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Archive for October, 2011

Too Many Halloween Treats? 10 friendly ways to get rid of it!

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Halloween is a really fun tradition and as all you Green Halloween fans know, it can celebrated in ways that are good for our bodies and for the earth! It’s so fun to get dressed up and live in a world of make believe for a day! The scary party might just be all the candy and junk food that most likely has made its way into your house. I think Halloween is the perfect time to show parents that when junk food is in the house it’s hard not to eat it…this is the same all year long…it just gets amplified on this day! If you keep all the candy and treats just pay attention to how much harder it is resist. It’s an excellent example of why healthy eating is so much easier if you don’t bring tempting junk food into the house!

Need ideas for getting the candy out of the house?  Here are 10:

1. Give your kids a chance to choose their favorite treats and give them one per day for a week.
2. Have a visit from the switch witch and trade the candy for a toy or maybe some money. There is even a book about the Switch Witch!  Or maybe a Candy Fairy can come for a visit!
3. Find out if a dentist in your area is taking candy in exchange for toys. There are many dentists that offer this buy back type of service! Halloween Candy Buy Back!
4. Send candy to soldiers…just Google that phrase and you’ll find quite a few sites with information such as Operation Gratitude.
5. Take some to nursing homes or women’s shelters.
6. Do some baking with some of those sweets and share with your neighbors.
7. Save some to decorate your Gingerbread houses at Christmas time!
8. Turn it into a science experiment.
9. Give some to the grandparents, grown up cousins that are “too old” to trick or treat, or to aunts and uncles that don’t have kids!
10. Take it to work!  If you work from home do one of the above or else you’ll probably find yourself “snacking” more often than you’d like!

So enjoy the festivities, have some sweets and then be sure to feed your families extra fruits and veggies to help your bodies process it all! Perhaps make these Rainbow Fruit sticks!

Rainbow Sticks

 
Happy Healthy Halloween!

Kia

Kia Robertson is a mom and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools that help parents raise healthy kids!

 

31 Days of {Green!} Giveaways: Day#31

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Welcome to Day #31 of our

31 days of {Green!} Giveaways

Today’s question: Happy Hallogreen! Are you having a happy, healthy day?

*Attention Facebook fans: Please answer as a comment on our blog, not our Facebook page in order to be entered to win!*

Today is day #31 of our month-long, trick-or-treating party for parents!

Just knock on our door (AKA blog) each day, answer the daily question (in lieu of shouting, “Trick or treat!” – although you are totally welcome to write that as well) and you’ll be entered to win some absolutely fabulous, ever-so-eco-friendly prizes.

Today’s prize package is worth $110!


 
Specialty Gift Basket includes healthy-for-family goodies and other gifts from Nature’s Path.  Ships to continental US and Canada only!

 

 
One set of three (3) Preserve Jr. Toothbrushes. Value $10. Continental US only.

 

Here’s how to enter:

1. Add your e-mail address to the comment login, below. (We cannot notify you if we don’t have your e-mail address!)

2. Add a comment (one per e-mail address) with your answer to the question above.

3. Comment must post before 11:59pm PST – TONIGHT

Be sure to review our giveaway rules here. Please note shipping limitations.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on Facebook & Twitter for daily reminders & updates for the 31 Days of {Green} Giveaways promotion.

Good luck & have FUN!

(& See you tomorrow )

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

31 Days of {Green!} Giveaways: Day#30

Sunday, October 30th, 2011

Welcome to Day #30 of our

31 days of {Green!} Giveaways

Today’s question: What are you looking forward to most about tomorrow?

*Attention Facebook fans: Please answer as a comment on our blog, not our Facebook page in order to be entered to win!*

Today is day #30 of our month-long, trick-or-treating party for parents!

Just knock on our door (AKA blog) each day, answer the daily question (in lieu of shouting, “Trick or treat!” – although you are totally welcome to write that as well) and you’ll be entered to win some absolutely fabulous, ever-so-eco-friendly prizes.

Today’s prize package is worth $80!

Earth Lust

 
Earth Lust. Family 4-Pack of stainless steel bottles (1 Liter, 20 oz, 2x 13 oz), $71 Continental US only.


 
Revolution Foods™ Organic Snack Packs! Reusable paper lunchbox for kids filled with samples of Grammy Sammys, Jammy Sammys, Mashups and Yo’ Drops, Tattoos and stickers for kids, and coupons for mom. $8-10  Continental US only

 

Here’s how to enter:

1. Add your e-mail address to the comment login, below. (We cannot notify you if we don’t have your e-mail address!)

2. Add a comment (one per e-mail address) with your answer to the question above.

3. Comment must post before 11:59pm PST – TONIGHT

Be sure to review our giveaway rules here. Please note shipping limitations.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on Facebook & Twitter for daily reminders & updates for the 31 Days of {Green} Giveaways promotion.

Good luck & have FUN!

(& See you tomorrow )

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

Halloween treats don’t have to be tricky

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Guest post (excerpt):

Now. Wait. Listen. Someone, somewhere, is saying some variation of this: “Sheesh. It’s Halloween. It’s one day a year. Lighten up and let the kids have their candy, already!”

But, see, that’s the problem. It’s not just one day a year. It’s Halloween night and class parties and community events and then the winter holidays and Valentine’s Day and Easter and birthday parties and swimming class and soccer games and the bank and the shoe store and restaurants with kid menus and the grandparents’ house and anyplace else kids set foot, including, of course, school. The sugar culture is so strong, the highly processed foodstuffs so epidemic, that we no longer have the luxury of viewing these things in isolation. It’s not just a few Halloween treats or one blue cupcake. It’s a crushing pile of chemical-laden pseudo food. And at some point we just have to make it stop.

So yes, I say boo.

Click here to visit Spoonfed and read the whole post.

***

Christina Le Beau blogs about raising food-literate kids at Spoonfed: Raising kids to think about the food they eat. In this post, she details how she handles the annual Halloween onslaught. (Hint: Limiting candy won’t ruin childhood.)

Halloween-Themed Plants

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

by Corey

Plants, like trees, are our “breathing buddies.”

They help clean the air, creating a healthier home (and outdoor) environment.

But around Halloween, they can help set a boo-tiful mood. Try a festive centerpiece, decorative Halloween “tree”, Halloween garden, or simply enjoy learning some of their ghoulishly fun names.

Look for foliage in colors such as black, red, deep purples, orange, yellow and of course, green. Find shapes (inspect foliage, stems and roots) that are twisted, gnarled, spiky or otherwise creepy.

Try incorporating:

  • Purple Ghost
  • Sister Ghost
  • Red Spider
  • Bloodgood
  • Witches Broom
  • Skeleton Key
  • Devil’s Nettle
  • Bleeding Heart
  • Blood Lilly
  • Witch Hazel
  • Liverwort
  • Eyeball Plant
  • Spider Plant
  • Miss Willmott’s Ghost
  • Bloody Butcher

Learn more about medicinal plants and those thought to contain magical powers. Plant a garden to make your own “witches brews” for spells, potions and ointments. Make b-witching brooms from elements growing (or once growing) in your garden or yard.

Experiment with making dyes to die for with the root of the Wildflower Bloodroot, which has red sap.

Or, keep vampires out with a garden of garlic and witches at bay with flowers the color of the sun.

For more spooktacular plant ideas, click here, here or here.

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.