Let’s Get Ready with Cedar Valley Publishing

I’m all about being green.  I realize I can’t save the entire world from its ownself, but I do feel that I can do my part in helping (and not contributing) to the growing world-wide pollution problems.

And to do my part, I decided I want a big green purse!

Do YOU have a big green purse?  Well well, let me introduce you to Diane!  She’s a wonderful woman, who is kicking some green behind and taking names!  She’s the wonder woman behind the Big Green Purse, a brand new book that you now have the inside scoop on!

Click Here for More Information on the Big Green Purse.

Diane MacEachern’s message is simple but revolutionary. If women change the way they spend their money, they can help solve the environmental crisis – and protect themselves and their families, too. Why women? Because women spend $.85 of every dollar in the marketplace. “Women have a whole planetful of power in their purses,” says Diane in her new book Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World (Avery/PenguinGroup USA, 978-1-58333-303-7, 03/2008, $17.95). “When they use it to buy green, they force manufacturers to make products that reduce pollution, slow global warming, and eliminate dangerous chemicals.”

And hey, since it’s *the* month for GOING GREEN, why not join Diane and myself in doing what we can do to change the world - one woman’s purse at a time!

It’s that time of year again.  We live a few miles away from an amazing pumpkin farm complete with a huge barn filled with amazing hand painted pumpkins, and outside a picture perfect setting with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes along with a corn maze, hay maze, hayride and petting zoo — we have had so many hilarious memories since we started making the trek when first born, Heidi was just a baby. 

The one thing I love most about the pumpkin farm is the absence of candy!!!  Is it me or is every year getting worse with the amount of candy taking up the aisles — it’s not just in the candy aisle anymore — it’s now in the produce section, again by the apples, by the bakery area, in big displays in the snack aisle and special large sections in front of the checkout area.  Yikes. 

Looking for a way to make the upcoming holiday season fun, safe and environmentally friendly – then you need to check out the new “Green Halloween” movement that is taking root in Seattle, thanks to Seattle area Mom Corey Colwell-Lipson…

Help Turn Halloween Green

Who says Halloween has to be unhealthy? And who says healthy can’t be fun?
Green Halloween is about making Halloween happy and healthy and about creating family traditions we can all be proud of.

Conceived by Seattle-area mom Corey Colwell-Lipson, the effort to revolutionize the way we celebrate holidays in the U.S. has begun and you can play an important role.

Starting this Halloween, we’re out to prove that holidays don’t have to be about candy and that going junk-food free can be easy, fun and affordable. We’re tackling the childhood obesity epidemic head on by working with community partners such as Whole Foods Market, Overlake Hospital, ParentMap magazine and many more to highlight new, creative, sustainable ways to celebrate the holidays, starting with Halloween.

We’ve launched our website, www.GreenHalloween.org as a way to connect with people like you who want to improve the health of our children and our planet.
www.GreenHalloween.org  is packed with:

• Dozens of ideas of what you can give out instead of candy
• Ideas for staging a Green Halloween party
• How to get started turning your Halloween Green
• Games and an e-book for kids
• Locations of Seattle-area Green Halloween events (take part in turning the Puget Sound green through our interactive map)
  And much, much more.

Help, help, we need you! Want to join the revolution? It’s easy.

Green Halloween is a not-for-profit community effort. It will only succeed if individuals decide to join in and do something different starting this year, with this holiday. Whether it’s switching from candy to honey-sticks, turning an annual Halloween party green, or spreading the word, everyone can play a role. Here are six great places to start:

1. Forward this e-mail to everyone you know including parenting groups, green organizations, message boards, neighborhood organizations, friends, co-workers and relatives.
2. Contact us to volunteer at a Seattle-area Green Halloween event.
3. Contact us for a community-impact kit to help you turn your neighborhood (or place of work) green this Halloween.
4. Sign up for our periodic Action Alerts. We’ll keep you up to date on what we’re doing, post volunteer opportunities and ensure that you are a real part of the Green Halloween adventure.
5. Attend a Green Halloween event, especially Whole Foods Market’s Community Giving Day at the Bellevue and Roosevelt Square stores on Thursday, October 11th (this event is a fundraiser for Treeswing, our partner and a 501(c)3.)
6. Add a link to Green Halloween (www.GreenHalloween.org) from your website or blog.

Live outside of the Puget Sound but still want to get involved?  Fret not! Our website has loads of suggestions and tips on how to make your Halloween healthy and Earth-friendly, but be sure to mark you calendar for October 2008 when Green Halloween goes nation-wide.   This year, why not think outside the candy box and help create a child and Earth friendly Halloween?

Copyright 2007 - Stacey Kannenberg, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

What are your ideas for creating a Green Halloween and/or 2007 holiday season?  Are you ready to take the Green concept to a new level?