We sent a note to some great friends who we know are eyeball deep in Halloween preparations right now:

“Know you’re crazy busy! Wonder if you might pause for a moment, think, and send us just a line or a photo on what you’re doing. What’s happening at your house, what the costumes are, how the candy’s going, pumpkins, candles, parties, meltdowns, excitement, worries; how easy or hard is it to be green and healthy about all the stuff — or not….”

We had some outstanding replies.

From Anna Clark, Dallas, Texas:

I’ve decided to dress up for Halloween as Mother Nature in a getup hatched from my closet: one Donna Karan ivory silk peignoir not worn since my honeymoon; one gauzy, postpartum tunic from Old Navy; a sash for a belt; and some tan thong sandals.  The outfit is a backdrop for nature-inspired accessories — greenery in my hair, the bird on my shoulder, and the little smattering of butterflies — which I purchased at MJDesigns.  (I wanted to avoid buying anything so I first tried on a medium-sized Christmas wreath from my closet, but it made me look like the Ghost of Christmas Past). I figure that with my five-year old daughter, I will have plenty of opportunity to reuse the accessories. I’m happy with the outfit. I’m pretty sure people won’t know who I am at first sight (maybe St. Francis of Assisi?) but it should be a good conversation opener!

Anna wrote this article for her local paper, the Dallas Morning News. It’s got lots of great ideas, including a timeless earful on how to offer treasures to the visitors at your door. This part is from Lynn and Corey, the mother-daughter team behind GreenHalloween.org. Go there for zillions of last-minute suggestions on how to make this holiday special. For all you grumpy grown-ups who are worried about having your precious football game interrupted, this will put you in the spirit! You know who you are! It’s a delightful and successful initiative, borne of Lynn and Corey’s book Celebrate Green. (More on Lynn and Corey in a future post.)

Shelby Hogan is one of our favorite SoCal moms and she’s known as the Scrivener to her blog readers at GenXMoms. She’s another Motherboard member and you’ll be hearing more about her soon, as well. ”Rather than carving a pumpkin early on only to have it rot, we carved jack o’ lanterns out of oranges! I blogged about it here. “ These oranges are local; remember, Shelby lives in Orange County, California, where she’s got lemon trees in the yard — and she’s thinking about an orange tree too.

And actually, I didn’t say this in the post, but they were oranges from our CSA basket. I pureed the innards of the oranges and made a lovely couple glasses of orange juice, and the orange peels smelled wonderful on the counter. Our Halloween costume this year is a t-shirt. Theo is going as Charlie Brown, and wearing a Charlie Brown t-shirt and pants/shoes he already has. Can’t go greener than that.

Last summer, Sara Wutzke moved her family from Boston to Walla Wall, Washington; i.e., across the continent. She describes herself as newly green – “I didn’t hardly recycle before about three years ago”— we understand! But this Halloween, Sara has a plan:

Well, ours is a much smaller step, but I’m taking the kids trick-or-treating only within walking distance. (All that stop and go with the car, blech…not to mention the time it takes to get kids in and out of carseats!) We are doing it around our neighborhood only on Halloween, and the participating in the downtown’s trick-or-treat; which is pedestrian only. We are also going to participate in our local children’s dentistry candy buy-back program after the fact (of course, they’ll get to keep a little bit of the candy) so they can fatten their piggy banks instead of themselves. (Really, instead of me.)

Thank you, Sara. (Find Sara at Sex and the Knitty.)

We like to think of Rachel at Ecostilleto and MommyGreenest as our Practically Green celebrity Hollywood connection, swathed in marabou feathers and tapping her keybard on an outdoor terrace shaded by palm trees. Don’t tell us we’re mistaken, please! Rachel loves to interview eco-conscientious supermodels and stars. It’s a great way to conjure inspiration. Here’s what she’s up to this weekend:

Thanks Sarah! This holiday we are boycotting Hershey! I wrote about the new study that links Hershey to child slave labor in Africa and about my hope to boycott it this year, while keeping in mind the reality of my kids (11, 9 and 3) who want their Milk Duds, stat! But surprisingly, my kids got on board and are telling their friends about the boycott–my daughter even brought a print out of the article to her fourth-grade class. This year, Hershey. Next year, princess costumes in plastic bags…. meaning next year we’ll boycott those made in china costumes, if i get my way ;-) One step at a time.

Love it: Wise AND ecochic.

Don’t you crave the organic cookies and snacks from Late July? Mmmmmm YUM. We recently met the co-founder and CEO, Nicole Bernard Dawes, and she’s terrific:

My family loves Halloween! We use homemade/hand me down costumes, reusable bags and grow our own organic pumpkins! Even our youngest is really excited this year, but every year I struggle with what I call the battle with BIG CANDY.  How can I knowingly let my children have candy with horrible ingredients from questionable sources? And being in food manufacturing my whole life, I know how scary some of these manufacturers can be.  It’s one of the reasons I started Late July.

In the past I have bought organic chocolate (Endangered Species Bug Bites) and other treats (Yummy Earth Lollipops, Sweetriot cacoa nibs) for my older son to exchange for his treat haul, but two years ago he really wanted to have some of the candy he collected too (busted!).  So now, after I remove the worst of the worst, fake gummy hamburgers and other candy not made in the USA from a known brand, I blend the organic and conventional together in his (reusable) bag (a 90/10 blend works).  I rationalize this decision by remembering that the other 364 days a year he is one of the best eaters I know. He looks for the word ‘organic’ on packages, helps grow organic produce in our garden and loves to try new foods.

One final word from Nicole: “I plan to make sure they have a good wholesome dinner beforehand so they don’t attack the treats on an empty stomach.”

Sarah Falk is a Boston area mom of adorable toddler Cole. “Cole is going to be a monkey this year. Very cute costume, passed on from a friend. She has a son one year older and we get her hand-me-downs. I already know that Cole will be a fireman next year!“

We are having a pumpkin carving party with family on Saturday and will most definitely roast the pumpkin seeds:

Ingredients: 2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spread the pumpkin seeds on a medium baking sheet. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted.

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 101 | Total Fat: 6.5g | Cholesterol: 0mg

I knew that pumpkin seeds were nutritious, but I found this on-line to support me: “The average seeds contain fantastic amounts of iron, magnesium, phosphorus and even zinc, all of which tend to be ignored unintentionally by the vast majority of the population. But they also are a fantastic source of lean protein, making them a better alternative to nuts or meat. Pumpkin seeds’ nutrition also goes so far as to offer beneficial polyunsaturated fats that nuts don’t, making them an absolutely ideal alternative for healthy eating.”

Happy Halloween!

This time last year a book was published called Practically Green.  While we clearly thought the title very clever, we will admit to being a little disappointed that WE didn’t write it.  Then we read it and were very impressed.

Practically Green (the book) is in synch with our own experience and feelings about green living.  It is, of course, PRACTICAL with 30+ DIY projects. And helpful: with copy and clip guides to shopping.  And smart: with essential information to guide decisions.

And no wonder!  The author, Micaela Preston, is a mom, has an MBA, was in consumer marketing, had kids and started trying to live healthier and greener.  She started blogging about it at Mindful Momma in 2006.  She is also from a cold place in the Northern part of the country (Minnesota) and has a home that she is trying to make greener. I had clearly identified a kindred spirit. With great taste in titles and names.

Micaela and I started hosting chats together with Planet Green and the Motherhood and we managed to connect for a conversation a few weeks ago.  Right off the bat, she told me that actually, Practically Green was not her original idea for the title of the book.  She was hoping that it would have Mindful Momma, or something closer to it, in the title.  We told her we loved the name, but then–we ARE biased.  Most importantly, we loved the book. We compared stories and as suspected, we have a good bit in common in addition to the MBA/marketing/green mom blogger thing.  We both have major (and minor) home projects underway and it’s great to compare notes with another green mom for how to improve the energy efficiency of windows in historic homes, improve insulation, and remove lead paint. (For the record, when Micaela finishes her project she will have earned a jillion points on Practically Green!)

The best part however is that her book lives on through her blog. She is very crafty and has great posts about switching out buttons to upcycle clothing and repurposing clothes into new fashions.  She also posts regularly about food and Babble.com named her one of the top 50 mommy food bloggers. We borrowed her tomato and cucumber salad recipe this summer. And she has great tips collections like this one:  8 Ways to Reduce Waste at Home.  She’s been on our blogroll since we (re)launched our blog as someone we learn from and think you will too.

So if you are ever in the mood for a print version of our Practically Green, we highly recommend Micaela’s book as a great place to start.  Congratulations Micaela on the first anniversary of YOUR Practically Green.

This may look like an average kind of guy, but we assure you he is not. Derek McCarty is young man on a new mission to help people understand that being environmentally responsible is actually pretty easy, as easy as three little steps. His Facebook page explains the simple idea:

THREElittleSTEPS is a commitment to action. Everyday its contributors pick up three pieces of trash they come across in their daily travels. It’s that simple.

How brilliant is this? Who doesn’t see three pieces of rubbish every day that we could pick up and dispose of properly?

The Facebook page is umbilically connected to the web site ThreeLittleSteps.org, where there’s more persuasive info:

What happens if we stop looking at litter around us as a problem and start to think about it as an opportunity? An opportunity to act. An opportunity to make the world around us cleaner. An opportunity to inspire others around us. An opportunity to pause and think about our own waste habits and how we can change them. We invite everyone to pick up THREE pieces of litter each day and when possible post it to our Facebook page. You’ll find out when litter becomes an opportunity it’s a lot harder to ignore a chance to act.

“I feel like there needs to be more creative solutions to solving problems,” Derek told us. “A lot of people start by focusing on the problem at hand. I like to focus on human behavior.”

He wrote us a reflection on why he launched ThreeLittleSteps, and we think you’ll enjoy it. It’s illustrated with a few of the curiously moving images that ThreeLittleSteps has collected during the first few months of existence. (Captions included.)

THREElittleSTEPS to Change

We are bombarded with stories about our sick planet – a dangerously high carbon count, a gaping wound in the ozone layer, plastic islands in the oceans, the list goes on and on. It feels impossible to fix. And with the big issues getting all the attention, it’s easy to lose sight of the small things at the heart of the matter:  little things like our own waste streams, our love of driving everywhere, and our energy use at home. It was this insight that led to the creation of THREElittleSTEPS, an organization founded on the simple idea that before the big issues can be solved we need to focus on the small ones. And when we say small, we mean small. THREElittleSTEPS’ purpose couldn’t be simpler; everyday its members commit to picking up three pieces of litter they encounter in their travels. How easy is that?

THREElittleSTEPS two containers n a watchamacallit

If we talk about our world as being sick, then litter is a symptom. For those who litter it’s a sign of their disregard for the planet and disrespect for their community. For those of us who walk by it everyday, it’s a sign of our complacency. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but each and every day we are given an opportunity to act, and while we can’t feasibly stop at every piece of litter we encounter, we can promise not to ignore it and pick it up when we can.

Nighttime THREElittleSTEPS!

Picking up litter will not solve the environmental crisis, but THREElittleSTEPS has seen some interesting benefits. Participants have reported becoming more conscious of their own waste habits. The theory is that each time you touch a piece of litter, you become more aware of the waste you create. Your mind develops a relationship between the litter on the ground and the coffee cups, cigarette packages, etc. you use on a daily basis.  Thus, the next time you go for coffee you are more likely to bring a reusable cup. It’s all about raising awareness.

THREElittleSTEPS by the water!

What started out as a pet project is showing signs of becoming a movement. Using social media vehicles like Facebook and Tumblr, THREElittleSTEPS posts a picture of litter picked up each day. The picture, or “step” as we call it, appears as a status update in the feed of followers. The goal is to “insert” the movement in to the conversation of its followers. It provides a subtle reminder for members to take their “steps” each day and that there are other folks out there picking up litter too.

Does all this trashy talk make you want to recycle something? Start here! Click on any one of these 34 recommended recycling actions. You’ll love the process of cleaning up your own waste stream — but remember Derek’s advice is to take little steps.

credit: cafecree.uk

This is not the way I usually have breakfast: in Long Beach, California, at Crème de la Crepe, a chic café, downing cappuccino and boiled eggs in tiny china cups, having a fascinating conversation with women who really are changing the world, who are here for the Women’s Conference hosted by Maria Shriver. What a way to start the week: noshing with a small group of hard-working visionaries in high morning spirits, from the Breast Cancer Fund, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Seventh Generation, and its organic fem-care project, LetsTalkPeriod.com.

I was doing my best to keep up, and enjoying every little lick of cinnamon-sprinkled froth, teensy spoonfuls of gooey egg, and a smidge of Gratin dauphinois that couldn’t be left on the plate. At the end of the meal, I grabbed whatever chapstick was handiest from my voluminous black bag and prepared to moisten my yolkish lips.

All of a sudden the lively conversation halted: syllables were left dangling over the table. From the right of me: “You can’t put that on your lips!” To the left: “Don’t you know it has petroleum!” Across the table: “Omigod we’ll get you a replacement.”

I looked at the poison in my hand and there it was: ChapStik.

I should know better. By now I know that not all chapstick and lipgloss are good for you. I realize that there are healthy products and not-so healthy products. I have paid a great deal of attention to my cosmetics and skin-care larder in recent months (more on that in an upcoming post), reading labels for ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize – and shunning the methyls, the ethyls, and the parabens — but I have not performed the same discipline on my arsenal of lipsticks, lip glosses, and chapsticks.

Now I will begin.

But first, what to do with the old chapstick? Leave it on the table for the waiter to figure out? I turned to Jeanne, who is after all the President and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund and a senior advisor on the President’s Cancer Panel Report released in May. Coincidentally, the report is entitled, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now.”

“What should I do with this thing?” I asked her.

Without missing a beat, she replied, “I don’t know yet. Deep-six it in your bag until we figure that out.”

And that is exactly where it will be until further notice.

Can you find the errant chapstick?

Later, during a break I searched Practically Green and found actions for switching to all-natural lipstick and switching to all-natural lipgloss, where I was reminded of the urban myth that “women eat 4-6 pounds of lipstick in their lifetime” and learned about numerous unpronounceable ingredients that are commonly used in lipstick manufacture. Lipgloss is a similar deal, only here you might be ingesting the sweetener saccharin, which is known to cause bladder cancer.

Nice.

It’s pretty easy for me to click the “Commit” button on the lipgloss action and then, with another click, share with my Facebook friends. You can do this too, on the Practically Green actions that you decide to take.

Thank you, breakfast ladies!

Our cauldron is overflowing with ideas on how to make Hallowee’en eco-friendly this year, from costumes to treats to totes to day-after toothcare. We shared a bunch of these last week, and we’ve got a whole slew more for spooky safe FUN!

iVillage has 15 scrumptious spooky treat recipes for your Hallowe’en parties or even a Hallowe’en-themed family dinner. Check your local Farmer’s Market for fresh Fall vegetables and pumpkins!

Wouldn’t the trick or treaters in your house love a Hallowe’en snack in their lunch box? Feast your eyes on these clever and spooky apple and almond “bites”! The recipe is easy: just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth. Chomp chomp!

Who doesn’t love carving pumpkins for Hallowe’en?  Okay, okay — it is messy — but kids love the process and the final product is so satisfying!  Especially when the candle is finally lit inside and an eerie glow spreads along your walkway. Martha Stewart has some wonderfully inspiring and cute pumpkin carving ideas for you and your kids to try. When you’re cleaning up the pumpkin mess, save those seeds in a bowl and make these yummy and easy spiced pumpkin seeds, a great healthy snack. Toss the rest in your compost pile!

Looking for candy to give to your trick-or-treaters?  Well, we have some treats that are healthier, organic, and wicked tasty!  Susan recommends Surf Sweets, which offers organic and all-natural gummy treats.  YummyEarth has organic lollypops and gummy bears too.  Betty Lou’s makes sweet treats and snacks that have no refined sugars, hydrogenated oils or GMO’s.  You can also go for organic dark chocolate and earn 10 PG Points!

Lynn and Corey from Celebrate Green give great advice on how to green your Hallowe’en treat basket and make it stand out from every other house on the block.  Check out this amazing mom and daughter duo and get ready to be inspired!

Lastly, a shockingly considerate treat for the adults: day 20 of Kimberly Button’s 28 day Green Halloween has fun and festive cocktail recipes. So go ahead, indulge a little.

What’s a Green Hallowe’en post without a spooky joke?

And with that, from all of us at Practically Green, we hope you have fun getting ready for a safe, happy, and green Hallowe’en!

Today's blog post by: Lindsey O'Connor

Ashley Adams English is expecting her first baby any minute now. Her friends and blog fans can attest that pregnancy has not slowed Ashley in the least; she continues to write – and to cook, can, collect eggs, tea-stain her lampshades, socialize, keep chickens and bees, brew fascinating concoctions of tea, and generally provide a refreshing window on life from her homestead near Asheville, North Carolina.

Ashley and her hen Uno

At this point, she’s taking suggestions for natural forms of labor induction, and she’s heard of everything from evening primrose oil to having a huge dinner party to walking around a mall to getting it on with her hubby Glenn, so we thought we might as well try via this repost of her recent story about a design swap that appeared on DesignSponge.com recently. What a great idea for having fun and cleaning out the closet!

Good luck, Ashley & Glenn! Can’t wait for the news of Nugget’s safe arrival!

small measures with ashley: host a design swap

Photo from Scumbag Clothing

Read more at Design*Sponge http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/10/small-measures-with-ashley-host-a-design-swap.html#ixzz12wZlY8eK

Subscribe to Ashley’s blog, Small Measure, including her updates on waiting for Nugget; and follow her on Twitter @ashley_english.

And, for more ideas on how to get rid of your stuff in responsible ways, consult the actions database at Practically Green.

A few years back, I saw a chart that inspired all sorts of different emotions:  admiration, curiousity, envy and perhaps a little bit of “there is just no way…”  It was Beth Terry’s plastic-tracking chart from her blog, Fake Plastic Fish, which documents her personal journey of living life with less plastic.

Before seeing Beth’s chart, I just didn’t “see” all the plastic in my life.  What if I had to count it?  I decided to try, but unfortunately picked the kitchen as Room #1. I made it through 5 cupboards and got up to 150 items with plastic in/on/around before realizing this was totally depressing. And this was even before I knew a lot about BPA and was stunned by the extent of damage from the Gulf Oil spill.

So I decided to focus on seeing how much plastic I throw out each week, which I will now dub “Step One” in a plastic reduction plan. Given my town has a very comprehensive plastic recycling program and I actively choose to avoid disposables, I thought I’d be pretty good. I was utterly, totally wrong. Since we compost and recycle, almost all my remaining garbage is plastic of some sort.  It’s hot dog packaging, coated butcher paper, cheese stick wrappers, cereal box liners, and the plastic stuff that wraps around the toilet paper rolls. (By the way, do this garbage audit and you can get points on Practically Green!)

Step 2:  Pick one plastic thing that you are going to stop buying or change to a non-plastic — or at least a recycled/recyclable plastic — version.

I started by trying to eliminate cheese stick wrappers. I bought a big hunk of mozzarella and told everyone that instead of cheese sticks, everyone was getting cheese chunks now. On a plate or in a reusable bag for school lunch. The 3 year-old was fine.  The 6 year-old insisted this “new” cheese was yucky. My better half either didn’t notice this effort (or pretended he didn’t) and the next weekend when I was out of town, bought 2 bags of cheese sticks.  So much for attempt #1. (Note to self:  inform all team members of new initiatives!)

Step 3:  Try Again. As I surveyed the next week’s garbage, it wasn’t easy to find that next plastic item to eschew from life.  I had what I considered to be a legitimate, good excuse for why something was impossible to eliminate.  In reality, I was stalling because they just all seemed a little, well, hard.

Step 4:  Check out Fake Plastic Fish for inspiration and ideas.  And if all else fails, call Beth.

After months of rather mediocre results at reducing this last batch of plastic trash, I decided to call Beth.  My first question to her was something along the lines of “how the heck did you manage to do this?!”

Beth started by explaining her motivation, or “green a-ha moment.”  She recounted seeing pictures of the plastic trash heap in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas and, in particular, the photo of the dead albatross chick with lots of plastic stuff in its stomach.

What was inside that chick were things I used everyday and I felt this direct connection, which I had not felt with other environmental issues…. I love animals and I just felt it was so unfair.  It’s one thing to do this to ourselves, but plastic is the biggest problem for the most vulnerable.

So she decided to see if she could live without plastic and her blog was to keep track of alternatives.  She had no idea it would transform her into a well-regarded plastic activist and that she would get emails everyday telling her the blog has inspired someone to change their plastic consumption and waste habits. That she would lead a successful campaign, collecting 16,000 signatures, to convince Clorox to recycle the Brita water filter, which they do now through the Preserve Gimme 5 program (Beth’s a fan of Preserve’s toothbrushes too).  Or that she’d have an amazing community of people who have collected and photographed their trash for the “Show Us Your Trash” challenge.  She’s also now working on a book that is a combination of personal journey and practical guide.

Practical guide: we obviously love that concept and it was a perfect entree to my own “How To” dilemma.  Beth, how do you handle groceries?  She gave me her own road map, which I will share with you.  She starts by “avoiding the middle aisles.” She heads for fresh produce with reusable bags, looks for bread in paper, and hits the bulk bins with reusable containers. She admits that she has had to cook from scratch more, eliminate certain things, and find substitutes for some others. She even makes her own pet food.

Beth makes no claims that she is “perfectly plastic free” which is what makes her blog fun. I still laugh thinking about all those cheese doodle bags she had to count after a road trip with her Dad.  But she does acknowledge that doing something so seemingly extreme has been incredibly rewarding.

I feel like I have a purpose.  For years, I was just living a regular life and trying to figure out what my “thing” was. I tried container gardening, marathoning and even felt compelled to knit.  None felt important.  Through this, I found my place in the world.  This is why I’m here.  This is where I fit.  I advocate for those that don’t have a voice to protect them.

Beth’s reminder about WHY she gave up plastic was a good kick in the pants. I plan to revisit the failed cheese stick experiment and try again. I’m also going to look in the recycle bins to see what options might be there. (Beth’s perspective is that recycling is not a long-term solution to the plastic problem.)

What about you?  What plastic item can you see breaking up with?

Dominique Browning is one of those lifelong friends who’s always amazingly there for turning points: a new baby, a new marriage, a new house, a new job. She’s there now for Practically Green, our new company, and she’s on our Advisory Board.

Dominique is an authority on many important subjects, including houses and gardens, having been the editor of House & Garden magazine for more than a decade. She’s a blogger for the Environmental Defense Fund at “Personal Nature.” You’ll see her witty and astute reviews in The New York Times book review; she’s an ardent naturalist and keen observer. So we were pretty excited last week when she recommended this blog on her blog!

There is no good news about how we are harming our environment. The only good news can come out of what we are doing to protect and honor it. For that reason, I cheer on nascent environmental blogs that show personal ways forward, such as Practically Green.

Such are the links of 21^st century friendship!

We pounced on the next post she wrote, a delightful report on the pleasures and surprises of shopping at a Farmer’s market in Manhattan. Here’s an excerpt:

NEW YORK EATS

It is strange to feel like a tourist in a place that has been home, or near home, almost my entire life. But I’ve spent so much time in Rhode Island lately that when I come into Manhattan I have to maintain the frantic pace of a first time visitor.  There is so much to see and do; I’ve got a folder full of tattered clippings from arts listings. I’ve been covering miles between museums and shops. Today, there seemed to be so much to taste and savor. All the walking this week has made me hungry.

One of my meetings happened to be near Union Square, so I found myself in the middle of the thriving Farmer’s Market. It is one of life’s small and annoying ironies that there is more–and better–fresh, organic produce in the middle of a big city than at most rural farm stands. In Rhode Island, I’ll be lucky to find some Brussels sprouts along with three kinds of squash; in Manhattan there are so many different kinds of vegetables on sale that I don’t even recognize many of them. And of course, the market offers its own peculiar brand of street theatre; everyone is haggling, laughing, arguing, pushing, squeezing, pinching, finger-wagging, and generally doing what New Yorkers do so well–acting out.

And then the creativity with canning, jams, spreads, and honeys. Even the variety of plants and flowers is mind-boggling. One stand, Phillips Farms, from Milford, New Jersey, was offering huge–”the biggest bunches in the market”–bouquets of eucalyptus branches; their sharp, resinous odor wafted me to California. Another woman was selling beautifully wrapped bouquets of delicate cosmos.

One fellow was selling honey made from bees that are gathering nectar from the city’s roof gardens and parks; well, who knows where those bees are going. This guy was media savvy. When I approached with my camera, he straightened up and gave me a nice smile.

What are you, a blogger?” he said. “Yes, actually,” I said. “Imagine that,” he said. “A blogger in New York City.” Imagine that, a wiseacre in New York City. Still, he wasn’t so media averse–I noticed he had a large sign propped up on his stand telling visitors about an upcoming appearance on Martha Stewart’s television show. Imagine that.

For the rest of Dominique’s romp around Manhattan until bedtime – she continues to a chef-supply store, tea at the Plaza, peeks into ground-floor doctors’ offices, and the Haydn Planetarium — go here. For more on Dominique, please visit her blog, SlowLoveLife, which she created earlier this year (“kicking and screaming”) to forecast her latest book, Slow Love: How I Lost my Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness. Slow Love will be out in paperback this spring.

And please visit Practically Green for advice on lots of Dominique’s favorite things to-do — many of which turn out to be environmentally friendly — among them eat organic chocolate, compost kitchen scraps (“dig a hole: throw it in!”), use only all-natural sunscreen and other personal-care products, shop (and wear) (gorgeous) vintage, and upgrade your fridge and your windows!

We put out the word today on Green Hallowe’en to our favorite friends in the blogosphere: give us your best ideas for a safe, healthy, eco-friendly and — most of all — FUN Hallowe’en! Here’s a wicked green handful.

Zem of Ecofabulous had this commentary on eBay’s Green Team site:

“It’s that time of year – ghosts, goblins, pumpkin carving… and chilling statistics about the money spent on one-time use, disposable Halloween paraphernalia: Americans spend over $5 billion annually on Halloween decorations and costumes! This year, make the holiday a green one, rather than a code orange for the environment…. If you’re making one yourself, always start with what you’ve got at home – you’d be surprised what a little creativity, extra sheets, and old clothes can produce!”

Full story here: http://www.ebaygreenteam.com/posts/zem-eco-halloween

Avital Bischtock of the Sierra Club offers Six Ways to Stay Green this Halloween on HuffPo Green. She wisely observes that a new costume idea is part of the annual fun for kids: “We know, we know: You can’t be the same thing you were last year.” For her solutions to this and other conundrums, including how to reduce Hallowe’en waste, click here.

(Follow Avital Binshtock on Twitter: www.twitter.com/avitalb)

From Shannon Hindenberger, who writes the Working Mom Goes Green blog. Shannon likes to think in steps, which we love, and she’s got three steps for a Green Hallowe’en.

“First step: have a costume swap! They way I see it, this step can go two ways … play date or wine night with the girls. What did I choose? Wine night! I sent that link to my two friends Alissa and Diana who needed a night out and we converged on a local wine shop and indulged on a plate of fine chocolates and red wine. We were having so much fun, we shut the shop down and almost forgot to swap costumes (we did this in the dark parking lot).”

For the two next steps, click here! http://www.workingmomgoesgreen.com/2010/10/green-your-halloween.html

Shannon and her son last Hallowe'en

Diane MacEachern of the ground-breaking BigGreenPurse empire (steep yourself in the website, subscribe to the blog, and buy the book) has two submissions. The first is on the horrific toxic ingredients found in some face paints, and what the alternatives are. We love her top ten tips for a green and frugal Hallowe’en. For instance,  look in your closet for costume material (yes, yes this is the best advice ever), decorate with nature, and save everything for next year!

Smiling Green Mom and her family

Last and totally not least, concluding this week’s coverage with cheer and style: SmilingGreenMom. Lynn is a fantastic mom of two near Fort Wayne, Indiana who manages to combine a practical and dead-serious passion for her family’s health, and a close attention to diseases caused by toxins in household materials; with a positive and funny attitude that always has us coming back for more. It’s no surprise that her take this Hallowe’en season is on good-for-you and delicious candy treats –and, ever practical, she’s got a product review for November 1^st, when everyone will need an extra tooth brushing.

More Green Hallowe’en coverage next week! Please send us your favorite ideas! Sarah@practiallygreen.com

I love the crisp and fresh smell in the air whenever I am able to get out of the city and go home to Sonoma County, California. It’s as if life slows down, weather becomes beautiful, and food just tastes better. This is not to knock the city, which is lovable for just as many reasons, but we can all agree it’s nice to get away. On this particular trip, I decided to make use of all of the luscious, organic, locally grown produce and whip up a nice fall vegetable dish.

Beautiful brussels sprouts from Ocean Mist Farm in Castroville, CA

My first move was for the brussels sprouts. Brussels Sprouts are rich in fiber and available all year round, but peak in fall. They also caramelize masterfully. I decided some incorporate some root vegetables and grabbed for some golden beets, some seasonably fresh leeks, gorgeous butternut squash, and onions.

Next I went for the sulfite-free organic and eco-friendly wine. I surveyed my options at my local Whole Foods before deciding on a cabernet sauvignon from Frey Vineyards in Mendocino, CA, and a zinfindel from La Rocca Vineyards in Forest Ranch, CA, that the wine expert at Whole Foods was nice enough to pull out of the stock room as it hadn’t hit shelves yet.

I lugged my local loot home and set off to create a simple, elegant vegetable dish. In an effort to preserve the original flavor of the vegetables, I simply cut them up into decent sized pieces (halved the brussels sprouts) and lightly coated them in olive oil, salt, and pepper. I tossed them in a baking pan and drizzled them with balsamic vinegar for a finishing touch. The vegetables roasted at 375 for 30 mins (until brown), and I had an easy dish that was definitely a crowd pleaser. Equally pleasing were the organic wines I purchased! My family raved about their flavor and noted their touch of sweetness.

After such a successful run at introducing my wine-obsessed family to eco-friendly wines, I wanted to learn more. If you’re unfamiliar with organic wines, Practically Green’s “Drink eco-friendly wine” action is a great place to start. I also got in touch with Katrina Frey, director of sales and marketing at Frey Vineyards, a truly family run vineyard. First, I wanted to know why more wineries don’t make their wine without sulfites:

To make a wine without sulfites requires some extra steps. We have to have everything in the winery very clean, and the way that we do that is we have a big industrial steam cleaner where we steam all of the hoses and tanks and barrels. It’s similar to how you would approach making beer. Sulfites make the wine maker’s job easier. When you go to a typical class in oenology, the study of wine making, they tell you that you can’t make a wine without sulfites, because it won’t last, but we beg to differ. We just celebrated our 30th anniversary, so we’ve been doing this for quite a while. Our red wines age from 5-8 years. Our white wines are a little more delicate, and we suggest that they be drunk within a year. Our 2009 petit syrah just won a gold medal at the Mendocino County wine competition, it was the only petit syrah awarded a gold, and it was made origanically without sulfites.

What are some common misconceptions about organic wines that consumers have?

Some consumers are told that all wines contain sulfites, and that is not an accurate statement. There can be a small amount of naturally occurring sulfites in a sulfite free wine, but those are different than the synthetic sulfites that conventional wine makers add to their wine. For example, a naturally occurring sulfite is chemically bound. An egg has 6 parts per million naturally occurring sulfites, and broccoli has 12 parts per million naturally occurring sulfites. Because they’re chemically bound, they don’t react in your body and give you the unpleasant side effects that people who are sensitive to sulfites get, such as headaches. 85 percent of our wines test out at no detectable sulfites.

We invite more wine makers to start doing research on making wines without sulfites. A Lot of conventional wine makers say it can’t be done, but when you talk to them, they’ve never really tried it. With the best of modern wine making techniques it certainly can be done, and our goal is to make a pure natural wine that is minimally manipulated.

Get PG points for drinking eco-friendly wine, and for recycling your corks!

Today's blog post by Leah Luchetti

Obsessions: For some people, it’s chocolate. For others, Corvettes. Personally? I’m obsessed with stationery. I love writing letters. And I adhere to the old-fashioned practice of writing a proper thank-you note on nice stationery — not just zipping off an email.

Until now.

Look! I just made a note for you! Click here:

http://www.paperlesspost.com/events/335460-b817a897/guests/9409459-61344003/card

It’s one of those Necessity-is-the-Mother-of-Invention stories. A social college guy named James was preparing to throw his 21^st birthday party. He was all set. He’d arranged the venue, the drinks, the menu. He had the invite list. He had his date. However, like most people his age, James had no earthly idea what his friends’ snail-mail addresses were; nor did he relish the idea of getting that list together. But James knew all of their e-mail addresses, of course.

So he and his sister Alexa collaborated to offer really nice stationery — customizable and elegant – but e-mailable, efficient, and cost-effective. Paperless Post was born in April 2009, and it’s been booming ever since.

Remember the days when everyone communicated using paper and ink? Correspondence was a craft: personal, and intentional.

At Paperless Post, we seek to redefine the tradition of paper stationery so that people can send custom, personalized invitations and announcements with the same thought and care as previous generations, but the way we communicate today: online.

Paperless Post stationery is as tasteful as its tangible counterpart, but it also makes life simpler. In minutes, members can send out invitations for any occasion- dinner parties, anniversaries, save the dates – whenever they want to send something more personal than a simple email or awkward PDF. After sending, they can then monitor as guests receive and reply to their invitations.

Last year, Paperless Post sent out about one million holiday cards, and they’re gearing up for millions more this year. James and Alexa think this is especially appealing for busy moms:

The Holidays are busy enough without having to think about the time-consuming process of sending offline Holiday cards to all of your friends and family. Paperless Post makes is easy to send Holiday easily cheer without sacrificing style and design.

In general, people really love the instant feedback they get from Paperless Post which is something that they don’t get from paper mail. With Holiday Cards, we found that users really loved getting 50 immediate responses from friends and family all over the world. That’s something that just wasn’t part of the tradition of sending Holiday cards before and now it can be.

Here’s one of our favorite Hallowe’en invitations:  

The Holiday snowmen benefit City Harvest, a non-profit that gets food to hungry New Yorkers.

Star Photo Card

Snowmen from City Harvest

Weddings, birth announcements, save the date, bar mitzvah, baby showers, change of address, they’re all covered.

We asked James and Alexa if they’ve ever calculated how much CO2 (and $$!) a Paperless Post customer might save by, say, doing their entire wedding this way; or by sending 500 Christmas cards this way instead of via snail mail?

Yes! By using Paperless Post you save a ton of money on postage alone! It costs $30 for 600 Paperless Post Stamps (1 stamp sends one piece of Paperless mail) compared to the $264 that 600 USPS stamps cost. In terms of saving trees, every 1000 cards sent on Paperless Post saves a tree.

http://www.paperlesspost.com/

RSVP and let us know what you think.

Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff is not into guilt; she’s into information. She’s not about forcing you to change; she’s about giving you alternatives. “Because everyone wants to make a difference, but no one wants to give up the little things that we love. Making a difference doesn’t have to mean making a huge change in your lifestyle. Sometimes it just means considering the alternatives.”

Rachel grew up going to pow wows – the real-live kind. “My dad is a Native-American studies professor at UCLA, and I had more exposure to environmentally conscientious options than most people typically do. I thought of myself as pretty green, but in fact I was still cleaning house with chemical cleaners, and using nail polish and lipstick that had bad stuff in them.” For years, Rachel wrote about fashion and beauty for publications like Women’s Wear Daily and Self. When she was pregnant with her third child, she had a second look at the products she’d been using:

I realized there were so many more amazing options: Lipstick without lead? Mascara without mercury? Organic cotton? Upcycled clothes? The light bulb went off. Here was the truly revolutionary fashion and beauty that I’d been waiting for. These products really were doing something different: They worked, without any side effects on me, or the Earth.

Rachel wanted to write about it, so she created EcoStiletto: “eco-friendly solutions for an ecoista shopaholic.” And today she has 30,000 subscribers.

“The Big List of Things that Suck” is one of her favorite features on the site. “I was beginning to repeat myself, telling why organic cotton is so important, so rather than repeat myself, I started a list. And I invented words, like Sustainabully. The list is intended to make you laugh and think a little bit, not necessarily in that order.

(That’s Sustainabully as in, “I might use biodegradable toilet cleaner, but I’m not about to deny my kids the occasional restaurant hamburger and fries—though I can’t help reminding them what factory farming is doing to the planet. I live by example, but I’m not a sustainabully.”)

By now, Rachel’s List is enormous. She guesses it might run 40 pages if you printed it out. Luckily, it’s arranged alphabetically.

Here’s MICROWAVING IN PLASTIC, for example:

Please don’t microwave food in plastic containers. Yes, it’s quick and easy, but it also speeds up the migration of cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting BPA chemicals into your food. Yummy.

Where to find it: TV dinners; lazy cooks.

Suck less: Glass or dishware is safest for storing and heating food. See BPA.

Rachel’s great on translating pithy environmental definitions for a growing audience that’s interested in green but not interested in sacrificing verve to get there:

Going shopping? Before you hit the mall think about this: The average American generates 11.8 million tons of textile waste—10 pounds for every person—every year. That’s four million tons of solid waste every year, or four percent of the content of our landfills, just from the clothes we throw out!

Bottom line: if you like your green info served up with cosmetic swagger, celebrity interviews, and shoe give-aways, EcoStilleto has some fantastic information with attitude. Perfect for an ecoista shopaholic.

Typical giveaway: Cri de Coeur shoes, made of vegan materials

Follow EcoStilleto on Twitter @ecostilettor

Join them on Facebook

Read Rachel’s new site, MommyGreenest, about her life raising three kids.

News Picks:

National Costume Swap Day: Do you cringe every time you purchase that costume your child desperately wants, knowing there’s no chance for reuse unless she dresses like a fairy for the next four years? Green Halloween is stopping this madness with National Costume Swap Day, October 9th. Check online for an official swap site near you.

Exercise your right to line dry: Project Laundry List is on a mission to promote line drying and cold water washing for an easy way to save energy. Visit their website to get involved, there are tons of chapters or you can start your own. Once you’ve done your part, get PG points for line drying your laundry.

The Whole Deal: Whole Foods Market has always been known for having organics, but also been known for being expensive. We think they’re finally catching onto this, because in this month’s issue of their “Whole Deal”, they have tons of coupons, money saving recipes, and meal plans, even a “veggie Monday.” Maybe we’ll stop calling it “Whole Paycheck?” Get PG points for participating in Meatless Monday.

Multi-Media Pick:

Healthy eating with a hands-on approach: This is a great video about a D.C. public school that is taking a pro-active stance on healthy eating, by bringing the children in the garden to explain how to eat healthy, and why. The children also get a chance to appreciate and recognize real food in an outdoor environment. Education, heathy eating, and outdoors in one program? Sign us up!

New and Cool Pick:

Jazz up your jack-o-lantern: Though Halloween is weeks away, get a head start on decorating, and you can enjoy it for the weeks to come. Here you will find 32 creative ways to decorate your pumpkin. You can paint, dress, etch, adorn, and of course, carve your pumpkin into a masterpiece. It’s also a fun activity for the family to do together!

How would you like to have your life organized into these four categories: Healthy, Happy, Caring, and Yummy?

That’s the way Kiwi’s Editorial Director Sarah Smith looks at life. Sarah arrived at Kiwi in May, 2009, and since then she’s been working magic on Kiwi: in the magazine, on the website, and the digital edition.

There’s a young chef’s competition, a book club, and a kid-oriented area with games where young authors can be published, discounts & coupons. Kiwi also runs Moms Meet, where moms can discuss information and sample new products. There’s a sister site called MyHealthySchool.com, which “provides teachers, administrators and parents with action plans for creating greener, healthier, more socially responsible schools and children.” And all of this is dedicated to helping “everyday regular people feel good about the natural and organic choices they make in their lives,” without judgment, easily and enjoyably.

KIWI is dedicated to helping parents raise their children the healthiest way possible. Our charge is to introduce families to the latest in natural and organic living—showing how to practice this lifestyle on an everyday basis.

We know that achieving the right balance between the real world and the ideal world is often difficult. Our lives are busy and our family’s schedules are often simply out of our control. So, our mission is to help you make the best choices, with the best information available, in the shortest amount of time.

Sarah’s view is that little steps make all the difference: “Readers ask, ‘Do I have to be doing these things 100% of the time? What if my child had a cookie for breakfast?’ Don’t stress! Get back to the whole grains tomorrow! I want to help people find things they’d love to do, and I want to help them not feel guilty about the things they’re not doing! Instead, think: ‘I did a lot!’”

Kiwi already has about 250,000 subscribers, but we thought it was worth spreading the word in case you haven’t seen it yet. We asked Sarah to tour us through the October/November issue, which hit newsstands this week.

“I especially love this issue,” she says. “First we have a healthier version of Thanksgiving food. Making Thanksgiving side dishes healthier. So we have four great recipes, stuffing, tips on using brown sugar instead of white sugar. We happen to have a staff writer who’s a great cook, and she developed all the recipes.”

The toxins feature translates well to the MomsMeet format. “This piece is about powerful toxins that can affect children’s cognitive health – lead, pesticides, food color. It’s how you find real-life ways to get rid of these and deal with them. I don’t think it’s scary, at least I hope it’s not; it’s meant to be informative.”

“Then we have a Halloween feature, of course. It’s organized into three sections: costumes, crafts, and treats.” Kiwi is teaming up with GreenHalloween.org, a mother-daughter team: “it was their idea to have one day and call it National Costume Swap Day, on October 9^th. It’s a grass-roots effort.” Good Morning America included this clip about the Costume Swap.

In every issue: recipes, Facebook comments, experts, crafts, a pithy essay – even the ads are interesting.

Our rating? Five stars: Go Kiwi!

Follow Kiwi on Twitter @KiwiMagazine and on Facebook.

Follow MomsMeet on Twitter @momsmeet and join them on Facebook.

Ivette Melendez is a Green Cleaning Authority: when she talks about the advantages of eco-friendly cleaning products, people listen. Several hundreds of women have listened to Ivette during the past fifteen years since she joined WAGES, aka Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security. WAGES is a San Francisco-based non-profit that helps women — mainly Latina immigrants — form house-cleaning cooperatives. Thanks to WAGES, hundreds of women make a sustainable living, and 2,000 Bay Area client homes are sparkly clean.

Part of the training is specific technique, Ivette says. “For example, the campanas, or the hood on a stove, is difficult to clean. You have to have strong arms to reach up there, and the products that you would usually have to clean all that grease are toxic. They’re dripping down on the worker, into the eyes. We have a very simple solution: a small stepladder. That little step makes all the difference. And of course, we use eco-friendly cleaning products.”

Ivette says she’s a fan of Seventh Generation’s All-Purpose Cleaner because “it helps with grease, dust, and shine – one product does three things! We can avoid many steps. Another great one is the tub & tile cleaner, and it  sometimes works better when the surface is dry, not wet. Try to use only a little bit of water. See! It’s healthy, it saves energy and saves water too!”

“Let’s talk about bathrooms,” she says. “Often people are using Ajax and Clorox to clean a bathroom. Both of these are dangerous, and when they are combined, they’re really bad. They can burn, like a gas. So we avoid that situation.”

While simple ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, and water can clean well, Ivette says her dream cleaning products are those made by companies like Seventh Generation, Dr. Bronner, and Bon Ami. “We avoid products that make lots of bubbles, and we avoid products with colors. In general, they’re toxic,” she explains. Ivette says her trainees are often skeptical of the green cleaning supplies: They have strong smell attachments to other products — but by day seven of the training, our socia, she’s hooked.”

At this writing, WAGES has incubated and sustained “four thriving cooperatives of women who deliver high-quality eco-friendly housecleaning to over 2,000 Bay Area households every year.” Executive Director Hilary Abell says three more eco-friendly cleaning cooperatives are planned.

WAGES serves hundreds of women each year through co-op member trainings, peer leadership programs, and community workshops. Women who complete WAGES’ 100+ hour Co-op Founder Training or 50+ hour New Member Training programs become worker-owners in successful cooperative businesses. And the impact is powerful!

Every co-op member:

• Earns fair pay – household incomes have increased by more than 50%.

• Shares business profits – co-op equity is an asset for members’ families.

• Visits her doctors – the co-ops provide health insurance and other benefits.

• Protects the environment – 2000 Bay Area households use our green cleaning services each year.
 
Each woman who empowers herself shares the benefits with her family and her community, creating a ripple effect locally and beyond. Through community workshops, WAGES’ trainers and co-op members educate other Latinas about environmental issues and green cleaning. Women learn how to avoid toxic chemicals that can be harmful to them, their children and the earth. WAGES also provides advice and information to dozens of organizations every year.

Ivette’s reaction to the Practically Green quiz? “Great!” she says. “So much great information. And, it’s beautiful.”

Thanks!

For more ideas on how to use healthy cleaning products, and to make positive changes at your house, check Practically Green! Actions include: Switch to all-natural all-purpose cleanser, Switch to all-natural tile & tub cleanser – and many more. Complete 7 actions to win the Green Kitchen badge, which rewards you for saving energy, reducing waste, and using all-natural cleaning products. Actions can be simple — e.g. using fewer paper towels, or switching from paper napkins to cloth — or they can be higher-impact, such as upgrading your kitchen appliances.

I started vegetable gardening this year and it has not been the smoothest or easiest or most productive activity (more on that later).  But for the first time ever, my flower containers are actually looking pretty good!  Except now it’s October.  I’m realizing I have no idea what do with my containers.  What can I keep (if anything)? What won’t survive these already cold nights?

Fortunately, I had a chance to meet Kerry Michaels through a friend.  Kerry is a long-time media professional, writer, and amazing photographer.  But she is also About.com’s Guide for container gardening, which makes her just about the smartest person I know on this topic. She directed me to a whole page of tips about fall and winter containers which was extremely helpful, but then I found the motherlode of inspiration—her fall container photo collection.  As a professional photographer, Kerry’s photos are amazing although her work with container gardens is equally so.  The combination, as a result, is better than any magazine or catalog plus it explains in detail how to do many of the containers.  Here is just a taste of the gallery.

I just loved the name on this one, “Snapdragons that look like candy corn”.

And try looking at this pumpkin planter and not getting a huge burst of joyful energy!

She also has posts on Beyond Mums and a whole section on vegetables in containers (I can see what I’ll be reading next year!)  Try your own and not only will you end up with a beautiful container, but add some herbs or veggies and you can earn 10 points for planting a container on Practically Green.

Have a Fall container garden?  We’d love to see your ideas and pics!

Sean Lucey

We met Sean Lucey a few weeks ago when the EcoAware Moms report came out; he’s the Brand Development Leader at EcoFocus Worldwide, and we called him to find out more about this benchmark study. We’ll devote a future post to the portentous findings of this research project, which asked 4,500 mainstream consumers about everyday products; here’s a bottom-line statement:

Mainstream consumers are starting to wonder why toothpaste is in a tube inside a box, and why packaging for plant-based cleaning products often doesn’t align to the purity of the contents. They are unsure of whether local or organic is the better choice, or if recycled paperboard can be recycled again. They are looking for help from retailers, manufacturers, and service providers to find and make better choices to meet their personal eco-friendly lifestyle goals and aspirations.

In the United States, the EcoAware Moms market includes:

** more than 51 million women

** 69% of Moms

** has more than $1.45 trillion in buying power

Of course we were curious to know how Sean liked Practically Green. “Love” is his word. He says he scored a 7 on the ‘How Green am I?’ Quiz, so he’s “Adventurously Green.”

Just this past weekend when our clothes washer kicked-the-bucket, I did a ton of research and, after learning about all the water and energy that can be saved, I bought a front- loading HE [high-efficiency] washing machine.  In the past, a washer would have been a purchase based on quality of the product.  This time it was multi-pronged as it has to perform well, but that performance now needs to be environmentally friendly also. Also, when I was at the store, I bought a 12-pack of dish towels that are re-usable. Instructions to my wife: please NO MORE paper towels on the kids!  Living in Florida and being outside all the time means more dirt, more often!  Low-flow shower head…not yet!  I prefer to take the full-speed shower and just be quicker!

Next – reduce red meat consumption…I had NO idea how much impact the beef industry has on the environment!

As a result of all this eco-awareness, Sean wrote the following story with further thoughts on his young family’s lifestyle. We had fun reading it and hope you will too!

Sean Junior and Baby Liam

On July 28, 2010 my second son, Liam Mason, was born, and the whole eco-green thing suddenly became much more personal.  Along with the countless nights without sleep and droves of family members parading in, through and out of our home, I become an EcoAware Dad!

After about two weeks…I realized…I was taking a completely filled trash bag out to the big black city barrel at least once a day. Even worse, it was jammed full. Those sporty Flintstone tires would be getting a workout this week!

How can a family use that much trash in one day?  Diapers, paper plates, toiletries, empty boxes… and my one major pet peeve – my wife’s Zephyr Hills Spring water bottles.  Of course this was not “life as usual,” but I began thinking about which things could and should be recycled, and what really belonged in the trash. And about what different product choices we could be making to cut back on this disposable avalanche.

Other thoughts also started popping up.  As I played “you turn the water off – I’ll turn it back on” with my 18 month son when we brushed our teeth, I thought… someone would have LOVED to have been given that wasted water as a cool and refreshing drink.  I think I just heard my Mother’s voice from the past… ”Someone is starving in India and you want to throw those delicious lima beans away?”

What I realized, of course, is that it’s easy to talk about being green and eco-conscious, but that as a parent it’s part of my job to make sure my boys grow up with a clear and concise picture of what a good citizenship of this Earth should be.  Time to walk the talk and make sure I am using my awareness to discover and create teaching moments.

Here’s hoping Sean and his wife go for the new Natural Baby Badge! (Or maybe, Sean, the Date Night Badge is a better bet for right now….)

News Picks:

When told to eat their veggies, Americans order fries: This is a topic that has been trending in the health community lately. (The New York Times, PoliticsDaily and Life360 to name a few.) The concern? Despite several efforts such as health initiatives, strict dietary guidelines, and the baby-carrot campaign we told you about last week, only 26% of adults are eating veggies three or more times a day. Encourage your friends and family to not be part of this statistic!

It’s not just the New York Jets field that’s green: The NY Jets recently installed the largest solar-powered system in the NFL, drastically reducing the stadium’s CO2 emissions. Another way to green your football season!

Riding pretty: For those of you PG’ers who think of unflattering spandex shorts in obnoxious colors and drab tennis shoes for bicycle-wear, you may reconsider. This article speaks of how bicycles have become a very chic mode of transportation, and just because you may sweat a little doesn’t you cant wear your favorite jeans and wedge heels. We love how some cities and towns are making it easy for people to adopt biking as their main mode of transportation — and now commuter bikers can look fab, too!

Multi-Media Pick:

Mini aces of cakes: These pint-sized bakers are too cute for words. Kids from KIWI magazine’s 2010 Next Great Young Chef contest appeared on the Nate Berkus show to show off their recipes. The contest winner is featured below: Lily Phipps with her “monkey business chocolate rice pudding” that includes bananas and organic chocolate.

New and Cool Pick:

A new way to be prepared: This Emergency Bra, which doubles as a gas mask to filter out harmful airborn pollutants may seem a bit extreme, but the creator was inspired by his own experience with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. The bra can be used as an everyday bra, a nursing bra, a strapless bra, and two face masks, and also won the 2009 lg Nobel Public Health Prize.