Going for a Greener Halloween?

Every major holiday is a good time to think about how you can go a little greener. You just have to look at all the consumption encouraged at such times. Just think about how much simpler Halloween was in the past.

Now stores are selling more and more elaborate decorations for Halloween, lights and so forth. It’s quite a switch from the decorations we used when I was growing up.

I’m still prone to buying the usual candies to hand out… it’s once a year, and my budget really doesn’t allow for organic treats.

But as I’ve posted in the past, I’m a fan of homemade and/or reusable costumes. If I can make it, especially with supplies on hand or minimal purchases, I’d rather do that than buy a costume at the store knowing that several other kids will doubtless be wearing the same thing as mine in that case.

One of my other favorite tips is to just use a pillowcase to hold treats, rather than buying a bucket or bag for them, no matter how reusable. Certainly you can get some great themed ones if you buy a bucket or bag, but it makes so much more sense to me to just grab a pillowcase.

When I was a kid, my mom cut bats out of black construction paper. Those decorations lasted for years! She also made gravestones out of some styrofoam she had gotten someplace or other. I think it was from something shipped to her work. They’re still in her garage and get reused most years.

My husband and I do have some decorations we’ve bought in the store. Not a lot; we don’t go all out in Halloween decorations. But we don’t go buying new often, or really even over the past couple years. Saves a lot of money that way, not to mention waste.

For costumes, homemade is my own favorite, but thrift stores can be good too… if they aren’t sold out already. That’s also a nice way to get dressup clothes for kids into that.

As with many things, I think the simplest way to go green is to just go simple. Make do with what you have. There’s a reason why reduce and reuse are so very important!

Cough & Cold Medication Makers Getting it Right

I like to see concessions like this. Drug companies have conceded that children under 4 should not be given any kinds of cough or cold medications.

Pediatricians have been saying this for a while now.

It’s been pretty clearly shown that these medications don’t do much, if anything, for children that young. Pediatricians would like it banned under age 6, so this is just a start. About 7000 children a year go to the emergency room due to reactions to or misuse of cold medications.

A warning is also to be added that using antihistamines to make a child sleepy is not an appropriate use.

I’ve had the worst time convincing my husband to lay off buying the children cold medications when they get sick. He sees them and forgets everything I’ve told him and had him read about how ineffective they are for children as young as ours. I’m willing to give Tylenol for fevers as appropriate, but overall I just don’t like giving medications.

Instead, I like humidifiers if the breathing is uncomfortable. A cool cloth on the forehead can make a feverish child feel somewhat better too. Even just playing in a lukewarm bath really helps a lot. A friend of mine taught me that tea tree oil can really help with congestion, but even though I have it in the cabinet I keep forgetting it when cold season rolls around.

It really all comes down to using your common sense as a parent. Most colds don’t need a medication to make the child feel better; you can do far better by taking other measures for comfort. Don’t go beyond what the labeling says when you do give medicine, and keep all medications, natural, over the counter and prescription, out of the reach of children.

Are You Registered to Vote? Why Not?

This year’s Presidential election is hugely important. I have my own opinions on who to vote for, but I’m not going to try to get you to vote my way just now. What I want to see is more participation.

Besides, I’m trying to be green. You can probably guess which side I lean towards anyhow.

If you haven’t already, take this video. Share it with others. Post it on your blog. And make sure you register to vote! Google is offering a great tool to help you figure out how to get started.

Why Not Try to Eat Less Meat?

Cutting back meat consumption can be a difficult thing to do, at least in the United States. Eating meat is so much a part of how I was raised that it’s really hard to break the habit or slow it down. But there are a lot of good reasons to do so.

1. Better for your grocery bill.

This is a reason that many of us can get on board with these days. Beans, lentils, brown rice, barley and so forth cost much less than meat and are great sources of protein. They’re also nicely filling. All you have to do is learn to cook them in ways you enjoy.

2. Better for the environment.

Another great reason, even if it’s less of a motivator for many people who are far more concerned with their budget. Grains have a much lower environmental impact than meat. Animals eat a lot of grain, but the amount of meat you get from them is much less.

You will also significantly cut your carbon footprint. Meat production overall is very hard on the environment.

3. Less handling of raw meat.

While the big salmonella stories recently have related to foods such as spinach, the mishandling of raw meat is a very common source of food poisoning. Just think of how quickly you reach the ‘use by’ date of any meats you buy, versus how long grains last. A part of the food poisoning risk with meat is how fast germs can grow in it.

4. How many farm animals are treated.

If the ethics worry you, then the treatment of farm animals is a big deal. There are farms that treat their animals far better than the factory farms that produce the more affordable meats. And of course there are all the hormones and antibiotics used on factory farm animals.

5. It can be healthier.

This one really depends on you. It’s possible to eat unhealthy without meat, but if you’re trying to eat well and eat less meat, it’s pretty healthy. You’ll probably have less fat in your diet, for one thing. You can cut the odds of getting many health problems simply by eating less meat. It’s not a guarantee, just lower odds.

If you want to cut back on meat but still like to have it every day, just work on how you serve it. Go heavy on the vegetables when you stir fry, for example. I’ve found chopping the meat into pieces can make it look as though there’s more on my plate as well, so I eat less of it.

You can also try just having meat no more than once a day. I enjoy vegetarian lunches many days, and just rarely take the time for any meats with breakfast. I don’t miss it most of the time.

Plan regular vegetarian dinners too. My husband isn’t much of a fan of vegetarian meals, but I have some recipes he enjoys well enough, despite his regular suggestions of meats I could add in “to make it better.” He eats them, so that’s good enough. My kids aren’t big meat eaters, so some vegetarian meals go down much faster that ones featuring meat.

It’s really not as hard as it seems to cut back on meat. Just pick steps that you are comfortable with and go from there.