Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Halloween Candy Alternatives! (NYNS #4)

While I'm thrilled to declutter, I'm not happy to add to the landfill. So, as I yell and scream and try to unjam my junk drawer clean, I'm looking for new ways to make use of our stuff.

This morning, as I emptied my "junk drawer" (got one of those?), a thought occurred to me. Halloween is coming. Although I'm not so miserly(?), smart(?) that I neglect to buy candy, I'm also not all that thrilled about handing out so much CORN SYRUP. I admire our neighbor. Instead of loads of candy, she makes "goody bags" consisting of crayons, coloring books, and other consumables. So what does that have to do with me?

Well, in the process of cleaning, I kept running across decorative erasers. Lots of 'em. In new condition. Then, while cleaning out another cabinet, I discovered my 19-year-old's abandoned pencil collection. Also new. I even found one pencil with the $3 Disneyland price tag still attached.

So....

If you come to my house for Halloween this year, there will be three baskets: candy, erasers, and pencils.

But then I started thinking... What if those of us with a bazillion McD's toys provided a basket of those on Halloween? (Although we no longer subject ourselves to UnH*ppy Food, I found an unopened toy when I was cleaning out a cupboard. Once you get one in the house, they mutate.) I've got an entire baggie of little bouncy balls. What do you have in abundance? And, even better, what can you pass on to someone else to enjoy...all while saving stuff from the landfill?

From now 'til Halloween, I'm lookin'!!!!!

One gal's junk is her next door neighbor's kid's treasure.

3 comments:

Jill said...

Ha! I love this comment:

One gal's junk is her next door neighbor's kid's treasure.

Unfortunately, I think my kid is always the kid next door!

richmomma said...

That's hilarious!

Okay, how about this...for each piece of Halloween candy your kid brings in, one item must go out. You'll either get rid of a bunch of junk...or you'll get to eat candy. Either way, you win! ;)

Katie Sharp said...

I love the trade of candy for junk! In the same vein... I made a conscious decision years ago to never do goodie bags at my kids' birthday parties. So much money, waste and clutter. I think the last straw was about 10 years ago when Drew was 4 and I spent a ton of money and found that the toys were broken, left behind after the party and were a source of contention between some kids *during* the party. Enough already! :-)

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