How Much Sleep Do I Really Need?
It seems this is one of those holidays that is easily rife with discardable, themed, single use items. Children easily grow out of Halloween costumes by the next year, and they’re not generally keen on visiting the neighbours with 2013’s character du jour. But it’s everything else that goes along with the late October activities that’s bothersome from an environmental perspective. What is there to be done about the individual candy bar wrappers and flimsy plastic jack-o-lantern laden table cloths? Worse yet, the chemical laden makeup brushed onto the faces of our children! Both tricks & treats fill the air, but wouldn’t you rather have the latter?
- Trick: Choose quality cosmetics rather than cheaper face paints found on every corner. Quality is reflected by price when it comes to making this decision. This is serious, we’re talking brain damage! Lead is banned from cosmetics in Canada, but if they’re made elsewhere they could very well contain all kinds of nasty ingredients.
- Treat: Host a Halloween party in your home with warm apple cider and homemade baked goodies. Check out these great kid-friendly snacks!
- Trick: Your health and that of mother nature are sacrificed when you throw a box of individually wrapped Halloween candy into your grocery cart. There really is no convenient time for diabetes to show up on the scene.
- Treat: Win best costume with a creative ensemble pieced together from thrift store finds. The environment wins too! Nobody wants a smelly PVC costume from the store anyways. Full of phthalates, they affect your childs reproductive organs and development. They grow up fast enough already, don’t they?
- Trick: Cheaply made plastic masks, costumes and decor are really only designed to last through this season once. Save yourself some cash and some landfill space! Invest in cloth napkins, classic accessories for your home and costumes so great they’ll want to wear them again. Alternatively host a costume swap party in your neighbourhood to give that awesome ghost get-up a revival!
- Treat: The best part about carving a pumpkin is roasting the seeds up as a snack! Plan your jack-o-lantern carve night as close to Halloween as you can so that they double as decor before they get soggy. Don’t forget to compost them once November rolls around!
- Bonus Treat: Ask any little one what their favourite part about Halloween is and you’re bound to get a few responses of ‘Candy!’ If you’re staying in to hand out candy on the 31st, consider what you’ll be dishing up beforehand. Organic or whole food items such as honey sticks or jerky are great alternatives to the artificially sweetened, flavoured & coloured run of the mill treat bag fillers. Rather than sweets, small eco-friendly toys, pencils or crafting supplies are sure to get a few thumbs up as well.
Happy Trick-or-Treating!
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