Planet Green has a quiz up on their website asking readers exactly how green their Halloween is. We took the test and boy were we surprised! Even though we thought we’d ace this quiz with flying colors, we still learned a thing or two.

The best part is, unlike a quiz from grade school, this quiz corrects your answers as you take the test. It also provides a detailed and thorough explanation of the correct answer if you get a question wrong.

So head on over to Planet Green, take this test for yourself and learn something new on how to create a greener and healthier Halloween for your loved ones!

How Green’s Your Halloween? : Planet Green – Games & Quizzes : Planet Green.

Even though Halloween is still a few months away, it’s never too early to start prepping! This wonderful article from Reader’s Digest showcases (in their opinion) the ten best “healthy” halloween snacks and treats.

In case these snacks won’t satisfy you or your youngster’s taste buds, go for a more do-it-yourself route! Make these hand-dipped strawberries instead of using packaged store-bought candy. It can be a great kitchen activity you can do with your kids to teach them about healthy food as well as eating and cooking right.

What do you think? Will you be incorporating these in your candy bowls this year for trick-or-treaters? Or do you have other alternatives that you think are much healthier? Let us know!

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics opened up our eyes to the dangers of harmful chemicals stored in the makeup that we use daily. If you’re curious about your own makeup collection sitting on the vanity, head on over to Skin Deep, a super helpful database that lets you search for specific products, ingredients and even companies! The database also conveniently organizes products by category to make the search easier, and created a user-friendly score key to let the users know where their products fall in the range of hazardous chemicals.

According to this article from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website:

“Lead may be a contaminant in over 650 products listed in Skin Deep. Lead can be found in a range of cosmetic products including sunscreens, foundation, nail colors, lipsticks and whitening toothpaste. Several ingredients derived from plant sources, such as cottonseed oils and rice derivatives, may contain heavy metals such as lead and mercury.

Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are widely used in sunscreens, and zinc oxide is also common in foundations, concealers and diaper ointments (up to 4 percent of products in Skin Deep).

Some metals serve as colorants. For instance, chromium is used in a very small number of products as a colorant, and iron oxides are common colorants in eye shadows, blushes and concealers. Some aluminum compounds are colorants in lip glosses, lipsticks and nail polishes. In addition, some color additives may be contaminated by heavy metals, such as D&C Red 6, which can be contaminated by arsenic, lead and mercury.

Arsenic is a contaminant in about 641 products, or about 2.5 percent, of those listed in Skin Deep.

Zinc is used in a small number (47) but wide array of products, including moisturizers, shampoos and foundations.

Mercury has been reported in very few brands of mascara and eye drops.”

Wow! That’s a lot of chemicals in products that we often use on a daily basis. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate what should stay and what should go in our make-up bags and/or bathroom counters! For more information on natural skin care products, check out Safe Skin Care and this informative article titled “Are Your Skin Products Killing You?” as well as “Safe Cosmetics, Where Do You Get Them?”

The Green Halloween initiative began in the Seattle area in 2007 – and a year later went nationwide.

How did we grow so fast?

Because of people like Pam Salois of Windham, CT.

Pam is a Green Irene Eco-Consultant and was so inspired by the idea of encouraging people to make Halloween healthier and more eco-friendly (while keeping all the fun) that she volunteered to help spread the word about Green Halloween in her area.

While there are dozens of ways that you (and/or your school, business, neighborhood or entire community) can get involved, small steps, like Pam’s can make a big difference.

Here are some photos from her booth, featuring Green Halloween, that she set up at a local, community event.

Thank you to Pam and to all of the generous people helping us to rock this revolution.

Have you helped to spread the word about Green Halloween? Let us know! We’re so grateful for your help.

Note from Corey:

GreenHalloween.org offers loads of great advice (if we do say so ourselves!) on everything from eco-fab costumes to healthy Halloween treats/green treasures to how to compost your pumpkins.

But did you know we have articles from experts who know cool stuff like how to stay healthy this Halloween with homeopathics?

Check out out the smart tips from a doctors, dentist, nutritionist, psychotherapist and more!

Want more answers? Let us know by adding a comment below.