Green is the official color for St. Patrick’s Day. Stores pack their shelves with green hats, glasses, beads, cups, and t-shirts. Bars serve up mugs of green beer and other green-hued cocktails. Grocery stores serve up green frosted cookies, cakes, and cupcakes with impossibly cute green sprinkles on top.

Green, green, everywhere you look.

Generally speaking, food and drinks get their green color from artificial green food colors like FD&C Green No. 3 or Fast Green FCF. Sometimes the bright green color is a mix of yellow and blue — FD&C Yellow No. 5,  Tartrazine or FD&C, Yellow No. 6, or Sunset Yellow FCF mixed with FD&C Blue No. 1, Brilliant Blue FCF, or FD&C Blue No. 2 Indiotine — but most often it’s Fast Green FCF.

There are several significant things to understand about artificial food colors. First, they’re synthetics achieved through the wonder of chemistry and the industry of oil drilling. Secondly, artificial food colors have terrible side effects on human health that range from simple skin or eye irritants and hyperactivity in children to more complex issues such as being endocrine disruptors and lung irritants. Finally, artificial food colors are tested on animals such as mice, rats, bunnies, and beagles. It’s true. Animals are dying for unnecessary brightly colored food.

It’s time for a compassionate change.

Whether you’ve ever made homemade food dyes before or not, you’ll be able to make green food coloring. There are two basic methods you can use and they’re both ridiculously easy.

The first method requires a juicer and a handful or two of green leafy vegetables. Begin by selecting the right green for the job. Choose greens with a neutral or slightly sweet taste like spinach, bok choy, arugula, or green curly kale for sweet recipes. For savory recipes, try red curly or dino kale, beet greens. All you have to do is wash and juice the greens. The result is green food coloring. One ingredient and done.

Note: Some people have said that they can taste the kale or spinach of the food coloring in the foods that have been dyed, but this has never been my experience. If you are concerned that your green food coloring will leave a “too green” taste to the foods it’s used in, simply use the apple juice method to sweeten things up. Use one part apple juice to three parts juice.

If you don’t own a juicer, no problem. The second method for making homemade green food dye uses matcha or green tea powder. Simply add to recipes to achieve the color you’re looking for. An even cheaper solution is to find a pre-made fresh-pressed green juice at the store. Choose the juice with the least amount of ingredients.

The green food coloring in the photo above was made using three parts green curly kale juice and one part fresh apple juice. I made a small batch of royal icing to show you how pretty the color turns out. The icing contains organic powdered sugar, organic corn syrup, and five drops of the green food color. The intensity can be adjusted — use yellow food dye for a spring green or blue to create teal for instance — just by changing the ratio of colors.

Are you interested in learning how to make a rainbow of other colors? Check out this Homemade Vegan Food Coloring Step-by-Step Tutorial.

Does the thought of juicing and mixing to create your own food dyes make you cringe? If you are short on time or would prefer to buy natural food colors, good news. India Tree has a full line of food coloring and sprinkles that are colored with vegetable juice or spices and contains no synthetic dyes. These are the food dyes and sprinkles that I use and I love them.

India Tree sells both vegan and non-vegan products. Be sure to check the ingredients before buying. Look for sprinkles made from raw sugar and carnauba wax which is made from the leaves of the palm plant. This India Tree Decorating Sugars Variety Set and this 3-pack of India Tree Natural Decorating Colors Set make a great starter set combo and are both vegan-friendly and free of artificial junk.