Did you ever think snacking on your favorite candy could somehow effect the rain forests?

It sounds crazy, but it is true. More and more candy brands, from chocolates to Haribo bears, are using Palm Oil. This seems like a healthier alternative to corn syrup, but it comes at a huge environmental cost.

Palm oil can only be grown in very specific environments. Sadly, these are mostly the spaces that rainforests need, so as demand for palm oil rises, more rain forests are cleared for palm oil plantations. Rain forests are precious to our eco-system, and they are a major cooling force in the face of climate crisis. They also house a huge percentage of our biodiversity, and we need to stop mass extinction to save our planet. If that wasn't enough, indigenous people are also being forced out to make room for these plantations.

Yes, it is that bad. Palm oil is a big deal, and if you aren't paying attention to it, at least a third of your home's food and products contain it (yep, it's that common).

This is all terrible. What can I do about it?

First, write your favorite company and ask them to stop using unethical palm oil. Encourage them to only use RSPO certified sources OR to give up palm oil completely. They will only know we care if we tell them so. If you need a template on how to do this, we have an easy one for you.

Second, tell your friends about it. Palm oil is one of those huge issues that no one is talking about yet. Just tell them about how you are trying to give up palm oil, and if they ask, explain more about why. When you find something great that isn't made with palm oil, pass that link on on Facebook. We are most influenced by the people we love. The best thing you can do for spreading the word is start with the people in your life. No one knows until you tell them.

Last, switch out these palm oil candy sources for something more ethical. This sounds tough. I mean, palm oil is in EVERYTHING. But I have ideas to share with you! It may not be as hopeless as you think!

Now, here is the bad news. And take a deep breath, because I have a lot of bad news about just how much candy has palm oil in it. Here is a partial list of the candy with palm oil:

100 Grand
Almond Joy
Butterfinger
Crunch Bars
Haribo Bears
Kit Kats (also, I know of Kit Kats with maggots in them. Just don't eat Kit Kats)
M and M's
Milk Duds
Milky Way
Most Nestle Products (they are the worst, as we have mentioned many times before)
Nerds
All Reese's Products
Skittles
Smarties
Snickers
Starburst
Sweettarts
TicTacs
Twizzlers

Even worse news? This is the tip of the iceberg. Some candies (like Hershey's) make lists of candy with palm oil as an ingredient, but their approach has actually improved over time (you can read about their RSPO, completely traceable palm oil here). In other cases some candies (like smarties) have palm oil in some countries and not in others.  It goes to show these things can be tricky (and change over time for better or for worse). My advice is to always, always check.

Ok, now before you give up completely, know this is a problem we can solve! If we start switching away from products that use palm oil, companies will have to take a more responsible approach.  I have a sweet tooth too, so I am not going to say no more candy, but a change in approach can make a big difference.

How do you spot a candy with palm oil?

First off, it is super helpful to get familiar with the many names for this ingredient. This post has a pretty extensive list of names to look out for.

It's important to look for yourself. When researching this, it kind of blew my mind how different sources list different candies as bad. In one, Hershey's is one the good list. On the next, not so much. Palm oil's use is exploding so much that it may have just changed between the times lists are published. Certifications are expanding too. You just have to look.

From there, I have a few ideas for how to find switches and specific recommendations for your favorites on that epically long list.

First, Learn to Love Local Candy

When we go on roadtrips, we tend to go all out on snacks. We used to get everything we needed at a gas station along the way, but with the help of the internet and a little creativity, we haven't taken a great tradition and made it even better. We find local candy shops and grab a bunch of stuff to try on the road.

I know you are thinking- that sounds so expensive! It isn't! Our favorite on our last roadtrip was chocolate-covered graham crackers at Len Libby's Candies in Maine. We got them wrapped in paper, so no plastic either. I think each one was about a dollar, and it was about the size of a candy bar.

We have done the research- every state in America has it's own local candy gems. I think starting with buying things made near you (wherever you are) does the most good.

Local candy has so many benefits- you are keeping your money where you live, helping your neighbors maintain jobs, you can find things without any packaging at a good candy counter, and Palm Oil is often used in food with a lot of chemicals meant to preserve the candy longer, so the shorter distances your food travels, the less likely it is to have palm oil in it.

Second, Embrace Palm Oil-Free Switches

Ok, that's all well and good, but what if you just really love a Reese's peanut butter cup OR you need M and M's to bribe your child not to pee on your floor (this is my actual situation).

Some of these have perfectly ethical substitutes. Almost all of these have substitutes with corn syrup instead, which is not healthier (definitely not), but it is weirdly better for the environment. And really, you are eating candy, so let's not get too excited about health here.

Instead of Most Candy Bars...

There are lots of chocolate companies out there trying to take a more ethical approach to the chocolate and palm oil. The first couple of these I can find easily in grocery stores in the PNW. If you are in another part of the country, it might be other spots. There are lots of good choices out there, the key is to just start looking.

Alter Eco has a pretty amazing (and tasty) collection of truffles and candy bears, all fair trade.

Theo Chocolates also have extremely high standards and ethics around their chocolate. A lot of their bars are on the fussy end, but milk chocolate is pretty delicious.

Endangered Species chocolate bars are fair trade, palm oil free, and the profits go toward supporting endangered animals.

Nibmor is another chocolate company with ethical practices and lots of choices.

If the real issue is you are at a very basic gas station and need the best of the worst, I would probably say a Hershey's bar. But that is a low bar.  Better would be something that isn't wrapped in plastic and had the RSPO certification (though Hershey's is transparent about their supply chain). Lindt and Ghiradelli rank higher on their RSPO usage. Godiva doesn't have any palm oil, and you can find it at drugstores or Hudson News. But you should even check around the gas station! The more local the treat, the better.

Instead of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups... 

Justin's Peanut Butter Cups are your easiest option- they have the sustainable palm oil certification, and they are actually getting mainstream enough that we have spotted them at gas stations and airport shops (thanks Hudson News!).

UnReal has peanut butter cups AND a pretty excellent M and M replacement. Bulk candy sections in natural food stores tend to have an m and m equivalent too.

Newman's Own has a peanut butter cup too, and they have the Rainforest Alliance Certification.

Instead of Haribo Bears...

Ok, this is a weird one, because only the higher end gummi bears have palm oil. The cheaper and store brand bears don't tend to have it. So if avoiding palm oil is the goal, you can simply be cheap and head back to the corn syrup bears.

If you are looking for something with that quality without the palm oil, Black Forest Gummi Bears are made with organic ingredients, and they do not contain palm oil.

Yum Earth also makes organic gummy bears that are palm oil free (they also sell licorice and a few other items with RSPO palm oil).

Instead of Sweet Treats (Like Sweettarts and Skittles)... 

These can be a bit of a toss up- some mainstream sweets have a lot of palm oil (looking at you, Jolly Ranchers), and some have good old-fashioned corn syrup.

For the record, if you want to be eco-friendly but are in a mainstream store, dum dums are a solid bet. They don't have palm oil, don't have any individual plastic packaging, and are made in the US from US made components. Dum dums are a gem.

Yum Earth also makes lolipops, licorice, and other sweet treats without palm oil or using RSPO palm oil.

Other options are blow pops, air heads, some ring pops (check!) and hot tamales.




Ok, your mission is to start looking on your candy packaging! Is palm oil listed? If it is, can you find the little frog with the rainforest alliance seal? If not, it's time to move on to another bar. Even our candy choices have big environmental, ethical, and humanitarian implications, so it's worth rethinking what you are eating!

After mostly living way out in the country as a kid and in really cold apartment complexes as a young adult, I am still giddy excited when we have trick or treaters come to our house. Ecstatic. It is so cute to see them, and it makes me feel like we live in a real neighborhood (as opposed to the endless strip mall we lived in before).

This year, I was thinking about how we would manage trick or treating when I was hit with a lightning bolt of bougie environmentalist doom.

Halloween candy is super bad for the environment. Crap!

This happens for a number of reasons. The biggest is that candy "has" to be individually wrapped. I have spent some time thinking about this fact, and honestly, it is super depressing (we trust corporations and plastic covering more than we trust our neighbors... blech). All this individually wrapped candy creates so much plastic waste. Think about just how many candy wrappers must land in the garbage this week. It's a bummer.

Also problematic, these candy companies are often shipping their candy shockingly long distances to take advantage of cheap labor. Hershey's makes a lot of their chocolates  (including Reese's and Kitkats- try the Boyer's peanut butter cups) in Mexico now. Nestle makes their pure evil candy bars (crunch, 100 grand, etc) outside of the US as well.

I have reached the point where I just won't give these companies my money. Screw those guys, especially Nestle, because they are essentially cartoon villians. That being said, I just can't be the parent on the block that hands out toothbrushes or apples or something. I have children, and I just cannot bear to embarrass them that much.

So what is a person to do if they want to do something a little more environmentally-responsible but don't want to hand out something the kids will want to give back?

I have figured out some solutions, if only so I can go get candy without feeling crippling guilt. Honestly, none of these are perfect. If your first priority is the environment, you should probably make the treat yourself, but that only works if you know all the kids that will stop by.

But just because there isn't a perfect solution doesn't mean we all couldn't do a little bit better. All candy is not made equal, and if the company is flippant or even problematic, you can bet they also use sketchy practices in what is actually in the food (you can look at palm oil and preservatives as obvious signals of a company's values). All the choices may seem bad, but some are definitely better than others. Let's get started.

I have 13 options to hand out this year. I'll try to organize them by easiest to the most time-consuming. Because it's a few days before Halloween, let's not pretend you have time to search for the perfect candy.

Snickers (or variety bags with Snickers in them)- If you are picking something up at Target or your regular grocery store (which is how most of us do it), pick the Mars bag over the other mixes. Snickers and the rest are still made in New Jersey. You may not cut down on packaging, but at least your candy has only moved a short distance. Probably the easiest option for last minute shoppers (avoid the other chocolate bags! Trust me)
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Alright, i have taken some solid criticism about this choice and want to make sure to include it. Ill start by saying i pointed out in earlier in the post that none of these choices are perfect, but they do generally raise fewer problems as you go down the list and get to less easy to find stuff. At the same time, i wanted to point to the even slightly better options in a regular aisle, because most of us aren't going out of our way for halloween andy.

 mars chocolate, like most mainstream chocolate, is not fair trade. the enviromental and more importantly labor costs f chocolate that isn't fair trade is extremely steep, potentially ncluding child labor and slave labor. not good- if this is really important to you, check out unreal candy and bug bites (the other two chocolate choices on this list). they are both fair trade. also, check with your local chocolate shops, they can probably speak very specifically o where their coco or cacao beans come  from.

The other charge against mars is that they participated in animal testing. this was revealed back in 2007, and it was reported on until 2009. no one talks about it now, but that doesn't mean it isn't going on. if that is important to you, this may not be your pick.

So yes, mars is a mixed bag, and you may be better off picking up dum dums or blow pops, but if chocolate bags are your last minute option, i would till go with snickers over the others.

Dum Dums- This was the winner in our house this year. They are a reasonable size, and at least half of their packaging is paper and biodegradable. Plus, these little lollipops are made in the United States. Bad side, they do have chemicals in them for coloring.

M and M's- Also made by Mars, and also made in the USA. My mom's favorite, so if she comes trick or treating at your house...

Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, and Blow Pops- I am not a tootsie pop girl, but blow pops were the business when we were kids. Candy and gum in one. The packaging is not great (minus the lollipop stick, which will at least biodegrade), but they are made in the US, so

Cow Tales- They don't have especially Halloween-themed packaging, but I have never turned down candy on that account. Made in the USA.

Jelly Belly Jellybeans- Made in the US, can get individually wrapped bunch in many Halloween sections. Jelly beans are gross, but if they are your deal, no judgement for liking the grossest stuff.

Annie's Fruit Tape- Has better ingredients for the kids, is made in the US, and still comes in individual packaging so no one suspects you are a murderer.

Stickers or temporary tattoos- My son absolutely loses his mind for stickers right now. Stickers and temporary tattoos keep you out of the plastic covered candy territory without landing in toothbrush land. Still not a perfect solution, but you can find recycled stickers and domestically-made temporary tattoos. You can find cool temporary tattoos on Etsy too.

Go local! Does your local candy company make something individually wrapped? It doesn't have to be fancy or overblown, but every state in the US has at least one brand of chocolate all their own (off the top of my head, Western Seattle has 5). Stores like Daffins will have individually wrapped chocolates that will be delicious. Are they slightly smaller? No big deal! You are doing good, and the kids probably won't care in the end. Take this opportunity to check out a local candy shop.

Unreal Candy- Unlike almost anything else mentioned, these candies are fair-trade and at least actively trying to think about the environment. You can find them at some targets and whole foods, but check out their website if you want to learn more about them.

Yummy Earth Lollipops- They sell organic lollipops made in America. We have had them in the house, and honestly, they were pretty good. I don't know that the packaging is any better then anything else in that way.

Milk Chocolate Bug Bites- These fair trade chocolates, the mini version of endangered species chocolates. The chocolates are partnered with the Xerces society, so the proceeds go towards the conservation of endangered bug species. Plus, they come with bug trading cards. I love them.

Make Something- Popcorn Balls, Caramel Apples, Fudge. Unwrapped treats may be verboten, bu it might be worth trying where you live if you know most of the  people!

Enjoy your trick or treaters and I hope this helps the last minute shoppers like me! If you want more shopping inspiration, Check the Giant Lists of Shopping Lists!