Celebrate Green GIVEAWAY

This giveaway has ended! Thanks to all that entered!! Congrats to Emily :) 

Mkokopelli's submission to Healthy Child, Healthy World Recommended Books

Hope everyone had fun at their local costume swap yesterday! The Charlotte swap was awesome!! I was so impressed with all of the costumes. Here are a few pictures of the swap:

In 2007, Corey Colwell-Lipson began the Green Halloween movement. In 2010, she began the National Costume Swap with the help of some amazing partners!! In addition to beginning Green Halloween, Corey co-authored Celebrate Green with her mom Lynn Colwell. 

Celebrate Green-Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions for the Whole Family, is an amazing book about putting the green into your holidays! The book is divided into seasons, with a fabulous intro- The Seed, Green Holidays 101, and a Year 'Round Celebrations chapter that includes baby showers, graduation, birthday parties and so much more. This book truly has it all- and then some!

Autumn is my favorite season and Halloween has always been my favorite holiday... that is until I became more eco-conscious. I feel incredibly guilty allowing E to trick or treat, then taking away most of her candy- not to mention avoiding the decor and plastic costumes. But thanks for Celebrate Green, I have learned some amazing tips to put the fun back into the holiday! I love some of the recommendations they have for handing out treats and treasures: honey sticks, organic fruit leather, organic raisins, recycled pencils, seed packets, sea glass, yarn bracelets, cookie cutters, play dough, crayons. You can see more ideas on their blog if you aren't able to get their book in time! They have so many ideas for parties, costumes, decor, and more. 

I also LOVE the Thanksgiving excerpt!! Besides Christmas, Thanksgiving is a huge family holiday that brings everyone together. Which can be kind of tricky if one family member is "green" and others aren't. Celebrate Green offers tons of ideas on how to be sneaky without stepping on anyones toes, ways to eat green, plus money saving tips, recipes, mind blowing stats, and more! 

Throughout the book you can find:

• How to keep traditions alive without killing the planet
• Where to find the best green gift ideas
• How to decorate like the pros without breaking the bank
• Six essential guidelines for planning any celebration
• How you can celebrate green on no money at all
• Turning activities, games, recipes and more, green

Check out Celebrate Green's website for other great tips, blog articles, activities, BUY the book, and some other neat stuff to make your world "greener!" Also, they are having 31 days of green giveaways going on- so be sure comment each day on the Green Halloween blog!

I was able to do a Q&A earlier this year with Lynn Colwell and I wanted to share since she (and Corey) are such amazing people. Below is your chance to win a copy of Celebrate Green!! 

Q. How did Celebrate Green begin?

A. It all started when Corey was taking her kids around for Halloween six years ago. She and the other moms were amazed that the children loved stickers and bubbles even more than candy. It occurred to her that maybe there was an opportunity to make Halloween a bit healthier for kids and the planet. This was the germ of the idea for Green Halloween, a nationwide initiative that last year replaced 1 million units of conventional candy with healthier alternatives at events around the U.S. Right after the first Green Halloween, we were asked to write a book. The title, Celebrate Green! so aptly represented all we want to do to inspire celebrations are better for people and the planet.

Q. Why is it important to "green" holidays?

A. When we started some people said, Hey, it's my birthday, once a year. What difference does it make? And if we only celebrated once a year, maybe there wouldn't be an issue. But we don't and there is.

Take the biggies—Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and a half dozen more, then add special events like birthdays, weddings, family reunions, office parties, baby showers—you get the picture. Millions of people celebrating dozens of times a year. That adds up to a lot of waste!

Q. What is the best "green" party planning tip you've used?

A.  Stop, think and plan. A big problem is that with our busy lives, we tend to run on autopilot. When we do this we don't take the time to think through better ways to celebrate. Many people want to save money, but they don't think about the fact not buying paper goods for a child's birthday party saves money and time. They just do it because they always have.

Change isn't easy for most of us, but when we stop for a few minutes, think about what want to change, then plan it, it's amazing how much easier it becomes.

Q. What are your favorite holidays?

A.  Lynn is a holiday freak, loves them all! I just love the idea of celebrating, getting together with family and friends and having fun. Over the last ten years I've especially enjoyed my birthday because we celebrate with a chili cook off plus lots of silly games. We've got people of every age laughing and playing together. Corey is a fan of Thanksgiving because family is so important to her. She really likes the fact there is no gift giving involved! 

Q. When researching for the book, what was the most alarming fact you learned?

A. Oh my gosh, there were a lot, but one of the most significant was the waste associated with plastic bottles. Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. And according to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. Actually before we wrote the book I'm (Lynn) ashamed to admit that I didn't know that plastic was produced from oil!

Q. How do you suggest convincing family members to help "green" holidays?

A. We suggest not trying to convince anyone. We've found modeling behaviors is the best route, while trying to "talk someone into change," rarely works. Don't make a big deal of it. Just try one or two ideas from the book and see what happens. Of course if someone asks you why you're sending leftovers home in glass jars instead of plastic, or why you chose an organic turkey for Thanksgiving, you can answer—after they compliment you on how great it tastes!

GIVEAWAY: One lucky winner will receive a copy of Celebrate Green

If the Rafflecopter widget doesn't show up- click on the link to the giveaway. It will be there! Sorry for any troubles!

*disclaimer- I was sent a review copy free of charge. This in no way changes my views- these are my thoughts, opinions, and results.