Fair Trade Economy

“Halloween is the sweetest day of the year for most kids. But while we gobble up treats, the burden falls on children of West Africa, which exports 43 percent of the world’s chocolate. Almost half of the Ivory Coast cocoa farmers’ kids never go to school because their families need them to work.

Thankfully, companies like Dagoba (dagobachocolate.com), Equal Exchange (equalexchange.com), and Endangered Species Chocolate (chocolatebar.com) source ethically traded cocoa from small farmers who put profits back into their schools and communities. Better yet, they each sell individual pieces perfect for handing out on October 31st. Global Exchange (store.gxonlinestore.org) also makes a Fair Trade Trick or Treat Action Kit with dark chocolate minis, handmade paper decorations, and postcards full of information.”

Eco-Friendly Costumes

I started doing some research on some ideas for eco-friendly halloween costumes. Some of which I was not very impressed with. I remember wearing my plastic She-Ra mask and ridiculous plastic tunic with her painted armor on it, and think back to how much chemical process went into making it. Many costumes are worn once and tossed because for children it is cliche to wear the same costume again the next year.

This presents a waste problem. So what can we do?

1. Trade with friends and family or even freecycle. Why not see if someone else in the neighborhood would be willing to go as your child’s old costume? Swapping costumes would be a great way to prevent some of the waste being generated by new costumes every year.

2. Make costumes out of existing materials. One thing the Suite101 article does point out is using existing supplies to make costumes. My ex-husband used to joke about wrapping himself in a white sheet and putting a bucket on his head to go as a shoestring. He actually wasn’t that off base. Let your childrens imaginations go wild with some play clothes that are dressed up. And dont’ forget to enter the DIY Halloween Costume Contest for 2007!

3. Donate old costumes to children’s hospitals, women’s shelters, churches, or a charity organization such as Goodwill. Many of these places can put old costumes to good use for needy children and parents unable to afford costumes.

Organic Candies

Bug Bites: small organic squares from Endangered Species Chocolates, www.chocolatebar.com, in milk or dark chocolate. Each square contains one of 48 different endangered species trading cards, and 10% of profits go to animal and conservation causes. Buy directly from Endangered Species website or find a store through their online retail directory.

Rapunzel Lady Bug Truffles: Rapunzel, www.rapunzel.com, offers small ladybugs, complete with legs, that contain hazelnut truffles. (Caution: some kids are allergic to nuts, so check before handing them out).

Hard Candies. The Candy Company, www.veganessentials.com, sells bags of organic Sour Fruits Hard Candies in cherry, lemon, pineapple, and orange. Website offers online purchasing.

Mints. Truly Organic, www.mothernature.com, sells packages of 12 individual boxes of organic mints (Peppermints, Spearmints, and Wintermints.) Website offers online purchasing.

Gummi Bears. Organic Candy’s Gummi Bears, www.shopnatural.com, in Classic, Jelly, and Super Sour Mixed Fruit flavors. Offered in four individual packets per box. Website offers online store.

Eco-Friendly Tips for Halloween

1. Purchase locally grown pumpkins to support your local economy. Know where your pumpkins are coming from whether they are for eating or just for decoration.

2. Save fuel and get some exercise by walking instead of driving around to trick-or-treat. Turn trick-or-treating into a family outing knowing that you are taking a step towards a healthier environment for your little ghouls and goblins.

In October 2006 Richard Fuller, founder and director of the Blacksmith Institute (the New York-based environmental group ), released a report of the worlds 10 most polluted places.

10 Most Polluted Places in the World

Linfen, China, where residents say they literally choke on coal dust in the evenings, exemplifies many Chinese cities.

Haina, Dominican Republic, has severe lead contamination because of lead battery recycling, a problem common throughout poorer countries.

Ranipet, India, where leather tanning wastes contaminate groundwater with hexavalent chromium, made famous by Erin Brockovich, resulting in water that apparently stings like an insect bite.

Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan, home to nearly 2 million cubic meters of radioactive mining waste that threatens the entire Ferghana valley, one of the most fertile and densely populated areas in Central Asia that also experiences high rates of seismic activity.

La Oroya, Peru, where the metal processing plant, owned by the Missouri-based Doe Run Corporation, leads to toxic emissions of lead.

Dzerzinsk, Russia, one of the country’s principal chemical weapons manufacturing sites until the end of the Cold War.

Norilsk, Russia, which houses the world’s largest heavy metals smelting complex.

Rudnaya Pristan, Russia, where lead contamination resulted in child blood lead levels eight to 20 times maximum allowable U.S. levels.

Chernobyl, Ukraine, infamous site of a nuclear meltdown 20 years ago.

Kabwe, Zambia, where child blood levels of lead are five to 10 times the allowable EPA maximum.

The fact that Russian places are listed there three times makes me very sad for the Russian people. And the fact that Peru, known for beautiful Macchu Piccu is also listed makes me angry that we damage such beautiful country the way we do.

Granted many of these countries aren’t necessarily on our plate for consideration when it comes to moving.

America’s Most Polluted Cities in 2006

Los Angeles (Long Beach, Calif., Riverside, Calif.) This corridor of activity is already known as a terrible traffic area and a place of constant traffic choke points in more ways than one. It has all the ingredients for smog: lots of sunlight, heat, inversions, industrial emissions and gross amounts of truck, bus and car pollution.

Bakersfield, Calif. Route 99 and the not-far-away U.S. 5, when combined with California’s topography, make Bakersfield the No. 2 pollution champion. Along with the next three cities, it might be referred to as the smog gutter.

Fresno-Madera, Calif. Fresno and Madera share the pollution characteristics of Bakersfield and Los Angeles. As neighbors, they too share Route 99 and U.S. 5.

Visalia-Porterville, Calif. Visalia and Porterville have the dubious distinction of being nestled between Bakersfield and Fresno. They share their air “quality” and lie within the corridor that runs between the mountains of the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada.

Merced, Calif. Merced is at the north end of Route 99 and shares the pollution problems of Bakersfield, Fresno and Visalia. It is just one step short of Sacramento and further pollution.

Houston (Baytown, Huntsville, Tex.) Houston manages to break California’s winning streak to take the sixth position. Baytown and Huntsville are a considerable distance from central Houston and its spaghetti spread of highways like U.S. 610, U.S. 10 and U.S. 45.

Sacramento (Arden, Calif., Arcade, Calif., Truckee, Nev.) The state’s capital manages to take seventh place with its heavy traffic along U.S. 5, U.S. 80 and Route 50. It must be hard to enact pollution reduction legislation when your own city is a major polluter.

Dallas/Fort Worth – It almost seems as if all Texas roads lead to Houston and Fort Worth. U.S. 30, U.S. 20, U.S. 35 and U.S. 45 all converge on these cities, and they pay the price.

New York (Newark, N.J., Bridgeport, Conn.) New York and its New Jersey and Connecticut environs make the top ten list this year. The combination of a major port, Con Ed, U.S. 95, central city traffic and other emissions does the trick.

Philadelphia (Camden, N.J., Vineland, N.J.) This area is served by U.S. 295, U.S. 95, U.S. 476 and U.S. 76 and extends through parts of four states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. They add a yellow glow to the Philadelphia skyline.

America’s Most Polluted Cities in 2007

Source: The American Lung Association

I can’t say a lot of these results are surprising, though it’s disconcerting to see California on there so much. Fortunately none of these places were on my list of places to research for settling down. I much prefer the small town with beautiful countryside away from any major factories or factory farms.