Green Halloween® Twitter Party!

Hashtag: #GreenHalloween

October 22, from 9 to 10 pm EST

Where: Twitter!

Who: Follow the featured Twitter handles @GreenHalloween and @GreenAmerica

Register: Win prizes from @HonestTea @ESC_Chocolate, @CascadianFarm, @BrainardsNatRem, @PlumOrganics and @GreenAmerica. RSVP below to be eligible.*

What to Expect:

• Treats & “treasures” that are healthy for kids & the planet
• DIY costumes, make your own face paints, recycled decor & more
• Seasonal, Earth-inspired activities
• Ideas for a waste-less, spend-less holiday that keeps all the fun
• Finding Green Halloween® events near you
• Interact with others
• Win great, green gifts & goodies*

Please, help support Green Halloween and Green America and spread the Green this Halloween! Share this event with your social media network! The more individuals and groups we have involved, the better our great ideas will spread!

What you can to do to participate:

1. RSVP with us by adding your Twitter handle in the comments below to be eligible for prizes*
2. Check out the  Green America and Green Halloween websites for guides and tips for living your life in more green, healthy, and socially just ways
3. Follow our featured hosts: @GreenHalloween and @GreenAmerica
4. Log into Twitter through Tweetchat.com on October 22^nd a little before 9pm EST and put #GreenHalloween as the hashtag to follow
5. During the party, make sure every comment you submit has the hashtag #GreenHalloween (if you use Tweetchat, this will be done automatically) in it
6. Share your ideas, support each other, and participate. Also, come win some prizes from our great sponsors:

*(One entry per handle. Most prizes will ship only to the continental U.S.; some may ship to Canada. If you cannot accept a prize, prize will be offered to another event participant.)

Green Halloween is a non-profit, grassroots community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween. It began in the Seattle area in 2007 with backers such as Whole Foods Market and was such a huge success that in 2008, the initiative expanded nation-wide. In cities across the country, volunteer coordinators are turning their city’s Halloween holiday healthy and eco-friendly, but many are also raising money for their own, local nonprofit beneficiaries via the initiative. Green Halloween, as of 2012, is a program of Green America.

Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. Our mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. We work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.

For Questions about the party or about another event. Send a tweet to @GreenHalloween, post in the comments below, or send an email to GreenHalloween@GreenAmerica.Org

by Corey

Thank you so much to the families who entered our 2011 Spooky Faces Contest!

We received so many awesome photos and quotes (about what entrants find most spooky about an UN-green Halloween). It was nearly impossible to decide who should win!

But a contest is a contest, so we got down to it, and chose these entries as funniest, spookiest, cutest, most creative and best overall.

FUNNIEST

We loved 9-year-old Thomas Sokol’s silly spooky face! But, as Thomas’ mom, Stephanie, tells us the truth about what’s spooky about an un-green Halloween isn’t so funny.

“Thomas has autism and this is his attempt at a scary face. Having Autism means food allergies for lots of kids on the spectrum.  So the scariest thing about Halloween for him is all the chemicals in the candy. That’s how these chocolate lollipops ended up as play things rather than getting eaten. lol.”

We agree, Thomas! In this case, DO play with your food. Who wants to eat chemicals? Yuck.

Congratulations, Thomas, for winning great, green gifts from Revolution Foods and Good For You Girls.

SPOOKIEST

7-year old Luca Michallet may become a world famous special effects artist (and actor!) someday. He convinced his mom to help him use glue to make “decaying skin.” We think Luca hit the nail on the corpse, er- head with this one.

And we don’t know what’s scarier, his makeup or the spooky fact that, “”All the waste from cheap store costumes can be saved if we make our own!”

Luca, your entry rocked. You are the lucky winner of gifts from Natural Luxe and Eli’s Earth Bars.

Congrats!

CUTEST

10-month-old Skyler Lehnick wins our prize for the cutest entry. Even with some spookiness on her face, she’s still utterly adorable and, as Mom, Anne, tells us, Sklyer is revealing “her menacing front teeth. Careful – she bites! Well…she gnaws.”

But what’s truly spooky about Halloween to Anne is “all the sugary treats eaten with abandon. I have been overweight for the past few years and struggle to lose the weight and the last thing in the world I want for my daughter is to grow up with weight problems. I don’t have a problem with my kids having an occasional sweet snack, but Halloween (as well as Valentines, Christmas, and Easter) overwhelms us with candy and sugar. There are a staggering number of children with health issues because they suffer from obesity and I want to do whatever I can to stop this for future generations.”

So true, Anne. Halloween is just the beginning! Starting now to create traditions that treat kids to healthy fun will make an impact for generations to come.

Congratulations on your win of gifts from Green Party Goods and Preserve, Jr.!

MOST CREATIVE

Christy Garrard of Issaquah, Washington doesn’t just have mad creative skills with her costume/hair/makeup/lighting and photo editing. She’s also poignantly poetic in her opinions:

Sugar gluttony = sluggish kids

Creative treats = inspired kids!

We couldn’t have said it better, ourselves. Christy, congrats on your prizes from Today I Ate A Rainbow and LiveGreene!

BEST OVERALL

Jasper Mark (5) is one groovy, green kid. We think Jasper’s adorable Munch-esque scream, while dressed as a Earth-lovin’ hippy is the perfect symbol for the spooky facts about being un-green on Halloween. Furthermore, Jasper highlights a concern we are working hard to educate families about – Frankenfoods - which, according to mom, Lesli, “give him a belly ache and are bad for the earth.”

Jasper, thank you for your entry and congratulations on your prize package, which includes green goodies for your and your family from: Eat Cleaner, ecomom.com, Revolution Foods, Today I Ate A Rainbow, Natural Luxe, Eli’s Earth Bars, EcoPartyTime.com and ThredUp.

Thank you again to everyone who entered our 2011 contests! And congratulations to all for doing your part to make celebrating a healthy and green Halloween FUN!

What do YOU find most spooky about an UN-green Halloween?

(See contest rules for the details on specific prizes)

by Corey

Welcome to Day #8 of our

“31 days of {Green!} Giveaways“

Today’s question: What are your favorite pumpkin foods and/or beverages?

*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 #8 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 $58+!

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. Value: $8-10. Ships to continental US only.

Gift certificate for (lead-free, mineral-based) Face Paints Set from Terrafirma Cosmetics. Value $24.99. Winner pays shipping.

One pack of each Surf Sweets variety in an eco-friendly Trick-or-Treat Bag, along with other ghastly “green” goodies! Value $25. Ships to US and Canada 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.

Celebrate the Halloween season with an EEK-O-friendly extravaganza:

#GreenHalloween #TwitterParty!

Hashtag: #GreenHalloween

Follow: @GreenHalloween

October 13, 2011  6-8pm PST

Get tips & tricks

• Healthy for kids & planet treats & “treasures”
• DIY costumes, make your own face paints, recycled decor & more
• Seasonal, Earth-inspired activities
• Ideas for a waste-less, spend-less holiday that keeps all the fun
• Find Green Halloween® events near you
• *Win* great, green gifts & goodies

And WOW! Just look at our special guests…

Partners

• Honest Tea – @HonestTea
• Goodwin Heart Pine – @HeartPine
• Kiwi magazine – @KiwiMagazine
• Red Tricycle – @Red_Tricycle
• Practically Green – @PracticallyGrn
• Endangered Species Chocolate – @ESC_Chocolate
• Nature’s Path – @NaturesPath
• Stretch Island Fruit Co. – @StretchIsland
• Revolution Foods – @RevolutionFoods
• Plum Organics – @PlumOrganics
• Surf Sweets – @SurfSweets
• Angell Bar @OrganicCandyBar
• Mr Halloweenster – @MrHalloweenster
• EcoMom.com – @EcoMom
• Celebrate Green! – @CelebrateGreen
• Today I Ate a Rainbow – @eatingarainbow
• Terrafirma Cosmetics – @MoMoGirl
• Damsel In the Attic – @DamselInAttic
• Neighborcare Health – @Neighborcare

Non-profit partner

• Goodwill Industries International – @GoodwillIntl

Event partners

• Womentorz – @Womentorz
• LiveGreene – @ShopLiveGreene
• Natural Luxe – @NaturalLuxe
• Eat Cleaner – @EatCleanerFood
• EcoPartyTime – @EcoPartyTime
• Divine Moms – @Divinemomz
• Green Halloween Daytona Beach – @GreenHalloween1
• Los Angeles Costume Swap – @LACostumeSwap
• Anna Clark – @annaclark

Hosted by: The Smart Mama – @TheSmartMama

How to join the party

1. Join or log on to Twitter

2. Follow @GreenHalloween

3. Use hashtag (#) #GreenHalloween to “chat” in the party and to follow other participant’s posts

Hint: You may find it easiest to use a (free) program such as Hootsuite or TweetDeck to participate. New to twitter parties? Do a quick Internet search for “how to participate in a Twitter party” and you’ll find dozens of tutorials.

*RSVP by adding your Twitter handle in a comment below to be eligible to win prizes!

Prize partners: Honest Tea, Kiwi magazine, Nature’s Path, Stretch Island Fruit, Revolution Foods, Angell Bar, Celebrate Green! & Lunchbots.

(One entry per handle. Most prizes will ship only to the continental U.S.; some may ship to Canada. If you cannot accept a prize, prize will be offered to another event participant.)

And check out our events page for more virtual and real-live events from now through Halloween!

by Corey

Welcome to Day #1 of our

“31 days of {Green!} Giveaways“

Today’s question: “What do you love MOST about Autumn?”

Are you as excited as we are? Today is the kick-off to 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 prizes are worth $60!

Here’s what we have for October 1, 2011…

Gift certificate for (lead-free, mineral-based) Face Paints Set from Terrafirma Cosmetics. Value $24.99. Ships to continental US only.

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

Today I Ate a Rainbow Kits: Contains an interactive chart that uses colorful magnets to track daily consumption of a rainbow of fruits and veggies, a color coded shopping list and a children’s book called The Rainbow Bunch. Value $25. Continental US and Canada 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.