Green Girl Advice: Do Halloween Green!

Want to celebrate Halloween the Green Girl way? It’s simple!

Here are our fabulous tips for celebrating a happy and eco-friendly Halloween:
- Purchase organic, earth-friendly treats to pass out to trick-or-treaters.
- Make a homemade costume out of outfits and materials you already own.
- Purchasing a store-bought costume? Don’t feel the pressure to dress the way your friends want you to dress; don’t follow the crowd. Instead, be whoever you want to be and dress however you want to dress—that’s the whole point of Halloween anyway! (see our previous post on Halloween Costume Drama)
- Leaving the house for the night? Turn off all the lights and unplug your electrics.
- Use a reusable bag or container for trick-or-treating. Skip the plastic bags—they end up in a landfill after you use them, and pollute the earth.
- Carve a pumpkin. Then, use the seeds and innards to make delicious pumpkin dishes.
- Create a spooky atmosphere for your visitors with earth-friendly candles. Try all-natural soy candles.
- Throw a green Halloween party!

Get Green Girl wants to know:

How do you celebrate Halloween green? Share your stories and tips!

Green Girl Eats: Halloween's Tricky Treats

In honor of Halloween, let’s talk about tricks and treats….well actually, let’s talk about the hidden tricks within treats.

As most of you know, candy is best consumed in moderation (only once in awhile). Here’s why:

- Candy is high in white sugar—a highly refined product. A refined product undergoes various chemical processes to remove all original and healthy nutrients.
- Candy has no nutrient-value; it is “empty calories.”
- Sugar consumption affects the following organs: spleen-pancreas, stomach, kidney, and liver.
- Sugar passes quickly into the bloodstream and in doing so, shocks and weakens the digestive system resulting in blood sugar imbalances that create cravings for more sugar.
- Refined sugar consumption is linked to all contemporary degenerative health problems, including (but not limited to) weight gain issues and chronic diseases.

Even sugar-free candies can be harmful to your health; these types of candies contain man-made artificial sweeteners (sugar substitutes): aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose. There is much medical evidence that supports the dangers of artificial sweeteners. Read this.

But don’t fret Green Girls—you can still participate in all of the treat-eating this holiday season and still feel good about your choices.

Below is a list of all-natural candy-product alternatives to satisfy your sweet tooth this Halloween:
(I have tasted all of these products, and as a person with a HUGE sweet tooth, I highly-recommend these treats to anyone and everyone)

- Instead of a Hershey Chocolate Bar, try a Dagoba Chocolate Bar
- Instead of gummy worms, enjoy a bag of Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks
- Instead of chocolate covered raisins, make a bag of trail mix with Tropical Source Chocolate Chips and organic raisins
- Instead of Oreos or Chips Ahoy, try the Late July or Newman’s Own line of cookies
- Instead of a Snickers bar or any other bar with nuts, choose a Clif bar in your flavor of choice

Happy Halloween!

Get Green Girl wants to know:
How do you snack healthfully everyday? Have any tips for satisfying a sweet tooth with natural sweets? Share your tips and secrets!

Green Girl Advice: Halloween Costume Drama

Halloween--a night where you can be virtually anyone you want to be. But let’s face it: most of us end up dressing just like the others.

Case in point:
My 23-year-old cousin is not one to follow the crowd. She’s a hairdresser with a cool style and a confident swagger (yea I said it). Last year she attended a Halloween party with her boyfriend, and she dressed as Charlie Chaplin, moustache and all.

When she walked into the party, her excitement over her costume turned to shear embarrassment. Every girl at the party was wearing one of those sexy costumes; you know, the mini, oh-so-revealing versions of regular Halloween costumes.

So instead of enjoying herself at this Monster Mash Bash, she spent the whole time dodging glares and hanging out in the corner by herself.

This year, she’s decided to forgo her creativity to dress just like the other girls. That way, she says, she’ll “avoid another mortifying experience.”

Here’s another example. You’ll remember this scene from the movie Mean Girls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYIe3t9CK54&feature=related
---
I remember being very stressed out over Halloween costume shopping during my teen years. One year, I wanted to be this version of Alice In Wonderland. But my friends pressured me into buying this costume.

To this day, that Alice in Wonderland outfit is still in its package, tucked into the bottom, far part of my dresser drawer. I never wore the outfit! And I missed out on Halloween with my friends simply because I didn’t feel comfortable wearing a sexy costume. I didn’t even consider that maybe I could just wear something else, something I’d feel more comfortable in.

Here’s what I’m trying to say: be whoever/whatever you want to be this Halloween (that’s the whole point of it anyway!). Don’t let your friends or your favorite fashion magazines tell you what to wear! You have to feel comfortable in your costume, whether it’s a sexy Arabian-girl two-piece OR a hefty, multi-layered Santa Claus Suit.
--
Get Green Girl wants to know:
Girls, do you ever feel pressured to dress a certain way during Halloween? Have you ever chosen a costume for the mere purpose of fitting in? Tell us your story!