Remember getting little UNICEF boxes on Halloween so you could trick-or-treat for both candy and donations? Well the Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF program is still going strong and has been since it was created by kids in 1950.

The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s signature campaign and often a child’s first experience with philanthropy. By Trick-or- Treating for UNICEF, thousands of kids and adults help UNICEF to provide nutrition, immunization, sanitation, access to clean water and proper education for children around the world. Last year, kids with their families, schools, corporations, and communities raised over $4.4 million and have raised more than $144 million to date.

Although the deadline to order boxes has passed (orders needed to be placed by noon today) you can still create one for your kid by using a downloadable canister wrapper at the UNICEF site. Read the rest of this entry >>

While my Halloween costumes were never particularly elaborate, I have to say that I appreciate the kids that go all-out for the holiday and get together an awesome ensemble complete with props, hair dye, face paint and the like. Well, unfortunately, parents helping their kids with their costumes are going to have to be a little bit more careful with the last item on that list (not “the like”; the one before that), as a new report states that some children’s face paints contain lead and other contaminants.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which the Environmental News Service says is “a national coalition of nonprofit health and environmental groups,” states in its reports that even some face paints labeled “non-toxic” and “hypoallergenic” contain not only lead, but “the heavy metals nickel, cobalt and chromium.” And now, the really un-fun news:

Because these metals are not listed on product labels, parents shopping for Halloween makeup have no way of knowing which products are safe. The only way to know if a cosmetic product contains lead or other heavy metals is to test the product at a laboratory, which the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics did for this report at a cost of $270.00 per sample.

So what’s a worried parent to do, if he or she wants to fulfill a child’s wish of being a tiger or what-have-you, but doesn’t want to expose said child to metals that can inhibit mental growth, even in low levels? Read the rest of this entry >>

I’ve just returned from the post office. Ostensibly, I was mailing a toner cartridge back to the manufacturer for recycling. However, as I confessed to Dave — the friend I ran into along the way — I was just using the errand as an excuse to wander around a bit. I awoke this morning with an itch to write, but it was more of an all-over tingling sensation, rather a specified spot that wanted scratching. So, I was hoping that a couple loops around the block might help narrow me in on a target. Dave’s suggestion prompted by the sticker book that his son Gus showed me, was to pen something on ghouls and vampires. Halloween? I thought, now I’m bobbing for metaphors!

But a gauntlet had been thrown down. How could I dismiss a challenge from a cohort with whom I’d shared long discussions on Thomas Pynchon and innumerable cups of rye whiskey over the course of four years together in the geographic center of Ohio? I could write volumes on the ghosts of college memories alone. Hmmm, did I just feel a bite on my neck?

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Most people love Halloween for two reasons–the costumes and the treats. Unfortunately, many of those treats use animal products and other less-than-awesome ingredients. But worry not, socially conscious eaters; I’ve compiled a list of 10 tasty treats, savory and sweet, that are vegan and perfect for the Halloween season.

Give them a go and feel free to let me know your favorite Halloween indulgence!

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10. Vegan Pumpkin Pie (from vegalicious)

This recipe sounds (and looks) amazing and it includes great pie crust directions as well!

I can’t imagine this doesn’t taste good.

Go here to the find recipes for the vegan pumpkin pie filling and a vegan pie crust and enjoy this traditional treat without any animal guilt.

*photo/pie baking by sonicwalker

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As this Halloween season’s crop of horror movies is released, I recommend skipping the sensational and the torturous and staying in with one of the films below.  Not only will they scare you but you’ll also get a little commentary about the world we live in to make you think.

Some of the films are more subtle with their messages and some are more obvious but they’re all chockfull of insights about how we can make the world a better place or how we’ve gone wrong in the past and can learn from our mistakes.

Let me know if I missed your favorite. If you want more movie recommendations, check out my list from last year of the Top Ten Films for Halloween Fun and Fear.

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10. Carrie - This film has a lot of underlying commentary about religion but I put it on the list mostly because of the film’s basic message to be nice and treat other people–even those you don’t like–with respect and decency.  All too often we treat others rudely (as my friend Elizabeth recently pointed out) and I think this is something we can all work on. It may not be the same as protesting a war, but I think that the world would genuinely be a better place if people worked a little harder on this end.

Also, the following trailer’s references to Psycho make me kind of happy as it’s my favorite film of all time! Read the rest of this entry >>

I’ve always been a big fan of making my own Halloween costumes, and I’m also a big procrastinator, so what better way to get your spooks on then cobbling together a last-minute eco-friendly costume?  Who needs all the plastic waste and boringness of store-bought costumes, when with a little ingenuity you can impress the  superhero skivvies off your Halloween date.  Gina also has some excellent costume ideas to dress for the New Depression.  So dig through your closet, your recycling bin, or a nearby thrift store, grab you canvas bag for candy and ring those doorbells!

1. Non-GMO Corn (pictured):  Borrow my idea from last year when I was an ear of corn!  Paint a strip of large-bubble wrap with non-toxic yellow paint, tape it around your torso, wear green pants and a green hoodie for the husk, and a blond wig for the silk.  Extra credit for keeping it organic with a non-GMO sign.

2. Christmas Tree:  I wish I had the pictures to share, but in college I borrowed my brother’s idea and went out as a Christmas Tree.  Real simple. Green shirt, brown pants, and a strand of energy-saving LED Christmas lights wrapped around your body.  Watch the crowd light up when you plug yourself in at the party!  I added a little extra flair and taped hand-drawn paper ornaments to my chest and a star to my forehead, but I leave the details up to you.

3. Planet Earth:  Read the rest of this entry >>

Whether you’re dressed as a zombie John McCain, an Exxon Mobil executive drowning in dollars or a devil (which could look quite similar to a certain Tina Fey character), everyone seems to love to eat candy on Halloween. And, I don’t want to rain on your parade, but Halloween provides yet another opportunity for the Social Action snapshot to promote one more cause for you to consider. A large percentage of commercially sold chocolate (think Nestle, Mars and Hersheys) is made from cacao beans harvested in West Africa by child labor. These kids work under harsh, unethical conditions for very little money. However, consumers can make an easy choice today by buying from only the sweetest chocolate companies (sweet, that is, to labor rights).

takepart Click here for this chocolate list so that you can avoid the most bitter companies and have a truly sweet Halloween!

Here’s one way to celebrate Halloween: stay up until 2:30am carving a personal pumpkin tribute to the man cobbling together our economic recovery, Hank Paulson. I can’t disappoint the neighbor kids, can I?

Funny how he turned out looking older than he does in real life. Perhaps the brain transplant aged him.

After watching a Food Network pumpkin carving competition the other night–this guy won, by the way–I thought to myself: how hard could it be? Turns out: very, very hard. This took about 5 hours all together and was done with an X-Acto knife, sculpting tools and any scrape-y thing I could lay my hands on. I was completely covered in pumpkin goo and whimpering like a Wall Street trader by the time I was done.

If you want to give it a shot yourself, takepart and have a Happy Halloween!

Whether you need something low-key to do tonight or you need some cool down activities after a weekend of fun, this list of Halloween friendly cinema is sure to have something to please your celebrating self.  They’re not the most conventional Halloween films (those are all on TV as we speak) but they’re all guaranteed to creep you out, scare you and make you squirm.

Let me know if I missed your favorite and 3 cheers for Halloween and cinema!

10) Scarlet Street - A horror film for those who dream of being an artist of some kind.  Fritz Lang’s pessimism about love and art can scare anyone with idealism. Also, the last scene is perfect for Halloween!

Read the rest of this entry >>