecooked meal. Not a sack of candy."


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## purplemoon (Sep 24, 2008)

Hospice is a great place to donate candy. I know my grandma was over the moon when she could get her hands on chocolate again (after being so good about it with her health issues). In hospice, it is about pleasure and taste and the sugar tooth. While we could get all the chocolate (and for some reason sardines that she called snails) she wanted, some families don't have the time or resources.

So even if you think it is poison, there are people who would enjoy it very much and it wouldn't matter what the health consequences.

And if I am ever in a nursing home, bring the candy to me, I will hide it under my bed, Diabetes or no diabetes, I am going to eat chocolate like a queen too.


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## pjs (Mar 30, 2005)

Thanks Mamatoblessing- just getting back to this thread now.


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## jennpn (Jul 30, 2009)

Have you looked at the nutritional information- or lack of? This IS garbage. Binging one night of the year on crap as part of the tradition is not a big deal...and then into the garbage it goes. We don't trick or treat to many houses...Up the street and back so it is not like a whole pillow case full. This year ALL the candy is going in the garbage when I swap bags for dried fruit, apple chips etc. This candy is crap-however a fun tradition- If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles. It is much more considerate to put it in the trash then in your child's body... what a way to weaken the immune system during prime illness season!


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## JL83 (Aug 7, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jennpn* 
Have you looked at the nutritional information- or lack of? This IS garbage. Binging one night of the year on crap as part of the tradition is not a big deal...and then into the garbage it goes. We don't trick or treat to many houses...Up the street and back so it is not like a whole pillow case full. This year ALL the candy is going in the garbage when I swap bags for dried fruit, apple chips etc. This candy is crap-however a fun tradition- If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles. It is much more considerate to put it in the trash then in your child's body... what a way to weaken the immune system during prime illness season!


That seems hyperbole.

Everything in moderation. 1 or 2 tiny candies per day until it's gone won't harm a kid in any way.

If you don't want your kids to eat the candy - don't take it. It just seems so wasteful to take something knowing you're going to just going to throw it out. There are other people who'd appreciate that candy.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jennpn* 
If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles.

That's funny. I know more families who would throw away the raisins, the playdough and even the bubbles than would throw away the candy. There have been several comments in this thread about the tradition being out of step with the reality and such. I disagree. I knew people - my own mom, for one - who refused to give out candy even 20-30 years ago. But, _most_ people still give out candy, and _most_ families (ime) are looking for just that.


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
That seems hyperbole.

Everything in moderation. 1 or 2 tiny candies per day until it's gone won't harm a kid in any way.

If you don't want your kids to eat the candy - don't take it. It just seems so wasteful to take something knowing you're going to just going to throw it out. There are other people who'd appreciate that candy.

I think moderation is in the eye of the beholder. I would never consider eating something every day as moderate. An occasional piece of candy is fine (thinking like once a week or so) and moderate (to me). However, for halloween we just step back and get it over with. We also only give them a bag that will hold a small amount.


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## WC_hapamama (Sep 19, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Heatherb917* 
I'm teaching my kids to make healthy choices. And I have to be consistent in teaching them to be good stewards of their bodies.

That's it... it's a choice. A lifestyle choice.

Candy isn't healthy, and I don't think that anyone would deny that, but it's still FOOD and it's wasteful to throw away FOOD that someone could actually eat, healthy or not, when there are people who suffer from food insecurity in our own communities.


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## childsplay (Sep 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pkutniewski* 
Wow. I can't imagine telling a 5 year old "here honey, let's go door-to-door and say trick or treat and NOT take their stuff"! As for being greedy and wasteful what exactly are we wasting here? It's junk food. Not steak. There is no "starving kids who would love to have it" guilt attached to junk food. I don't know a single person who isn't wasteful with most things. Anyone who produces more than that one tiny bag of garbage that couple made a documentary of, is wasteful to an nth degree comparatively speaking. Those that don't recycle are wasteful, those that do not reuse what they can are wasteful but throwing out junk food to me, is not wasteful. Nor is it greed. We don't go to to other neighborhoods to see how much candy we can get. We stay in our 24 house development and see our own neighbors. I see no greed whatsoever about it.


But rather than TAKING candy, which you are going to toss anyway, could you not turn it around and give something?
On my kid's first few halloweens, we really got into the dressing up bit (of them) and trick or treating as did our neighbors.
Instead of collecting candy for the kids, we'd carry a sack of treats
( homemade caramel apples, rice krispie squares, stickers, halloween pencils...etc) and hand them out to the doors we went to. Mind you, we knew most people. It turned into quite a conversation topic and therefore was quite social. Plus, it was fun!
Just thoughts from me who doesn't like to throw anything out (especially food! : )


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Heatherb917* 
Ok, candy as crack was a stretch....and probaby inappropriate. But I still have a hard time teaching my kids that anything that I say is not healthy for them, we should pass on to someone else. Even a video that I find is not "good" for them, I can't encourage them to give that to their friend. I don't like Ferber books, I find them harmful....I will NOT give it to my friend so it won't go to waste. I'd just as soon throw it in the garbage (I know it can be recycled, not the point!) And I don't feel that I'm teaching my kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyles. I'm teaching my kids to make healthy choices. *And I have to be consistent in teaching them to be good stewards of their bodies. If I tell them eating candy is not good for you, how can I possibly tell them to give that food then to someone else....who it also is not good for.* If I'm going to teach my kids to be generous to their grandma or to the homeless, then let me teach them that "Hey, homeless people usually have to eat some pretty unhealthy things because that's what is available and cheap. Let's make some heathy treats to give to that homeless man that we see every day. He'd probably really appreciate a homecooked meal. Not a sack of candy."

This kind of reminds me of the feelings some people have toward alcohol. My husband doesn't drink, but once in a while someone who doesn't know that will gift him with a bottle of liquor or wine, which he then passes on to someone who does drink alcohol. Some people would dump out the alcohol because they feel (or would like to demonstrate the value to their children) that no one should drink it. So if you want your children to glean that you feel no one should eat candy, then I guess it does make sense to not encourage them to give it to others.


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## celestialdreamer (Nov 18, 2004)

Due to food allergies we haven't let our kids eat more than a piece or two of candy (usually something we provided anyway) on Halloween. They still go out trick or treating for a little bit and then the "Great Pumpkin" takes their bag of candy and leaves a little gift instead.

Even still...it never would have crossed my mind to actually throw the candy away. My dh usually eats a bit of it that night after the kids go to bed and then takes the rest to work to share with his coworkers. I have personally watched my friends children gorge themselves on candy the night of Halloween because it was getting tossed the next day and it was frankly a bit disgusting. They literally were shoving it in their faces as fast as they could unwrap it!


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## hibiscus mum (Apr 6, 2009)

I just wanted to mention that one year some teenaged girls came to my door for TorT, but instead of taking candy, they said they were collecting canned goods for the local food bank. I thought that was really nice.


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## DaughterOfKali (Jul 15, 2007)

I don't toss the candy away unless it looks like it's been tampered with or the package is ripped, etc.

Ds can't eat the majority of candy he gets so I just replace it with stuff he can/will eat.

All the other stuff I bring to my church office and put it in the candy dish for visitors.


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

My daughter eats as much as she wants, and I don't place limits. But most of it seems to go uneaten. I usually send it with dh to work.


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## EnviroBecca (Jun 5, 2002)

I wrote:

Quote:

If I've accepted food to be polite, I'll eat it if I possibly can (I'm not painfully full, and it doesn't literally make me gag) and adjust my eating later in the day to compensate.
and Limabean responded:

Quote:

I don't understand how this leads to less waste. The food has already been used up in preparation/plating. Whether it goes in your stomach or in the trash, it can't be used to feed someone else who is hungry at that point.

I don't get how eating past the point of comfort is helpful at all. I can see how not accepting food when you're not hungry could be helpful, because then that food would still be available for someone else to eat. But shoving stuff down your gullet when you'd rather not? That's very unappetizing, and could lead to a really weird relationship with food, I would think.
It's reducing waste _because I adjust my eating later in the day to compensate._ For example, if I go to a friend's house at 4:00 and she says, "Try this chili I just made!" and gives me a bowlful, when I eat dinner at 6:00 I'll be less hungry and I won't have seconds on spaghetti, but of course I won't throw away that spaghetti; I'll have it for lunch tomorrow. The "extra" food I eat to prevent it from being wasted is REPLACING food I would otherwise seek out later, so my total caloric consumption is the same. (Approximately. I'm not a calorie-counter per se, but I think about how much I've eaten in the last 6 hours or so when I'm deciding how big a serving to take or whether to eat at all.)

I guess my relationship with food is "weird" by American standards, in that I find it really easy to resist CHOOSING to seek food when I'm not hungry. I don't eat a full meal just because it's 12:00 or eat chocolate because I'm sad or any of that sort of thing. I realize a lot of people's relationships with food are badly broken







but mine is not.

I will grab every available calorie when the alternative is letting it go to waste or being rude, but I don't eat PAST the point of comfort as you said; I eat UP TO the point where it becomes uncomfortable.

3boobykins wrote:

Quote:

The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season.








I think this is a great idea! The wasting of food by buying candy to make decorations has always bothered me, but if it is unwanted candy and being used in decorations instead of going into the trash, that's an improvement! Yes, the gingerbread village gets tossed AFTER A BUNCH OF PEOPLE ENJOY SEEING IT FOR WEEKS, just as candy eaten by a person gets tossed out of the body AFTER THE PERSON ENJOYS EATING IT FOR TWO MINUTES--both are ways of using the candy.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MammaG* 
The past few years, the Great Pumpkin has visited our house on Hallowe'en night. We help the boys read food labels on their 'stuff' and allow one or two special peices, but the rest gets left out for the Great Pumpkin, who then leaves a new game or toy in thanks. Candy went to DH's work, or last year a friend gathered it from many families and sent it to the troops in Iraq.

This is brilliant--thank you for the idea!


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

I also wanted to add that it seems like a major issue here is the difference in mindset between people who think of candy as no big deal, and people who consider it actively harmful. My son isn't old enough for candy yet but when he is, we will trick or treat, and I won't be letting him eat stuff made out of HFCS and artificial colorings--his health is more important than some abstract principle against "waste" (in my opinion, you can't waste something that has no value, but whatever), and my refusal to let him eat the candy is not going to prevent him from enjoying a cherished childhood tradition. And since I don't think it's okay for my kid to eat that stuff, I'm not comfortable giving it to someone else. Into the garbage it will go...

I understand the waste argument but really, this seems to be about much more than that. Let's face it: throwing away candy is easily perceived as a judgment about whether or not it's okay to let children eat (most) candy. And that riles people up something fierce.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EnviroBecca* 
...I don't eat PAST the point of comfort as you said; I eat UP TO the point where it becomes uncomfortable.

Okay. The way you phrased it earlier made it sound like you did, when you said, "I'll eat it if I possibly can (I'm not painfully full, and it doesn't literally make me gag)." I would be uncomfortably full well before I was in pain or gagging. The way you described it earlier, I pictured you miserably choking down scraps of food just because it would go in the trash otherwise. The bowl-of-chili scenario sounds much more reasonable.


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## Youngfrankenstein (Jun 3, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
My son isn't old enough for candy yet but when he is, we will trick or treat, and I won't be letting him eat stuff made out of HFCS and artificial colorings--his health is more important than some abstract principle against "waste" (in my opinion, you can't waste something that has no value, but whatever), and my refusal to let him eat the candy is not going to prevent him from enjoying a cherished childhood tradition..

I guess I still have a problem with seeking out something you know you don't want just to toss it. Personally, I see ToT as purely optional and families decide what they want to do. I don't see missing it as a trauma.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
I understand the waste argument but really, this seems to be about much more than that. Let's face it: throwing away candy is easily perceived as a judgment about whether or not it's okay to let children eat (most) candy. And that riles people up something fierce.

I'm not sure where you get that. Plenty of people here have made suggestions such as sending it to people in military service overseas, or donating it to a shelter. That doesn't translate into "you think you're so much better than me because you don't let your kids eat candy". I certainly have no objection to people not allowing their children to have any candy - actually, I can totally understand that, even though we don't do it. I just find it really odd to deliberately take kids out to participate in a ritual that boils down to asking people for candy, just to take it home and throw it out. It seems incredibly wasteful - not just because it's thrown out, but because participating in trick-or-treating supports the production and distribution of all that candy in the first place. If I didn't get the number of trick-or-treaters that I get, I wouldn't buy as much candy. Ditto for many of the neighbours. If people didn't buy as much, the manufacturers wouldn't _make_ as much. I just don't get the thinking here...and I do think it's very different than politely accepting an _unsolicited_ gift and then getting rid of it (although that generally means something one doesn't want for oneself, ime, so donation comes up there, too).


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## Carma (Feb 10, 2006)

I don't want my kids to eat too much candy. But I don't throw it out the same evening. I'll just give it as a treat later on, my DH eats it (he does not gain weight) and I try not to eat it (I do gain), and some of the candy is not good anyway and gets forgotten, that's when I throw it out.
Where we are many people give more 'wholesome candy' like single serve graham cracker pouches, raisins or plain chocolate, some even give money (nickels or dimes).
Candy is junk, but someone paid for it. From that angle it is wasteful IMO. It would be good if more people would give more 'wholesome' candy (no artificial colorings/tastes mainly).

Carma


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jennpn* 
Have you looked at the nutritional information- or lack of? This IS garbage. Binging one night of the year on crap as part of the tradition is not a big deal...and then into the garbage it goes. We don't trick or treat to many houses...Up the street and back so it is not like a whole pillow case full. This year ALL the candy is going in the garbage when I swap bags for dried fruit, apple chips etc. This candy is crap-however a fun tradition- If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles. It is much more considerate to put it in the trash then in your child's body... what a way to weaken the immune system during prime illness season!

So what will you tell your kid about why people are handing out garbage?


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Youngfrankenstein* 
I guess I still have a problem with seeking out something you know you don't want just to toss it. Personally, I see ToT as purely optional and families decide what they want to do. I don't see missing it as a trauma.

this is exactly the point. Don;t trickor treat. If you don't agree with how it works, skip it. But please, don't take something just to throw it in the garbage.


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vbactivist* 
this is exactly the point. Don;t trickor treat. If you don't agree with how it works, skip it. But please, don't take something just to throw it in the garbage.

But if the candy-dumpers don't trick or treat and dump then the candy will go to other children who will eat it. Won't someone please save the children from the candy by trick or treat and dumping?!


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
But if the candy-dumpers don't trick or treat and dump then the candy will go to other children who will eat it. Won't someone please save the children from the candy by trick or treat and dumping?!









I know you're just kidding, and I love ToTing and all the candy that comes with it, so I'm definitely not a candy tosser, but the the supply-and-demand thing really does apply. It's like people who buy puppies from pet stores to "save" them, but all they're really doing is increasing demand and causing puppy mills to increase production. It's misplaced good intentions.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
But if the candy-dumpers don't trick or treat and dump then the candy will go to other children who will eat it. Won't someone please save the children from the candy by trick or treat and dumping?!









I have to say, I am really surprised that some people hate the candy aspect so much that they will willingly contribute to its purchase, only to dump it in a landfill. MDC mamas are a creative bunch, can't you come up with a different way to participate in the cultural tradition (if it's sooo important) without the take and toss? Have a oparty at your house. Or dress up other days of the year, just for fun. WE do dress up and trick or treat. But this year my kdis are going to be gone for that weekend (the older two anyhow). so no dresing up and candy blast this year. Oh well. No big deal. They will survive. They get to dress up whenever they want, and they can have treats on days other than oct 31, too


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## WC_hapamama (Sep 19, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Youngfrankenstein* 
I guess I still have a problem with seeking out something you know you don't want just to toss it. Personally, I see ToT as purely optional and families decide what they want to do. I don't see missing it as a trauma.

Exactly.

I have 2 kids with food allergies, and sometimes they can't eat anywhere from 1/4-1/2 of the candy they get, but I still don't throw it in the garbage. Depending on the timing, it goes into work with DH or I, where there are generally people who are happy to devour it.

I definitely have a hard time wrapping my head around the disconnect of trying to be green by using cloth diapers, cloth wipes, unpaper towels, Kleen Kanteens and stuff like that, yet being perfectly okay with dumping several pounds of candy into the landfill. Folks, a lot of those wrappers are plastic.

You can celebrate Halloween without Trick-Or-Treating, if the whole candy concept really bothers you.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WC_hapamama* 
Exactly.

I have 2 kids with food allergies, and sometimes they can't eat anywhere from 1/4-1/2 of the candy they get, but I still don't throw it in the garbage. Depending on the timing, it goes into work with DH or I, where there are generally people who are happy to devour it.

I definitely have a hard time wrapping my head around the disconnect of trying to be green by using cloth diapers, cloth wipes, unpaper towels, Kleen Kanteens and stuff like that, yet being perfectly okay with dumping several pounds of candy into the landfill. Folks, a lot of those wrappers are plastic.

You can celebrate Halloween without Trick-Or-Treating, if the whole candy concept really bothers you.


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
My son isn't old enough for candy yet but when he is, we will trick or treat, and I won't be letting him eat stuff made out of HFCS and artificial colorings--his health is more important than some abstract principle against "waste" (in my opinion, you can't waste something that has no value, but whatever), and my refusal to let him eat the candy is not going to prevent him from enjoying a cherished childhood tradition.

So you're going to let him participate in the tradition, and then promptly throw all the candy away? Because there isn't likely to be a lot (if any) stuff without HFCS in there.


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## mama2mygirl (Dec 14, 2005)

My little girl can't really tolerate candy. She gets some that night and we trade her for a small toy.
We give the rest away. I don't see how that hurts anyone. I don't care much either, I suppose. Everyone in our house is happy. DD loves to knock on doors and show off her costume. Plus, our little town goes overboard for Halloween. It's pretty fun to walk around.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mama2mygirl* 
My little girl can't really tolerate candy. She gets some that night and we trade her for a small toy.
*We give the rest away. I don't see how that hurts anyone.* I don't care much either, I suppose. Everyone in our house is happy. DD loves to knock on doors and show off her costume. Plus, our little town goes overboard for Halloween. It's pretty fun to walk around.

I don't see how it does, either. But, you don't throw it away, which is what we're all talking about.

People can do what they want, obviously. I'm just having a bit of a disconnect.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
I'm not sure where you get that. Plenty of people here have made suggestions such as sending it to people in military service overseas, or donating it to a shelter. That doesn't translate into "you think you're so much better than me because you don't let your kids eat candy". I certainly have no objection to people not allowing their children to have any candy - actually, I can totally understand that, even though we don't do it. I just find it really odd to deliberately take kids out to participate in a ritual that boils down to asking people for candy, just to take it home and throw it out. It seems incredibly wasteful - not just because it's thrown out, but because participating in trick-or-treating supports the production and distribution of all that candy in the first place. If I didn't get the number of trick-or-treaters that I get, I wouldn't buy as much candy. Ditto for many of the neighbours. If people didn't buy as much, the manufacturers wouldn't _make_ as much. I just don't get the thinking here...and I do think it's very different than politely accepting an _unsolicited_ gift and then getting rid of it (although that generally means something one doesn't want for oneself, ime, so donation comes up there, too).

Well, we plan to give out "healthy" candy (candy made from cane or raw sugar or honey) and stickers so I don't agree that you have to forego the whole tradition just because most of what is given away isn't what you'd consider edible. If people weren't so paranoid we'd happily give away caramel apples, cookies, or popcorn balls.

Trick or treating goes back a lot longer than fun-sized candy bars made from high fructose corn syrup. Just because that's what most people choose to give away these days doesn't mean there's no point in trick or treating.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamazee* 
So you're going to let him participate in the tradition, and then promptly throw all the candy away? Because there isn't likely to be a lot (if any) stuff without HFCS in there.

Yes, that's the plan. It's not just about the candy--or at least, it didn't used to be. Halloween is about costumes and the excitement of being out at night and jack o'lanterns and the overall spookiness, not just concentrated fructose in plastic wrappers.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:

I definitely have a hard time wrapping my head around the disconnect of trying to be green by using cloth diapers, cloth wipes, unpaper towels, Kleen Kanteens and stuff like that, yet being perfectly okay with dumping several pounds of candy into the landfill. Folks, a lot of those wrappers are plastic.
Um, wouldn't you throw the wrapper away anyway? And they are still going to MAKE the candy, and SHIP the candy, and PACKAGE the candy. So really it isn't about whether a person eats the candy or not, but about if people ToT or not.

ToT=waste. So all you candy eaters are just as guilty as the candy tossers


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
Yes, that's the plan. It's not just about the candy--or at least, it didn't used to be. Halloween is about costumes and the excitement of being out at night and jack o'lanterns and the overall spookiness, not just concentrated fructose in plastic wrappers.

Halloween is about lots of things. Trick-or-treating is about _treats_. We don't live in a culture in which homemade treats are going to happen much - and many/most of them just get thrown away. So, it's about candy.

As to this:

Quote:

Well, we plan to give out "healthy" candy (candy made from cane or raw sugar or honey) and stickers so I don't agree that you have to forego the whole tradition just because most of what is given away isn't what you'd consider edible. If people weren't so paranoid we'd happily give away caramel apples, cookies, or popcorn balls.

Trick or treating goes back a lot longer than fun-sized candy bars made from high fructose corn syrup. Just because that's what most people choose to give away these days doesn't mean there's no point in trick or treating.
You might have a point, but we get about 100 or so trick-or-treaters. I can't afford to buy that much "healthy" candy. (And, "healthy" is funny. Raw cane sugar is way better than HFCS - but it's not "healthy".) I would if I could, but I can't...and dh and I are better off than many of our neighbours. And, I never said there was no point in trick-or-treating. We trick-or-treat. I just don't think there's any point in trick-or-treating (ie. going around knocking on people's doors, asking for treats), and then throwing the treats away.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:

Halloween is about lots of things. Trick-or-treating is about treats. We don't live in a culture in which homemade treats are going to happen much - and many/most of them just get thrown away. So, it's about candy.
For YOU it may be about candy, for US it is about community. I am not the poster you are quoting, but in my neighbourhood it is a community thing. A chance to get out and visit neighbours and the ones with grown children (especially the seniors) just LOVE seeing the kids in their costumes. The candy is not the point at all, though we do eat the chocolate (just not the rest). I find it kind of sad that it isn't more community oriented everywhere, but is merely a candy grab. One more reason to be grateful for my neighbourhood (even though they give out some questionable candy







). There are lots of reasons to ToT that have NOTHING to do with candy. Maybe not for your family, but for lots of other families


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## SequoiasMom (Feb 27, 2007)

I haven't read all the responses, but I just wanted to chime in here. My dd LOVES trick or treating, and I love to go with her. We will collect whatever people are kind enough to give to us. She will have 1 or 2 pieces that night.

What I really wanted to say is that we're vegan, and try not to eat too many artificial foods, so......I was thinking of giving the candy away. I mean, someone will eat it. And I'm sorry that they will because it is junk food. But, at least it will not go in the trash. I try to limit ANYTHING that goes to the dump. Gross.

Oh, we'll keep some appropriate loot, but I doubt there will be much.

Looks like almost every MDC member has weighed in on the subject. It's obviously controversial, and food for thought. =)


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
Halloween is about lots of things. Trick-or-treating is about _treats_. We don't live in a culture in which homemade treats are going to happen much - and many/most of them just get thrown away. So, it's about candy.

To you, maybe. That's not what it's about to _us_, however. Every family has different values, no?

Quote:

As to this:

You might have a point, but we get about 100 or so trick-or-treaters. I can't afford to buy that much "healthy" candy. (And, "healthy" is funny. Raw cane sugar is way better than HFCS - but it's not "healthy".)
I know it's not genuinely healthy, which is why I put "healthy" in quotes the first time.







I'm not a person who totally avoids sugar--but I do avoid HFCS and artificial flavorings, colorings, and preservatives. That's what I meant by "healthy".

Quote:

I would if I could, but I can't...and dh and I are better off than many of our neighbours. And, I never said there was no point in trick-or-treating. We trick-or-treat. I just don't think there's any point in trick-or-treating (ie. going around knocking on people's doors, asking for treats), and then throwing the treats away.
I sympathize with not being able to afford "healthy" (I should just call it hippie candy, or all-natural, or something--we all know it's not really healthy!) candy, since it can definitely get pricey fast (although we're lucky enough to live in an area with lots of local farmers and artisans who make simply amazing old-fashioned candies that don't cost much). But honestly, if we couldn't swing it, we would just turn off the light and not answer the door. Because--and this is not a judgment, but my own personal thing--I cannot justify giving away candy that I would not eat myself, or let DS eat. And anything made with HFCS makes that list, particularly because it has been shown to contain mercury. Besides, there are options besides all-natural candy--stickers, temporary tattoos, small change--it doesn't have to be candy at all. Treats don't have to be edible. Back in the old days a "treat" could mean anything from a slice of pie and a cup of cider to an apple to a peck on the cheek from the lady of the house. For us it's about tradition and the magic of Halloween more than anything else.


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## BabyMae09 (Sep 19, 2008)

Throwing stuff away is bad. Eating too much sugar is bad. Old candy is bad. Giving candy away is perpetuating bad eating habits in other people. Not taking your kids trick-or-treating is bad. Taking them door-to-door but not accepting candy is bad. Having a party but limiting candy is bad. There's really no way to win.

BTW, we do a combo of most of the above. You know, to spread out the 'bad'









Life is all about balance. Sometimes we have to make choices where there really isn't a good answer.


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## purplemoon (Sep 24, 2008)

I am actually salivating at all this discussion of chocolate (the other stuff you can keep) and popcorn balls or caramel apples. YUM!


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EnviroBecca* 
I realize a lot of people's relationships with food are badly broken but mine is not.

It must be nice to feel whole in the midst of so much brokenness.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *purplemoon* 
I am actually salivating at all this discussion of chocolate (the other stuff you can keep) and popcorn balls or caramel apples. YUM!

I would do just about anything to be able to give these away (made a couple of years ago):

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=de1yfa&s=4

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2cs9gmp&s=4


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## hollytheteacher (Mar 10, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sisteeesmama* 
I think this thread has been pretty amazing. That said~
I loved the idea of sending the candy to soldiers in IRAQ, that is just perfect!

What I really don't understand is the THROWING it in the TRASH part. I mean, by all means take your kids out, yes, the people are giving out the candy and yes you are free (FREE!) to take it, but by all means, don't throw it in the friggin trash! Please, just give it to someone, even if you think candy is junk, other people LOVE it and it really is a waste, other people really would like to have it!

I totally agree with this. My dad is going to Afganistan very soon and I know he'd be THRILLED to receive candy...he LOVES it. In fact, anyone who wants to donate their leftover candy to him, PM me and i'll give you my address







As much as you might hate candy or think it's wasteful or harmful etc, if there is someone else out there that wants it and would eat it, isn't it LESS wasteful to give it to them, then throw yours away and have them buy more (using more resources etc). I also love candy and if/when i get some I don't like, i pass it on to my co workers. Which also reminds me, if your child is in school, bring in some candy for their teachers







Sometimes during one of those hard days a piece of candy goes a long way


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## bugginsmom (Aug 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JL83* 
Yes.

There are plenty of non-candy alternatives for celebrating Halloween. Many neighborhoods or communities have parties. You can throw a party with limited candy.

Your kid can go out trick-or-treating and simply not have a pillow but still have a blast with his friends.

Taking candy knowing you are going to throw it away is greedy and wasteful.

Haven't read the whole thread, but had to comment on this. Seriously? My child can not have the food dyes or we are looking at serious behavior issues, a nasty rash on his arms and a very unhappy little boy. HOWEVER, he can eat the chocolate, and enjoy the non-food items. So, would it be better that we go up to a house, say trick or treat, look at what they are handing out and say we don't want it? He can have some of it and some of it he can't. Why take the joy of the festivities away from him? How about the kid who can eat anything except stuff with nuts in it? Should they stay home too? Geez!

ETA: We only tot on our own block so we only get a limited amount of treats anyway. My dh works in a very health conscious office and they just wouldn't use it there. So, yes we do discard about 10-15 pieces each year.


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## purplemoon (Sep 24, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bugginsmom* 
Haven't read the whole thread, but had to comment on this. Seriously? My child can not have the food dyes or we are looking at serious behavior issues, a nasty rash on his arms and a very unhappy little boy. HOWEVER, he can eat the chocolate, and enjoy the non-food items. So, would it be better that we go up to a house, say trick or treat, look at what they are handing out and say we don't want it? He can have some of it and some of it he can't. Why take the joy of the festivities away from him? How about the kid who can eat anything except stuff with nuts in it? Should they stay home too? Geez!

No. They say give it away to someone else instead of throwing it away.

But some people don't want to harm others in what they percieve as health garbage and would rather throw it away.

Others made the suggestion that if you hate candy that much don't support the supply and demand and have a party instead.

Then people said that there are people who want candy even if it will rot their teeth like homeless people, sad people, lonely people, sad kids, dying people, old people.

Then others chimed in that ToT is a cultural fun time with kids parading their costumes and they want to participate and that people should invest in other things to give out. Stickers, play-doh, raisins.

Then others said kids wouldn't like that, they want candy.

And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter as long as you are happy with your decision to ingest candy, some of the candy, none of the candy, donate the candy, burn the candy or put it on a rocket with a sign of poison and shoot it into space.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FreeRangeMama* 
Um, wouldn't you throw the wrapper away anyway? *And they are still going to MAKE the candy, and SHIP the candy, and PACKAGE the candy.* So really it isn't about whether a person eats the candy or not, but about if people ToT or not.

ToT=waste. So all you candy eaters are just as guilty as the candy tossers










If people who are jsut going to throw it out, stop tot-ing, then those houses will not buy as much, which in the long run, means less produced. Or do you feel that way about everything? Meaning, oh well, they are going to make gas guzzling SUV no matter what so we all may as well by one?


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

to me it's like going to a buffet that serves desserts and loading up your plate, again and again, and just dumping it. maybe eating one bite, but dumping most of it. why take it at all? *I just can't believe people will take something(or buy) with the INTENT to throw it away.* Really? If you think it's garbage, don't _*take*_ it!


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FreeRangeMama* 
For YOU it may be about candy, for US it is about community. I am not the poster you are quoting, but in my neighbourhood it is a community thing. A chance to get out and visit neighbours and the ones with grown children (especially the seniors) just LOVE seeing the kids in their costumes. The candy is not the point at all, though we do eat the chocolate (just not the rest). I find it kind of sad that it isn't more community oriented everywhere, but is merely a candy grab. One more reason to be grateful for my neighbourhood (even though they give out some questionable candy







). There are lots of reasons to ToT that have NOTHING to do with candy. Maybe not for your family, but for lots of other families









So, have you broached the idea of just going around and showing costumes to each other? Visting on Halloween, without the "trick or _treat_" part?

Have you ever said, "oh, no thank you - we just like to visit the neighbours and dd likes to show off her costume"? Do any of your wonderful neighbours not hand out anything, or do they answer the door with a bowl of treats?

So, you think trick-or-treating shouldn't have treats? It should just be a community oriented excuse to take stuff from neighbours and throw it away?

I don't even get this. It's very community minded here, too...lots of the neighbours will be looking forward to seeing dd1's and ds2's costumes, and will definitely take time to admire dd2 in her Ergo when I take them out. But...this is a community and my kids don't need to ask for candy to interact with their neighbours. They do that every day. So do I. I'm grateful that I don't have to ask for things from my neighbours and then throw them away, in order to feel community minded.

This whole thread is blowing my mind. I'm sorry, but knocking on people's doors and asking for treats, knowing that you're going to throw those treats away, isn't what I think of when I think of community. YMMV.


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## bugginsmom (Aug 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *purplemoon* 
No. They say give it away to someone else instead of throwing it away.

But some people don't want to harm others in what they percieve as health garbage and would rather throw it away.

Others made the suggestion that if you hate candy that much don't support the supply and demand and have a party instead.

Then people said that there are people who want candy even if it will rot their teeth like homeless people, sad people, lonely people, sad kids, dying people, old people.

Then others chimed in that ToT is a cultural fun time with kids parading their costumes and they want to participate and that people should invest in other things to give out. Stickers, play-doh, raisins.

Then others said kids wouldn't like that, they want candy.

And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter as long as you are happy with your decision to ingest candy, some of the candy, none of the candy, donate the candy, burn the candy or put it on a rocket with a sign of poison and shoot it into space.









Gotcha!


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *purplemoon* 
No. They say give it away to someone else instead of throwing it away.

But some people don't want to harm others in what they percieve as health garbage and would rather throw it away.

Others made the suggestion that if you hate candy that much don't support the supply and demand and have a party instead.

Then people said that there are people who want candy even if it will rot their teeth like homeless people, sad people, lonely people, sad kids, dying people, old people.

Then others chimed in that ToT is a cultural fun time with kids parading their costumes and they want to participate and that people should invest in other things to give out. Stickers, play-doh, raisins.

Then others said kids wouldn't like that, they want candy.

And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter as long as you are happy with your decision to ingest candy, some of the candy, none of the candy, donate the candy, burn the candy or put it on a rocket with a sign of poison and shoot it into space.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *purplemoon* 
No. They say give it away to someone else instead of throwing it away.

But some people don't want to harm others in what they percieve as health garbage and would rather throw it away.

Others made the suggestion that if you hate candy that much don't support the supply and demand and have a party instead.

Then people said that there are people who want candy even if it will rot their teeth like homeless people, sad people, lonely people, sad kids, dying people, old people.

Then others chimed in that ToT is a cultural fun time with kids parading their costumes and they want to participate and that people should invest in other things to give out. Stickers, play-doh, raisins.

Then others said kids wouldn't like that, they want candy.

And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter as long as you are happy with your decision to ingest candy, some of the candy, none of the candy, donate the candy, burn the candy or put it on a rocket with a sign of poison and shoot it into space.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
Besides, there are options besides all-natural candy--stickers, temporary tattoos, small change--it doesn't have to be candy at all. Treats don't have to be edible.

Yeah - but I know for a fact that most of the kids around here would throw those things away, and I see no point in buying something they'll just chuck. Whatever the parents might think about it, their kids are looking for candy.

Quote:

Back in the old days a "treat" could mean anything from a slice of pie and a cup of cider to an apple to a peck on the cheek from the lady of the house. For us it's about tradition and the magic of Halloween more than anything else.
Yup. And, nobody will do that, anymore. Nobody did that in my (very friendly) neighbourhood in the early 70s. The tradition now is to go get candy.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
This whole thread is blowing my mind. I'm sorry, but knocking on people's doors and asking for treats, knowing that you're going to throw those treats away, isn't what I think of when I think of community. YMMV.

But that's the thing--not all houses give the same stuff away. If we know the neighbors, we'll accept things we wouldn't accept from strangers (like cookies, for instance). Some houses give prizes. Some houses give coins. Some houses give pretzels! It's not like we'd be knocking on your door to spite you. This is no different than tossing candy you don't want to eat simply because you don't _like_ it.

We're not there for the candy, don't you see? We're there to say hi, show you our costumes, check out your Halloween decorations and jack o'lanterns, tell you, "Trick or treat!", and gratefully accept whatever you're handing out that year. It's a continuation of an old tradition that we happen to hold dear. That's it!

I would never refuse candy at someone's house, any more than I would refuse cookies or other unwrapped edibles from people we didn't know--that strikes me as horribly rude and ungracious. Just like I wouldn't refuse to take a helping at a dinner party because I didn't personally like what was being served.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
Yeah - but I know for a fact that most of the kids around here would throw those things away, and I see no point in buying something they'll just chuck. Whatever the parents might think about it, their kids are looking for candy.

Maybe they would, but that's the chance you have to take when you give someone a gift. You don't get to decide what they do with it after you give it away, and stressing about something that's so far out of your control is bound to make you unhappy. And it's so unnecessary! Kids throw away the cheapo candy, or the candy with nuts, or all the candy (because they just want toys and stickers), or the candy without nuts, or the fruit candy (and keep the chocolate), or the chocolate (and keep the fruit, but save a Milky Way for Dad), etc. etc. This is no different.

Quote:

Yup. And, nobody will do that, anymore. Nobody did that in my (very friendly) neighbourhood in the early 70s. The tradition now is to go get candy.
But all neighborhoods and communities are not the same. In point of fact, there are a couple of elderly ladies in my new neighborhood that do hand out popcorn balls and cookies. The families who know them accept them gladly (one of them is supposed to be a marvelous baker). We just moved here a month ago but I will happily eat treats from those ladies, because I am joining a community I can trust to watch out for its own. I also know of an older man down the road who gives away pennies. Will we skip his house because of that? No! No more than we would return a package to a favorite auntie who sends the same predictable pair of socks for Christmas every year. In my family, it's not about the loot. Your mileage may vary.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vbactivist* 
If people who are jsut going to throw it out, stop tot-ing, then those houses will not buy as much, which in the long run, means less produced. Or do you feel that way about everything? Meaning, oh well, they are going to make gas guzzling SUV no matter what so we all may as well by one?

I was responding specifically to the part where all the plastic wrapping of the uneaten candy was going in the garbage as the eaten candy has wrappers too. And just pointing out that the argument being made isn't really about the candy not being eaten, all candy causes waste.

But I think I am taking this whole thread a little less serious than many of you







I find the idea of people fighting for pages and pages over *candy* a little silly. Eat it, don't eat it. Toss it, donate it. I think it has all been covered at this point.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

My kids' candy collection at the end of the night would maybe fill a sandwich bag each. We live in a pretty widely spaced neighborhood, and we only walk as long as they're not cold/grumpy/whiney, once they start heading into that territory we're on our way home. So sorry, to all the people who think I'm a terrible person and terrible mother for throwing away a sandwich-sized bag of odds and ends candy at the end of the night. I can't say any of the impassioned shame on yous have really given me any guilt. I throw away more food from my occasionally picky eater's plate when I don't anticipate that his mood has shifted that way, than I do on Halloween night.

It's taken me a long time to get out of the packrat/must keep everything potentially useful/still good mentality, and I like it that way. Pretty much I am VERY strict on the 'reduction' end of reduce/reuse/recycle, but this is one night where I make the exception for my kids' sake, because they enjoy ToTing so much. By the time they outgrow it in a few years (and we didn't ToT until they were 3 and 4), I'm sorry, but I don't think the impact is as great as people who regularly buy organic fruit shipped from Argentina (assuming you don't live there).

I still don't get the total over the top reactions here. You'd think that a person who chucks a handful of candy, or slightly more, might as well have singlehandedly tipped the Exxon Valdez.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
Maybe they would, but that's the chance you have to take when you give someone a gift. You don't get to decide what they do with it after you give it away, and stressing about something that's so far out of your control is bound to make you unhappy. And it's so unnecessary!

I'm not stressing, nor am I unhappy. I know most of them will throw that stuff away, so I don't buy it. No stress involved.

Quote:

Kids throw away the cheapo candy, or the candy with nuts, or all the candy (because they just want toys and stickers),
And, as I say, if you know kids like that, that's great. I've never met one - not one. A few of them will keep the toys, but none of them throw away the candy. And, I do remember classmates whose parents threw away the candy when I was kid. Every one of them cadged any candy they could get from their classmates in the days after Halloween, and were really unhappy about having their candy thrown out, after they "worked so hard" to get it.

Quote:

But all neighborhoods and communities are not the same. In point of fact, there are a couple of elderly ladies in my new neighborhood that do hand out popcorn balls and cookies. The families who know them accept them gladly (one of them is supposed to be a marvelous baker). We just moved here a month ago but I will happily eat treats from those ladies, because I am joining a community I can trust to watch out for its own. I also know of an older man down the road who gives away pennies. Will we skip his house because of that? No! No more than we would return a package to a favorite auntie who sends the same predictable pair of socks for Christmas every year. In my family, it's not about the loot. Your mileage may vary.
Wow. Where do you live? I've not only never lived in a community like that. I've never heard of one. It's not about my family. It's about trick-or-treating being about treats. I, personally, wouldn't have knocked on someone's door as a kid if I knew they were making popcorn balls, because I'd have felt bad throwing them out...and you couldn't have paid me to eat one, then or now.

In any case, this has wandered way afield from why anyone would deliberately feed the candy marketing/selling/buying beast that is Halloween, if they're just going to throw the candy away. I really can't wrap my head around the idea of thinking candy is so bad that it must be thrown away, while simultaneously deliberately encouraging the manufacture, distribution, sale and purchase of said candy. You can say "it's not about the candy for our family", but the current cultural construct of trick-or-treating _is_ about the candy, and everyone knows it.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
I still don't get the total over the top reactions here. You'd think that a person who chucks a handful of candy, or slightly more, might as well have singlehandedly tipped the Exxon Valdez.

I'm probably one of the "over the top" ones, because people tend to think I'm reacting way more strongly than I actually am, even irl, and it's more pronounced online.

The overall impact isn't really the thing that gets me, though. It's the deliberately going out and asking for stuff that you know you're going to throw away. I can't wrap my brain around it. I'll also admit to being kind of astonished at how many people have children who are okay with this, but that's a whole other issue.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

But SB, you just got done talking about the badness of the cultural construct of this candy holiday. So frankly, aren't all parties equally wasteful and commercialized? If the whole thing is bad, trying to determine who's badder seems like a futile exercise to me. Or are you trying to point out that the people getting bent out of shape because someone threw something away are perhaps just displacing some of their own cultural guilt onto the pitchers so that they can feel better about their own sellout to Nestle/Hershey's/Corporate greed masquerading as good ol' American fun?

Do I get some credit trades from you if I mention that my children's costumes are all handmade by me based on thrift store finds, instead of prepackaged costumes by slave labor manufacturers in countries with no human rights?










Surely, if one can buy out their carbon emissions guilt from airplane travel, I can get some forgiveness/amnesty by not wholesale succumbing to the evil corporations, right?

Or maybe not. MDC can be a damned tough crowd.


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## kcstar (Mar 20, 2009)

Just a suggestion, if all you're into is the community of it, why say "Trick or treat?"

When I was growing up, we were not ALLOWED to say ToT when we went out. We had to say "Happy Halloween!". My parents objected to the implied threat of ToT.

It's still a community event, and saying Happy Halloween makes it even more clear that you're there for the community.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
I'm not stressing, nor am I unhappy. I know most of them will throw that stuff away, so I don't buy it. No stress involved.

Well, you seem a little peeved by the idea that the candy might be thrown away, is all.

Quote:

And, as I say, if you know kids like that, that's great. I've never met one - not one. A few of them will keep the toys, but none of them throw away the candy. And, I do remember classmates whose parents threw away the candy when I was kid. Every one of them cadged any candy they could get from their classmates in the days after Halloween, and were really unhappy about having their candy thrown out, after they "worked so hard" to get it.
I was that kid. So was my sister. (My brother would eat anything remotely sugary.) My sister refused to eat anything that was chocolatey or had nuts. I hated the fruit candy. We traded a lot and tossed the rest. I liked getting plastic spiderweb rings and stickers and pennies. My brother didn't. We traded a lot. Our parents didn't let us keep everything--anything too sticky was tossed because it was so bad for the teeth, so no Sugar Daddies. And we didn't get to keep cookies or unwrapped treats because we lived in a large city. We didn't mind.

Quote:

Wow. Where do you live? I've not only never lived in a community like that. I've never heard of one. It's not about my family. It's about trick-or-treating being about treats. I, personally, wouldn't have knocked on someone's door as a kid if I knew they were making popcorn balls, because I'd have felt bad throwing them out...and you couldn't have paid me to eat one, then or now.
I moved from Brooklyn to a semi-rural community of about 3,000 people. The neighbors all know each other and the community itself is pretty tight. That was one major appeal of moving here. And I love popcorn balls--DS might not, when he's old enough to eat them, but we wouldn't dream of skipping the house of someone we know--someone who might be expecting us, in fact--just because we don't like their traditional treat. When I was a kid we didn't do that either--the old lady across the street gave away boxes of raisins. We hated those, but we went anyway, because she would have been hurt if we didn't.

You don't have to eat the popcorn balls. More for me.









Quote:

In any case, this has wandered way afield from why anyone would deliberately feed the candy marketing/selling/buying beast that is Halloween, if they're just going to throw the candy away. I really can't wrap my head around the idea of thinking candy is so bad that it must be thrown away, while simultaneously deliberately encouraging the manufacture, distribution, sale and purchase of said candy. You can say "it's not about the candy for our family", but the current cultural construct of trick-or-treating _is_ about the candy, and everyone knows it.
Because as commercial as Halloween is in mainstream circles, there's still this nugget of traditionalism there if you probe deeply enough to find it. And that's what we like, and that's what we appreciate. So not "everyone knows it", because, simply put, I disagree with you. It's about candy for you and your kids, okay. That really _is_ okay! But that's not what it's about for us, or from what I understand, our new neighbors. And that's okay too. Different strokes and all that. Not all candy is that bad, but some of it is. The bad stuff gets tossed, the good stuff we eat. It's not such a crazy concept.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
So, have you broached the idea of just going around and showing costumes to each other? Visting on Halloween, without the "trick or _treat_" part?

Have you ever said, "oh, no thank you - we just like to visit the neighbours and dd likes to show off her costume"? Do any of your wonderful neighbours not hand out anything, or do they answer the door with a bowl of treats?

So, you think trick-or-treating shouldn't have treats? It should just be a community oriented excuse to take stuff from neighbours and throw it away?

I don't even get this. It's very community minded here, too...lots of the neighbours will be looking forward to seeing dd1's and ds2's costumes, and will definitely take time to admire dd2 in her Ergo when I take them out. But...this is a community and my kids don't need to ask for candy to interact with their neighbours. They do that every day. So do I. I'm grateful that I don't have to ask for things from my neighbours and then throw them away, in order to feel community minded.

This whole thread is blowing my mind. I'm sorry, but knocking on people's doors and asking for treats, knowing that you're going to throw those treats away, isn't what I think of when I think of community. YMMV.

I don't think I can speak for my entire part of town, and I am pretty sure a lot of them really like the candy. I see the little eyes light up when I recycle our candy loot in LARGE amounts







I am not interested in changing Halloween, I just don't wish to kill my allergic child with candy and I don't wish to feed my other kids things that are primarily chemical flavorings and corn starch. I am not knocking the chocolate though, we eat that. I don't really see the point of getting all worked up about how OTHER people celebrate holidays either though, to each their own and all that.

Also, many of these people have already bought treats in anticipation of Halloween, and many of them get a great amount of pleasure from sharing what they believe to be a fantastic treat. I think it would be considered incredibly rude to essentially tell them that this effort was wasted as I don't want my kid eating that crap..... Really, one of the men is a widower and he doesn't get around well. He goes to a great effort to buy candy for ToT'ers. He dresses up as a clown every year and waits in anticipation. I think it is great and I would NEVER insult him by rejecting his efforts. My kids love going to that house because he is dressed up and is so nice. Every time we pass his house they smile. They talk about him often, and only because of our ToT experience. That is only ONE example. Another neighbour came running out of her house the other day to tell me that she bought full sized chocolate bars for the neighbourhood kids. Again, I am NOT going to tell her that her efforts are wasted on us. I want my kids to be considerate of other people and their feelings and I am grateful that people care enough about each other to go to so much trouble







Even though we don't eat large amounts of what we are give we talk extensively about our gratitude and how even though we don't eat certain foods many people do and they buy these things out of kindness.

I would rather focus my energy on bigger issues than a fun holiday that comes once a year









I should point out though that I only toss the especially weird and gross candy of questionable origin. I recycle the nerds and tootsie roll type candy to the older kids who come later, and I do let my kids eat some of it (if it is allergy safe). Dh and I eat WAY too much and give away what we can. Then I stash it in a cupboard for months on end then toss it once I find it a year later









And honestly *I* don't get why so many people feel so strongly about what OTHER people do with candy. Aren't there bigger and less controversial examples of waste to worry about?


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
Yeah - but I know for a fact that most of the kids around here would throw those things away, and I see no point in buying something they'll just chuck. Whatever the parents might think about it, their kids are looking for candy.









So you won't buy things that YOU think would get tossed in favour of something else that may clearly also get tossed. Judging by this thread anyway. Clearly we all have different ideas of what a treat may be.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
My kids' candy collection at the end of the night would maybe fill a sandwich bag each. We live in a pretty widely spaced neighborhood, and we only walk as long as they're not cold/grumpy/whiney, once they start heading into that territory we're on our way home. So sorry, to all the people who think I'm a terrible person and terrible mother for throwing away a sandwich-sized bag of odds and ends candy at the end of the night. I can't say any of the impassioned shame on yous have really given me any guilt. I throw away more food from my occasionally picky eater's plate when I don't anticipate that his mood has shifted that way, than I do on Halloween night.

It's taken me a long time to get out of the packrat/must keep everything potentially useful/still good mentality, and I like it that way. Pretty much I am VERY strict on the 'reduction' end of reduce/reuse/recycle, but this is one night where I make the exception for my kids' sake, because they enjoy ToTing so much. By the time they outgrow it in a few years (and we didn't ToT until they were 3 and 4), I'm sorry, but I don't think the impact is as great as people who regularly buy organic fruit shipped from Argentina (assuming you don't live there).

I still don't get the total over the top reactions here. You'd think that a person who chucks a handful of candy, or slightly more, might as well have singlehandedly tipped the Exxon Valdez.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kcstar* 
Just a suggestion, if all you're into is the community of it, why say "Trick or treat?"

When I was growing up, we were not ALLOWED to say ToT when we went out. We had to say "Happy Halloween!". My parents objected to the implied threat of ToT.

It's still a community event, and saying Happy Halloween makes it even more clear that you're there for the community.

For the same reason you say, "Merry Christmas!" instead of "Happy Christmas!". It's traditional. "Happy Halloween!" is sweet too but I'm pretty sure most people understand that we're not _actually_ going to trash their house if they don't give us some loot.


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

Okay, which one of you non-chuckers bought a packaged costume from the store, huh? I want to know who my buddy in wast--er...credit trade partner is! If you choke down those bits-o-honey in the name of avoiding throwing it out, then I'll take one for you when people have no clue what my kids are for halloween because I had to make 'em myself!


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## eepster (Sep 20, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
Okay, which one of you non-chuckers bought a packaged costume from the store, huh? I want to know who my buddy in wast--er...credit trade partner is! If you choke down those bits-o-honey in the name of avoiding throwing it out, then I'll take one for you when people have no clue what my kids are for halloween because I had to make 'em myself!

How about making next years Halloween costume from this years inedible candy.


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## NiteNicole (May 19, 2003)

Our neighborhood kids would egg our house if I tried to pass off stickers or bubbles. Those kids want chocolate.

We get about one hundred trick or treaters (and one year about 150, depends on if it's a football night) passing through and we give goodie bags, as is the norm where we are. I don't want a house full of candy (we do sometimes eat candy, but not tons at one time. I have no issue with some candy every now and then) and my little one is happy to sit on the front porch all night and _give away_ candy. That's how we get to see our neighbors and talk to everyone. They come to us.

Of course, in our neighborhood, people put Granny and Great Uncle Ned on the back of one of those golf cart things and make sure they get out and visit too so I don't think anyone is missing anything or we're missing anyONE if we stay home and I can live with my daughter not personally greeting every single person in town. Giving AWAY candy is neighborly enough for my standards.

I know sooner or later she's going to figure out what I'm up to and we'll deal with that then.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
But SB, you just got done talking about the badness of the cultural construct of this candy holiday.

I'm not sure where I did that. I like Halloween, and I don't have any objection to trick-or-treating for candy.

Quote:

Or are you trying to point out that the people getting bent out of shape because someone threw something away are perhaps just displacing some of their own cultural guilt onto the pitchers so that they can feel better about their own sellout to Nestle/Hershey's/Corporate greed masquerading as good ol' American fun?
Nope. I just think it's really strange, and very wasteful, to deliberately participate in something you don't have to participate in and find objectionable. If someone finds candy so objectionable that they throw it away (and I'm not talking about a few stray items at the bottom of the bag that went stale before they got eaten), I simply don't get why they'd trick-or-treat at all. The whole "it's not about the candy" thing makes no sense, from a cultural standpoint, because it _is_ about the candy.

Quote:

Do I get some credit trades from you if I mention that my children's costumes are all handmade by me based on thrift store finds, instead of prepackaged costumes by slave labor manufacturers in countries with no human rights?








I think that's awesome. I don't do that, because I lack the creativity (and I can't sew, which isn't necessary, but definitely helps), but I _love_ seeing homemade costumes. However, I'm not interested in credit or credit trades. People can do what they want. I just find it really strange. I can't fathom any circumstance in which I'd ask someone for something, just to throw it out.

Quote:

Surely, if one can buy out their carbon emissions guilt from airplane travel, I can get some forgiveness/amnesty by not wholesale succumbing to the evil corporations, right?
Nothing to forgive. To each their own (and I"m not actually into the whole carbon emissions trade-off thing). I just find it really strange, and don't even begin to get the thinking.

Quote:

Or maybe not. MDC can be a damned tough crowd.
No argument from me there.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FreeRangeMama* 







So you won't buy things that YOU think would get tossed in favour of something else that may clearly also get tossed. Judging by this thread anyway. Clearly we all have different ideas of what a treat may be.

It has nothing to do with what I "think" would get tossed. I've been in this specific neighbourhood for four Halloweens. This is the fifth. I know the kids who come to my door. They want _candy_. Are there any exceptions? Any kids at all who don't mind toys/bubbles/stickers? Sure - there are a couple - but only a couple, and they like the candy, too. Do the parents of the candy-loving kids throw away their candy? I don't honestly know...but I'm not handing treats to the parents - I'm handing treats to the kids. So, I get what I _know_ they like...not what I think they might like...what I _know_ they like.

_My_ idea of what a treat is doesn't matter. I'm not trick-or-treating.

(Despite how much I loved the candy as a kid, I actually enjoyed the fact that my mom had a thing about handing out candy, because she bought roasted, salted sunflower seeds, instead...and they're my favourite snack food ever, so I got to enjoy the ones that didn't get handed out. Yummy. But, that doesn't mean I don't know the other kids, by and large, didn't like them.)


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NiteNicole* 
Our neighborhood kids would egg our house if I tried to pass off stickers or bubbles. Those kids want chocolate.

Yeah - that's what I'm talking about. I don't know that they'd actually egg my house, for a variety of reasons. But, that would be the emotional reaction.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
Well, you seem a little peeved by the idea that the candy might be thrown away, is all.

Not peeved. Boggled. In any case, if this neighbourhood showed any signs of being anti-candy, I'd stop buying candy, and buy a few bubbles, glow sticks, stickers, or whatever. If this neighbourhood went anti-candy, I'd probably stop taking my kids out trick-or-treating, because they wouldn't want that stuff. If I were anti-candy to the point where I wouldn't even donate it, I wouldn't take my kids out trick-or-treating, either, because that's at least 90% (conservative estimate) of what they'd get. It just makes no sense to me to go out and deliberately collect a bunch of stuff (be it candy, stickers, bubbles, or whatever) just to take it home and throw it away.

Quote:

I was that kid. So was my sister. (My brother would eat anything remotely sugary.)
Fair enough. You know/knew kids who didn't want the candy. I didn't. I still don't.

Quote:

And I love popcorn balls--DS might not, when he's old enough to eat them, but we wouldn't dream of skipping the house of someone we know--someone who might be expecting us, in fact--just because we don't like their traditional treat. When I was a kid we didn't do that either--the old lady across the street gave away boxes of raisins. We hated those, but we went anyway, because she would have been hurt if we didn't.
So, trick-or-treating was an obligation? That seems really weird to me, too.

Quote:

You don't have to eat the popcorn balls. More for me.








Fine. But, I also wouldn't go get one that I knew I'd just throw away. Let some kid who likes them go get it, instead.

Quote:

Because as commercial as Halloween is in mainstream circles, there's still this nugget of traditionalism there if you probe deeply enough to find it. And that's what we like, and that's what we appreciate. So not "everyone knows it", because, simply put, I disagree with you. It's about candy for you and your kids, okay. That really _is_ okay! But that's not what it's about for us, or from what I understand, our new neighbors. And that's okay too. Different strokes and all that. Not all candy is that bad, but some of it is. The bad stuff gets tossed, the good stuff we eat. It's not such a crazy concept.
If it's not what it's about for your neighbours, then you're not going out and deliberately getting a bunch of candy to throw away, right? So, what difference does any of this make to you? If trick-or-treating isn't about candy in your community, then you're not deliberately going out to get candy to throw away.

Okay - I'm out. I'm more confused than ever.


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## lanamommyphd07 (Feb 14, 2007)

Saturdays are candy-days here....other days are not candy days. That said, we do tot, and last year my dd got the motherload. I let her go nuts, tasting it all, spitting some out, getting a tummy ache. We brushed the teeth really well that night and then the motherload disappeared. For good. It's not good for me, for her, for anyone. We don't give candy to anyone else, and we don't take candy from the supermarket, doctor's office, yada yada. I'm baffled by how much of the stuff is everywhere with such a sugar-dependent-people problem all over society. dd gets to keep anything non-sugared from t.o.t. including apples or toys and crap toys and stickers, etc. But honestly, I think sometimes that the best present I've given my child so far is allowing her to explore candy now and then...she believes that m&ms make her tummy hurt, as do frosted cookies and jelly beans and chocolate bars. And you know what, she's right! But good for her to figure it out when she's 2 as opposed to when she's full blown diabetic at 20. We'll stick to giving out nickles and apples this year again.....and hope that more families start pulling away from dishing out the candy too someday.


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pjs* 
Again, I am so surprised that this outcry of intentional waste was no where to be seen or heard in the happy meal thread where people are BUYING happy meals with the intent of throwing the food away. Is it solely because it is McDonald's that makes that waste ok?

To me throwing out something you personally have paid for is way different than throwing out in essence someone elses money.

Growing up ToT for me we ate everything we could that night to the point of nausea many times














not because it would be thrown away if we didnt but because it was fun. All part of Halloween that I am passing on to my kids.







The only candy I throw out is the kind no one will/can eat here. But 99% of it if the kids dont eat it I will and enjoy every bite









How is letting kids have lots of candy one time, either all at once or spread out over weeks, in 12 months going to cause a problem? Baring allergies it just isnt a big deal.


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *peainthepod* 
Well, we plan to give out "healthy" candy (candy made from cane or raw sugar or honey) and stickers so I don't agree that you have to forego the whole tradition just because most of what is given away isn't what you'd consider edible. If people weren't so paranoid we'd happily give away caramel apples, cookies, or popcorn balls.

Trick or treating goes back a lot longer than fun-sized candy bars made from high fructose corn syrup. Just because that's what most people choose to give away these days doesn't mean there's no point in trick or treating.










THANK YOU! For me, this is what it's all about. I personally believe feeding my children candy, is like putting sugar in your car's gas tank. It's not fuel and it can damage the parts that make it work. It would ruin the car, and that is wasteful. And with all the nutritionally conscious people on MDC, I'm surprised there is not more of an effort in trying to influence the tradition in a positive way. Like handing out really awesome, but more healthful/natural treats! I have gotten some great ideas from this thread about honey sticks and other more healthful treats that I'd never heard of! I love ToT, and I know the kids want candy, and I WANT to participate and make all the children happy. I would love to find some awesome natural treat that makes all the neighborhood kids want to come to my house every year! I can't just go with the mainstream because that's what everyone does and that's what everyone wants. What _did_ they pass out before fun-size snicker bars??


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## kay4 (Nov 30, 2004)

Haven't read the whole thread, but we limit candy here but halloween is one of those times of the year that all regulations are out the window lol. this year will be the first time we've trick or treated in 6 or 7 years (we usually do church festivals, this year it is on a different night so we will do both the festival and t or t) They can pretty much pig out on halloween night and then it goes up and is dished out over the next..however long i can get it to last lol. I can't imagine throwing it away. Candy is expensive and i'd feel too bad!


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
Not peeved. Boggled. In any case, if this neighbourhood showed any signs of being anti-candy, I'd stop buying candy, and buy a few bubbles, glow sticks, stickers, or whatever. If this neighbourhood went anti-candy, I'd probably stop taking my kids out trick-or-treating, because they wouldn't want that stuff. If I were anti-candy to the point where I wouldn't even donate it, I wouldn't take my kids out trick-or-treating, either, because that's at least 90% (conservative estimate) of what they'd get. It just makes no sense to me to go out and deliberately collect a bunch of stuff (be it candy, stickers, bubbles, or whatever) just to take it home and throw it away.

That would be one way to handle it (not going out, I mean). But not the only way. And I'm not "anticandy", just anti _bad_ candy. I'm an avid baker and I make my own candy more often than I should.









Quote:

Fair enough. You know/knew kids who didn't want the candy. I didn't. I still don't.
I guess this is further evidence of how differently we approach this holiday then, and how diverse children's attitudes can be.

Quote:

So, trick-or-treating was an obligation? That seems really weird to me, too.
No, it was a social ritual and as with all social rituals, great care was (and is) taken to protect and preserve the feelings of others--in this case, the kindly old woman who lived across the street from us and had no reason to be informed (either by skipping her house or refusing it at her door) that the raisins she so enjoyed were generally loathed by every kid in the neighborhood. It was fun to go over and say hi in our costumes, and bask in her praise and well wishes, even if the raisins sucked. I don't see anything weird about that. Isn't that what neighborhoods are for?

Quote:

Fine. But, I also wouldn't go get one that I knew I'd just throw away. Let some kid who likes them go get it, instead.
Okay, but I would throw it away, because if it's not good enough for my kid I'm not comfortable giving it to yours. Sorry.

Quote:

If it's not what it's about for your neighbours, then you're not going out and deliberately getting a bunch of candy to throw away, right? So, what difference does any of this make to you? If trick-or-treating isn't about candy in your community, then you're not deliberately going out to get candy to throw away.
Trick or treating is about seeing friends and neighbors, preserving traditions, and letting the kids experience the fun of Halloween. And candy is a part of it, and some of the neighbors will surely give us candy that DS won't be allowed to eat, but I won't kill the entire experience for him just because some families choose--for whatever reasons--to give out candy that I'm not comfortable letting him eat. It seems really strange to fixate on only the candy aspect of the holiday--like playing right into the commercialism of it all. Whatever happened to celebrating Halloween just to celebrate it? There are so many other great things about the holiday--carving jack o'lanterns, bobbing for apples, making costumes, decorating the house and yard, telling scary stories, etc. Candy is just one (small) part of it.









Quote:

Okay - I'm out. I'm more confused than ever.
I think we should just agree to disagree.

Mmm, popcorn balls...


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## l_olive (Jan 18, 2005)

Well, all I know is that I'm not going to spend hours this year making airplanes out of the Laffy Taffy's and smarties or ghosts out of the tootsie pops since now I know that half of the parents out there are trashing not only my money but my time when they throw it away as soon as they get home. I had no idea and I feel a little like somebody peed in my wheaties.

My kid, for the record, gets to eat the candy a piece or two at a time until the dregs eventually get sorted through and tossed -- by then it's usually just some rock hard gum, tootsie rolls, and broken starlight mints.

Man, now I'm gonna be all grumpy at Halloween wondering which parents are the "tossers".


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MCatLvrMom2A&X* 
To me throwing out something you personally have paid for is way different than throwing out in essence someone elses money.

Growing up ToT for me we ate everything we could that night to the point of nausea many times














not because it would be thrown away if we didnt but because it was fun. All part of Halloween that I am passing on to my kids.







The only candy I throw out is the kind no one will/can eat here. But 99% of it if the kids dont eat it I will and enjoy every bite









How is letting kids have lots of candy one time, either all at once or spread out over weeks, in 12 months going to cause a problem? Baring allergies it just isnt a big deal.

YES! exactly. I am happy to loosen up a bit on my otherwise picky food choices and value I place on nutrition for Halloween. My kids can gorge for a night or two, eat candy for the next week or two (if it lasts that long) and it's not going to turn them into a diabetic. Sometimes I think good intentions get a bit extreme. Trick or treating is about the candy, folks. Regardless of where you live. If you have that big of a problem with it, then don't participate.

comparing this thread to the happy meal toy one is silly b/c at least then the children had a choice as to whether or not they wanted to eat their mcnuggets. Tossing the uneaten ones in the trash on the way out of the Playplace is a bit different then letting your kids trick-or-treat with intentions of trashing all of the candy they went around ringing doorbells to get.


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## tiffani (May 17, 2002)

we're in new zealand currently, where they don't really *do* halloween at all, and this thread is making me really miss our old neighborhood where one friendly neighbor handed out snack bags of potato chips to the kids, and snorts of whiskey in dixie cups to the familiar parents (and more on topic, I hate whiskey, so dh got two, because it would be rude to throw away her gift!







) and there was a fireworks display at the park at 8 pm sharp where the kids all got sparklers and dodged rogue fireworks







. the closest neighbor to the fireworks served hot apple cider... it was such a great neighborhood!

now my husband works at weta (lord of the rings, king kong, etc) so they decorate one big office building (in a massive old house) with all kinds of crazy ghoulish models and such, and the kids trick or treat around there, but outside of that (because so many north americans work there) halloween doesn't really exist here much... we had ONE tot'er last year, and we didn't even go out because we were told that nobody would know what we were talking about and might get mad at our demands for candy!


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

Awww...maybe you can dress the everyone up and take some candy around to the neighbors instead? You can tell them you're doing topsy turvy Halloween, since you ARE in the opposite hemisphere...


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

On the one hand, I'm categorically opposed to throwing away food.

On the other hand, so much of that is really industrial by-products and hardly counts as "food", except that it would indeed sustain a person (for a period of time).

And I have to admit I throw away more than I'd like 'cause it gets moldy before we get to it. Not that that's going to happen with this candy, I'm just saying, far be it from me to give lectures on throwing food out.

Also, now that I think about it, I have thrown out really poor-quality candy on my own, if it's just tempting me. However that was when I was younger.

If it were my friend, I think I'd say, "Gosh, I'll drop it at the food bank for you, sure they need better food but after all, it's something."


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## WC_hapamama (Sep 19, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride* 
Nope. I just think it's really strange, and very wasteful, to deliberately participate in something you don't have to participate in and find objectionable. If someone finds candy so objectionable that they throw it away (and I'm not talking about a few stray items at the bottom of the bag that went stale before they got eaten), I simply don't get why they'd trick-or-treat at all. The whole "it's not about the candy" thing makes no sense, from a cultural standpoint, because it _is_ about the candy.

If someone is anti-junky candy, it makes absolutely no sense to go around collecting the junky candy and then just tossing it in the garbage. It's still buying into the "industrial mass produced candy" thing, just indirectly. Instead of spending your own money and throwing it away, you're wasting someone else's money, which IMO, is pretty rude.

There are plenty of Halloween activities to participate in that don't involve candy. I know that a lot of schools, churches and towns/cities/parks and rec groups have costume parades and fall festivals. You can have your Halloween fun without being wasteful and without making the candy part of the equation.

If your community doesn't have a Halloween event to suit your needs, you could always organize something yourself with like minded friends.


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## Just1More (Jun 19, 2008)

I love you guys...you totally crack me up! I've stayed up entirely too late reading this goofy thread! hehehehe....

The only thing remotely constructive I have to say is that my dh (who is a Marine and has been deployed 3 times) says DO NOT send candy. They (the Marines) are drowning in the stuff and don't need anymore. They are living on junk anyway, and the candy just really is not helpful. He also refuses to hand it out to the locals...pencils, yes, candy, absolutely not. He doesn't want to cause such sugar lust and addiction in a place where the children know no such thing. Just a different perspective...

(Uhm....just for the record...I'm neutral on this debate since we don't "do" Halloween. And my kids are still small enough that they don't eat much candy anyway. I don't offer and they don't usually ask...)


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## Anastasiya (Jun 13, 2006)

For us, Halloween is about much more than the candy. In fact, we usually spend so much time visiting our friends (elderly) and neighbors in the area that we don't get all that much candy anyway.

There are definitely people (like us) who TOT for the socialization and the candy is just an added "bonus". We go to chat with people we never get the time to talk with otherwise, to let the kids stay up late and dress up fun, and to show off how gosh darn cute they are. I have never, nor will I ever, go to random houses just for the purpose of getting a bigger candy stash.

When we get home, the kids are usually asleep, so I pick through the candy. I keep the chocolates and other candies my little kids can have - sweet tarts, tootsies, licorice. I toss the jawbreakers, the sugar daddies and taffies, and anything else that just hollers "Choking!" or "Tooth Rot!" or "Really Weird Unknown Item!" to me.

In the end, the tossed stuff equals about two handsful. (More later, after the kids sample what's left and decide they don't like whatever it is they opened.) No, I'm not going to donate the stuff. It's not worth my fretting and bothering over. And yeah, I find it incredibly rude to pick through what each person is offering or decline a generous person's candy altogether.

Just a note. How do we know that the OP's friend's kids really don't get that much candy, either? Maybe they really get only as much as they can eat in one night, and then the weird and yucky things get tossed afterwards? I assume some people are envisioning plastic pumpkin buckets full of candy being tossed, when it very well could be just a little bit being tossed.


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## tiffani (May 17, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
Awww...maybe you can dress the everyone up and take some candy around to the neighbors instead? You can tell them you're doing topsy turvy Halloween, since you ARE in the opposite hemisphere...

THAT is such a good idea!!! Tigerchild is there no end to your brilliance?









we could hand out homemade halloween cookies or something... they also don't do holiday cookies here, and I've had more than one kiwi say how much they love those "holiday shaped biscuits with icing that americans make" so that might be fun...


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I'm wondering how the TOTers whose parents make them throw out the candy feel about it.


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## Hoopin' Mama (Sep 9, 2004)

I am fortunate, because we have a crunchy-granola co-housing community down the street. We have ToT'd there since ds was a baby. We get some candy, granola bars, book marks, tooth brushes, little balls, play doh, etc.

This is the only kind of ToT'ing ds knows. He will be 5 and I know we will eventually branch out. When we do, I will selectively thin out his candy stash. I simply don't think a child needs to suck on a round hard ball of candy, but I'm paranoid about choking. It will probably get passed on to my office where it will get scooped in 4 minutes flat.

Anyway, some alternatives if anyone is interested:
- save the candy for gingerbread house making
- give the candy to someone you know who has a pinata to stuff.
- find other alternatives - most larger towns have a variety of stuff to do that involves a costume but not loads of candy.

We don't get ToT'er here b/c of the way our cul-de-sac is situated off a non-pedestrian friendly dark road. Now I feel lucky. Halloween candy is not cheap, and I feel for people who have to buy 4 or 5 bags.

If you don't let your child eat it, and then they don't ToT, that will eventually cut down on the amount your neighbors will have to buy.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

woah i havent read all the replies.

but yeah i was one of them who threw the candy away.

first i could not take it to work as hello candy overflowing everywhere. i dont treat candy as food. its a junky treat that you have a little of. plus most of the candy given out are from sales anyways. have you seen the shelf lives on those? not always but sometimes. no we dont get organic candy either.

see the candy brings up the whole gift thing imho. when i give a gift i GIVE it away. what the person does with the gift i give them i dont care about. same with candy.

i volunteer with homeless shelters a lot. it is sad to see how much candy and McDonalds giftcards they get. junk food. most of the food closets have end of shelf life food, rarely any fresh food. OMG that is sooo sad.

so no i dont have any problems throwing candy away. it is not wasteful. it is junk. however having said that i will say we are v. lucky. we have a fair at the park. so we do maybe 5 or 6 houses and then go join the jumpy houses at the park. so my dd since she was 2 has gotten maybe a handful of candy. however even if she had a bucketful it wouldnt change my mind.

oh and when my dd was younger i threw away the candy. now that she is older its a joint decision.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WC_hapamama* 
If someone is anti-junky candy, it makes absolutely no sense to go around collecting the junky candy and then just tossing it in the garbage. It's still buying into the "industrial mass produced candy" thing, just indirectly. Instead of spending your own money and throwing it away, you're wasting someone else's money, which IMO, is pretty rude.

sorry i disagree. candy for our family is a secondary thing - even now that my dd is 7 years old.

she wants to be seen in her costume. she wants to be acknowledged in a v. social thing. yes of course there are lots of activities where there is no candy and we do a lot of them, but nothing beats halloween night itself.

and have you tried to refuse candy? like hey your smile was enough. do you know what a huge objection people have for that? how many people feel so insulted. they take it personally. of course some dont. but most do.

we DO do reverse halloween. its either flowers my dd has gathered, or interesting rocks or sticks or leaves. most people are really touched by that. she feels candy is not personal enough.

to me halloween is so not about candy. candy is teh secondary thing. its a social community event. that for once we connect - even in a superficial way - but its still connection. our neighbourhood gpa so loves it when kids admire his decorations that he spent so much time to put up.


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## eepster (Sep 20, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meemee* 
see the candy brings up the whole gift thing imho. when i give a gift i GIVE it away. what the person does with the gift i give them i dont care about. same with candy.

While gifts are something one gives freely, ToTers come to your home and demand a treat with the threat of a trick if you don't fork it over. It isn't exactly a gift.


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eepster* 
While gifts are something one gives freely, ToTers come to your home and demand a treat with the threat of a trick if you don't fork it over. It isn't exactly a gift.









I know WE'LL be armed with all kinds of nasty tricks for people who don't give candy. I may throw away what they offer, but they owe it to me to fork it over anyway.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eepster* 
While gifts are something one gives freely, ToTers come to your home and demand a treat with the threat of a trick if you don't fork it over. It isn't exactly a gift.









demand? i consider it still a gift. the kids come you give. otherwise you could just turn off the light and not participate.

the only ones who are really demanding here are teenagers with pillowcases and no costume.


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eepster* 
While gifts are something one gives freely, ToTers come to your home and demand a treat with the threat of a trick if you don't fork it over. It isn't exactly a gift.

Except you always have the option of turning off your porch light and not answering the door if you don't want to give out treats. And I've never heard of little kids and their parents actually vandalizing a house because no one answered the door or ran out of things to give. In my experience, egging and toilet papering and such are usually done randomly by teenagers who are too old for trick or treating anyway.


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## Dandelionkid (Mar 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eepster* 
While gifts are something one gives freely, ToTers come to your home and demand a treat with the threat of a trick if you don't fork it over. It isn't exactly a gift.

I never thought of the evil intentions lurking behind the bunny mask or princess dress. I'll have to keep it in mind...


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meemee* 

and have you tried to refuse candy? like hey your smile was enough. do you know what a huge objection people have for that? how many people feel so insulted. they take it personally. of course some dont. but most do.

Interesting. Rain never encountered any negative reactions. She used to say "No thank you" to anything Ne$tle when she was little, and once or twice she wound up explaining why but no one ever seemed to feel insulted.

Then she got older and we decided eating Ne$tle was okay if we didn't buy it, 'cause it's tasty stuff...







She was a much more zealous lactivist at 5 and 6...


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## WC_hapamama (Sep 19, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *meemee* 
and have you tried to refuse candy? like hey your smile was enough. do you know what a huge objection people have for that? how many people feel so insulted. they take it personally. of course some dont. but most do.

I have two peanut/tree nut allergic children. They, and I, have had to refuse candy (and many baked goods) year 'round. Not that big of a deal.


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## Dandelionkid (Mar 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FreeRangeMama* 







I know WE'LL be armed with all kinds of nasty tricks for people who don't give candy. I may throw away what they offer, but they owe it to me to fork it over anyway.


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## bugginsmom (Aug 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FreeRangeMama* 







I know WE'LL be armed with all kinds of nasty tricks for people who don't give candy. I may throw away what they offer, but they owe it to me to fork it over anyway.









You are a hoot! This could be a thread itself. Off to type up thread about the best tricks to play on people who do not give out candy on Halloween. (insert evil laugh)


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## Jugs (Mar 18, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3boobykins* 
I just found out that our kid's new dentist will actually buy their Halloween candy from them, by the pound. I love this--my kids love making money and picking out little toys or saving up for something bigger. The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season. I told the kids already, and they're very excited. We'll let them enjoy some of the mini candy bars, but after the weekend, they're eager to make a sale!

We have some local dentists who do this as well, except they box it all up and send it to the troops overseas.


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## Murph12334 (Nov 12, 2003)

we are in the country and don't get t&T'ers. If we were in the city and I spent money on candy i'd be upset to hear it was thrown out. I'd be using my money for the kids where it could/should have been used elsewhere.

People need to find other things to do with the candy - take it to work, take it to somewhere and give away, don;t just throw it out though!


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## hollytheteacher (Mar 10, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *purplemoon* 
No. They say give it away to someone else instead of throwing it away.

But some people don't want to harm others in what they percieve as health garbage and would rather throw it away.

Others made the suggestion that if you hate candy that much don't support the supply and demand and have a party instead.

Then people said that there are people who want candy even if it will rot their teeth like homeless people, sad people, lonely people, sad kids, dying people, old people.

Then others chimed in that ToT is a cultural fun time with kids parading their costumes and they want to participate and that people should invest in other things to give out. Stickers, play-doh, raisins.

Then others said kids wouldn't like that, they want candy.

And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter as long as you are happy with your decision to ingest candy, some of the candy, none of the candy, donate the candy, burn the candy or put it on a rocket with a sign of poison and shoot it into space.

hahahahahahhah Your post is great







And it does a really nice job summing up this whole thread!


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## RasJi7 (Sep 25, 2007)

There is a local ped around me that is asking kids to bring in their candy. For every pound they get $5. If they want to donate the $5 to a charity (forget which charity it was- maybe hunger?) the ped will match them dollar for dollar.
The candy will then get sent over seas to the troops. Also they encourage kids to make a Halloween card for a soldier.

How thoughtful!


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## MommyKelly (Jun 6, 2009)

I havent read all the replies, but after trick or treating the kids pick out about 10pieces of candy. The rest gets left out for the "sugar plum fairy" who in turn leaves small gifts in exchange.

Then the extra candy goes to Dh work to give out to the people waiting in line. ( He works at the food bank)


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## Carma (Feb 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RasJi7* 
There is a local ped around me that is asking kids to bring in their candy. For every pound they get $5. If they want to donate the $5 to a charity (forget which charity it was- maybe hunger?) the ped will match them dollar for dollar.
The candy will then get sent over seas to the troops. Also they encourage kids to make a Halloween card for a soldier.

How thoughtful!









We have a dentist doing something like this overhere. Other things he requested for the troops were babywipes, so I am wandering if it is a good idea to send candy to the troops, will they be able to brush their teeth good enough when they need babywipes to wash themselves?

Carma


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## LittleBlessings (May 26, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *just_lily* 
I think it is really rude to the people who paid good money to give out candy to trick or treaters to have it only go into the garbage. Some people have to scrimp in other areas to pay for candy to give out (where I used to live we would get 200 kids!) and to have it just go into the garbage is such a waste.


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## Amandamarie (May 2, 2006)

My dd is allergic to corn products and most of the candy given out has some type of corn product in it. Usually corn syrup, which gives my dd painful hives.
She goes trick or treating and then after we exchange the candy with a small bag of corn-free candy and little toys. Her dad loves candy so he gets the regular candy and my dd is happy because she gets treats too.







She doesn't eat it all at once though. I keep in the refrig and she can have a piece for dessert.


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## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

I actually had to laugh about the baby wipes to wash themselves comment. I was deployed, we had tons of water bottles that we used for drinking and basic higene (excuse the spelling I have a migrane). I use to brush my teeth and floss at least 2-4 times a day since during sandstorms Id get sand in my teeth (anyone here ever tried to talk in a sand storm? Its not easy). When there was no showers we bathed with baby wipes but still brushed our teeth. I think most of us kept our teeth cleaner than anything else we had.

As for candy, my daughter is 2 so this is what Im trying out this year. We are going to go trick or treating since she loves to dress up and met new people. When we get home Im going to allow her to pick out 14 pieces of candy (one a day for 2 weeks) then Im going to trade her the rest for a couple of new books and maybe a toy. Shes not a big candy eater so Im pretty sure she will jump at the chance to get some new books out of the deal. Im giving the candy to my in-laws since they eat a lot of it and we are going to have a full house of people for Christmas. After that its not my worry, Im sure its going to get eaten since my in-laws are big candy eaters. Last year our leftovers went to DH's work for his Marines and to the box of goodies out church sent over to the deployed Marines in Iraq and Afganistan.
As for other people throwing things out, it is a little wasteful. As I mentioned before I have been deployed, we got shipped a TON of candy. Not only was it a great treat for us but we gave some to the Iraqis and other non-military people we worked with and they were very appreciative of it. I use to work with this boy over there and his eyes got so big and happy when I gave him a little Hersheys Chocolate bar. I almost cried when I saw how happy he was over something so simple. We might think of it as junk but to someone else it might be the only piece of chocolate they have had or have had in a while.


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## pianojazzgirl (Apr 6, 2006)

We do a trade with the Halloween Fairy. The kids (well, really just dd as ds is too young) get to choose a small amount of candy to keep (which they eat over several days). The rest of the candy is left on the table for the Halloween Fairy to take. In return she leaves a present (ideally, since our house is way over-run with rarely-used toys and books, something practical but still exciting, like this year I got dd some super sparkly cool tights).

The Halloween Fairy's candy mostly gets eaten by me and dh, though some of the really gross stuff does get tossed in the trash I'm sorry to admit (I hate the waste!).

ETA this thread has inspired me to think of somewhere to bring the left-over unwanted candy besides throw it out.


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

Quote:

Originally Posted by just_lily
*I think it is really rude* to the people who paid good money to give out candy to trick or treaters to have it only go into the garbage. Some people have to scrimp in other areas to pay for candy to give out (where I used to live we would get 200 kids!) and to have it just go into the garbage is such a waste.
This thread a certainly sparked quite a few IRL conversations for me, along with lots to think about.

I was wondering if something can be rude if the person it would potentially offend has no idea you even did it? I mean it would be rude for DD to pick her nose while sitting next to me but not if she did it in the privacy of her own room.

So it would be rude for my DD to accept a handful of treats and then toss it in the trash at the end of the driveway, but why is it rude for it to be tossed a week later in the privacy of my own home? She enjoyed the candy for awhile so it's not waste in my opinion. It just was not used the way that most think it should be.


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## Carma (Feb 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OkiMom* 
I actually had to laugh about the baby wipes to wash themselves comment. I was deployed, we had tons of water bottles that we used for drinking and basic higene (excuse the spelling I have a migrane). I use to brush my teeth and floss at least 2-4 times a day since during sandstorms Id get sand in my teeth (anyone here ever tried to talk in a sand storm? Its not easy). When there was no showers we bathed with baby wipes but still brushed our teeth. I think most of us kept our teeth cleaner than anything else we had.

Ok good







I was really a bit worried about causing mouth pain in our troops.

Carma


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## pampered_mom (Mar 27, 2006)

I always struggle with these kinds of threads. On the one hand I can understand the need to commiserate or find community with others who are more like-minded. I get the need to vent and the fact that it may keep you from saying something you might otherwise regret IRL. The other side of that coin though is that it can excuse a person from doing something about it.

This thread has gone on for *14 pages* (I probably only made it through three) where people have gone back and forth about how right or how wrong it is for someone to throw candy away. About the only concrete suggestion has been that those who throw the candy away shouldn't let their children go TOT. Part of me wonders why no one has put part of the responsibility back on those who take issue with it.

If you feel strongly that throwing candy away is wrong or wasteful then why don't you do something about it locally? Maybe people in your community don't know who would accept it. Maybe they've tried before and have been turned down. Maybe they didn't even know it was a possibility.

If you know of a place that will accept it (and if you don't why not find a place that will) then volunteer to start a collection. Find a business, library, school, etc that will let you put up a bin. Advertise it in your paper or get them to write an article about it. Get a local TV station/radio station to do a piece on it. Hang up signs, etc. Enable others to make better choices - let them show their children a good solution to the issue you see at hand. Pick up the bins and deliver them to the organization. I think it's a much more powerful lesson to our children...you can show them that anyone can make a difference in the world around them no matter how small it may seem (or the person doing it may seem for that matter).

If all you do is complain about it then imo it comes off more as judgment (and adds to the whole "mommy wars" thing) - you become part of the problem instead of the solution. I don't think that's all that much better than any waste you feel takes place when families just throw the candy away.

When I give a *gift* of any kind I don't feel that I have the right to dictate how it will be used or whether or not it will be kept. IMO if one feels that way one shouldn't be giving the gift (or handing out candy on Halloween - turn your light off or choose not to be home). As for our family, we don't let the kids keep everything they get TOT - they go because it's fun and because my parents get a kick out of doing it with them. They don't get a whole lot, but they will leave the vast majority of it out for the Sugar Sprite in exchange for a small gift. We don't throw that candy away (dh takes it to work) b/c I would feel badly about wasting it. However, I don't feel motivated to do anything about someone else's waste. Since I'm not willing to do anything about it then I don't think I have the right to complain about it or be offended by another family's choice of dealing with it.

Just my .02 though.


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## hillymum (May 15, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BabyMae09* 
Throwing stuff away is bad. Eating too much sugar is bad. Old candy is bad. Giving candy away is perpetuating bad eating habits in other people. Not taking your kids trick-or-treating is bad. Taking them door-to-door but not accepting candy is bad. Having a party but limiting candy is bad. There's really no way to win.

BTW, we do a combo of most of the above. You know, to spread out the 'bad'









Life is all about balance. Sometimes we have to make choices where there really isn't a good answer.


And then we do a combo of the above because it's so much fun!!!


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *l_olive* 
Man, now I'm gonna be all grumpy at Halloween wondering which parents are the "tossers".

I left this thread back on page 7 and just came back to catch up and am so glad I did if only for this little gem.


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## columbusmomma (Oct 31, 2006)

We limit DS' cany intake to a few pieces a day. Looks like this year will have to do the same thing with DD! I don't throw candy away ever. I do indulge myself, same with DH. It doesn't last for long at our house







Looking forward to lots of reese's peanut butter cups


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