Healthy Halloween Treat Alternatives

In just a couple of days your kids are going to be bombarded with more candy than they even know what to do with – it’s inevitable; Halloween is upon is. But here are some good ideas for treats you can hand out that won’t rot the children’s teeth, and won’t keep them up all night with a sugar buzz.

Glowsticks make great Halloween treat ideas because not only are they a valuable safety device, but they come in all sorts of shapes and colors, and kids love them! Drop one or two of these in the children’s bags and your house won’t be egged this year!
Small flashlights make great Halloween treat ideas, too – especially those small, inexpensive keychain flashlights. Nearly all children love playing with flashlights, and again, with the safety factor involved, this is a great idea.

Inexpensive Halloween masks or make-up kits can be given out in place of candy, too. While they probably won’t get much use out of it for this year’s Halloween, they can hold onto the stuff for next year, or even use it for dress-up at some other time of the year!
And that’s just a few ideas of some of the things that you can use to replace Halloween candy. Using your own imagination, I’m sure you can come up with a lot more!

Some Halloween Safety Tips...

For kids, the most important part of Halloween is of course all of the candy you get from Trick-Or-Treating. But parents have a whole separate concern – and that is keeping their children safe while they are out at night Trick-Or-Treating. Even while accompanied by adults, accidents can happen and children can get hurt – but there a few steps you can take to minimize the risks and dangers to your child while Trick-Or-Treating.

First of all, try to avoid walking in the streets. If you have no other choice, stick to the sides of the road and if you see or hear a car, get out of the way immediately. Your kids should have glow sticks hanging around their necks at all times while Trick-Or-Treating; not only will this allow them to see a little bit better in the dark, but it will allow you and others to spot them easily, as well.

And remember as a parent to always inspect the candy your children are given before you allow them to eat it. While you don’t have to actually go through and taste test each individual piece, you should definitely take a few minutes of your time once you get home to look over every item in their candy bag. If you notice anything suspicious, throw it out – there simply is no need to take the chance.

Closer Look: Joe Biden on the environment

Well we’ve covered Barack Obama’s views on the environment, we’ve covered John McCain’s and we’ve even taken a look at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s views on the subject. Now we’ll see what the Democratic vice presidential nominee and the least popular figure of this whole race, Joe Biden has to say.

First of all, according to the Humane Society, he scored an 80% on their scorecard when it comes to animal protection. He voted yes for mercury regulations on smokestacks (and has said publicly that the EPA needs to do a better job cleaning up existing mercury deposits), and no on funding for additional forest roads. Joe Biden has also voted yes on California desert protection and EPA risk assessments, as well. He is working to end commercial whaling and illegal trading of whale meat, and he is for stronger penalties for the humans involved in animal fighting.

Overall, he is a good match for Barack Obama – just as you would expect. And even though the Democrats appear to be holding a sizeable lead over their Republican counterparts, it’s still anybody’s race – and with less than a month left until the election, we’re not going to have to wait very long to find out who is going to come out on top.

Closer Look: Sarah Palin on the environment

Because Sarah Palin is from a state like Alaska, one that is crucial on today’s environmental issues and the topic of global warming, and because she may very well be the next vice president of the United States of America (and possibly even president), her views on environmental topics are very important. Since we’ve gone over the views of both John McCain and Barack Obama, it’s now time to take a look at Sarah Palin’s views and next, we’ll see what Joe Biden has to say, too.

Sarah Palin supports off-shore drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. This is something that even John McCain is against. She has however, taken steps as the governor of Alaska to promote “green” technology in her state, and has even established a very reputable Climate Change Sub-Panel. This group will further explore their options when it comes to helping with the environment and provide “green” energy for use in homes, and states that she would like to become energy independent.

However, Governor Palin opposed protecting salmon from mining pollution, she wants to sue the U.S. government in order to get them to stop listing the polar bear as an endangered animal, and doesn’t want beluga whales on that list, either.

Please - Do not burn your leaves!

This is just a brief message from the folks here at the Green Blog:
Please, as Fall season is upon us and we will all soon be faced with the very tedious chore of raking our leaves, we just want you to remember one important thing. PLEASE DO NOT BURN YOUR LEAVES! The smoke produced from burning leaves is very thick, bad for your lungs and it is horrible for the environment as well. Not to mention the fact that burning dry leaves is a tremendous fire hazard, as well. Oh, did we mention that in most places it is illegal, too? The fines you will get cost far more than the cost to pay the neighborhood kids if you can’t do it yourself.

So always make sure to take your leaves to a designated leaf collection site or leaf dump. Most cities and towns have at least one. If yours does not, remember to always use paper bags when bagging your leaves, and leave them on your curb for the garbage man to pick up. If you have a place to bring the leaves to yourself (such as the woods behind your house, or something), you can do that too – just please do not burn your leaves!