Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 152

what should i be for halloween?

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My friend Lalanya's vegan baby...this is the costume they made!

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Full disclosure: Halloween has never been my thing but this year a friend is having a fun party and I'd be a jerk to show up without a costume. What on Earth should I go as? I don't have much time left so ideally I'm looking for something super quick and easy. Any ideas?

Share your costume suggestions in the comments below!

Related:

Have a Green Halloween

get 15 off all your favorite natural goods at abes market

[image error]As fellow kind lifers we know it can be hard to find the natural products we want all in one place. That's why we started AbesMarket.com a one-stop shop for all your favorite natural goods!

AbesMarket.com is a fantastic resource for we kind lifers who'd rather not waste time or gas running around town looking for our favorite brands. We offer an amazingly wide selection of both well-known and up-and-coming brands across beauty personal care health baby products and more. At Abe's Market you can also buy great vegan foods for your healthy lifestyle!

What's even better is that Abe's offers the ability to get to know the real people behind all of the products we carry. At AbesMarket.com you can find out who makes them where our products are produced and why they're eco-friendly.

Calling All Moms!

Moms check out this cool video that discusses great toy alternatives from Abe's "In the Know" series:


We have a bunch more videos on our YouTube channel including interviews and Q&As with the people behind our fantastic selection of products. At Abe's we love to take you behind the scenes so you can make the most informed shopping choices.

A Special Discount For Kind Lifers

Through November 1st you can get 15 off of ALL ORDERS at AbesMarket.com. That goes for vegan and natural foods beauty health everything! Just use promo code KINDLIFE at checkout to receive your discount.

What natural goods do you need to stock up on?

Today's post is proudly sponsored by

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have a green halloween

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Back in the day Halloween was a pre-party for All Saints Day. Even before that the ancient Celts celebrated a festival on this day called Samhain where everyone dressed up in costume to ward off ghosts. So how did we get from that to parading our kids around the neighborhood asking for unhealthy handouts? Who knows? 

I'm not sure what I'll do around Halloween when my little muffin grows up but for now these are some ideas I have for celebrating kind-style:

Participate in a Costume Swap
Talk with other neighbors who might be into a healthy Halloween and come up with a word or phrase that you can put on a sign in front of your house – that way other kind parents will know that your house is serving healthy treats check out the website Green Halloween for more suggestions about this
Have a party and invite all your friends and their kids. Instead of trick-or-treating serve a kind buffet and have a kiddie costume parade
Make a Halloween piñata filled with healthy snacks or eco-friendly prizes
Have your kids act out ghost stories in costume

Trick-or-Treating
 
If your neighborhood isn't down with a kind Halloween but you still want to take your kids out consider donating the candy they collect. Some people feel it's bad to donate candy to anyone but if they are going to eat it anyway isn't donating it better than wasting it? I do this with other items…for example companies sometimes send me samples of self-care products that are filled with chemicals…and while I would never use them I give them to someone I know is never going to buy kind cosmetics ever. At least then I know they won't go to waste.

Another way to deal with Halloween candy is to unwrap and compost it. I asked Kitchen Gardeners International founder Roger Doiron about composting candy. He said you can but just as you wouldn't want to feed it to your kids it's not the best thing to put in your soil. Personally I wouldn't mess up my beautiful compost with candy – no way! But that said it's an option if you feel conflicted about donating.

Beyond the question of what to do with all that candy I'm not sure I agree with the concept of trick-or-treating. Not to be the Halloween scrooge but I have to ask what are we teaching our kids here? Gluttony? Demanding handouts from neighbors? To me the best part of trick-or-treating is seeing all the cute costumes. Anywho I understand that if your kids' friends are planning to trick-or-treat chances are your kids will want to as well. So if that's the case for you I hope you find some of these suggestions helpful!

I still dream that Halloween could become a kind holiday. What's your take on it? Tell me how you plan to celebrate in the comments below!

Photo Credit: ByStephanieLynn

kind events: los angeles green festival

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This weekend the non-profit Green America is putting on a Green Festival at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown LA. The festival is open to everyone and features some phenomenal speakers. Best of all admission is only ten bucks!

The Green Festival is a two-day celebration of eco-friendly solutions that are working in our communities. Festivities include presentations by more than 125 green experts DIY workshops films kids activities organic beer and wine organic veg cuisine music and a marketplace of local and national green businesses and organizations. The festival is now in its tenth year and 25000 people are expected to attend the Los Angeles event.

One of my favorite green experts Mary Cordaro you know her from my previous healthy home posts is speaking about pregnancy babies and healthy home interiors on Sunday. Mary is the real deal an expert on all things green and healthy. I trust her so much and 10 to hear her speak is an absolute steal. So if you live in LA go for it! Even if you don't have kids this talk would be great to attend to pick up some healthy home tips for yourself. We're all little babies deserving a healthy home environment!

Here are the details about the festival:

Los Angeles Green Festival
October 29-30
Los Angeles Convention Center

And Mary's talk:

Pregnancy Babies and Healthy Home Interiors
With Mary Cordaro
Sunday October 30 at 4:30PM
Green Building and Alt Energy Stage

"When it comes to healthy buildings and interiors the most important and sensitive individual is by far the developing baby. Join Mary Cordaro to learn how to make better materials ventilation and electrical decisions for a healthy home. Whether you are currently pregnant are planning a family or have small children Mary has home health tips you can use right now."

For those of you who don't live in LA Mary also recorded a radio show on this topic recently. You can check it out here.

If you'd like to learn more about the Los Angeles Green Festival and see the lineup of speakers go here. You also may be interested in San Francisco Green Festival November 12-13 and the New York Green Festival April 21-22.

Have you been to any green events lately? What did you learn?

success story: elizabeth cures ptsd

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Kind Lifer Elizabeth recently shared how adopting a kind lifestyle helped her to cure post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD.
 
"For five years I endured some terrifying circumstances which led me to have severe PTSD. Nightmares flashbacks self-harm depression...of course that amount of stress leads to perpetual sickness hormonal imbalances being overweight no matter how little I ate malnutrition and a host of other issues.
 
After four years of daily therapy daily yoga meditation chiropractors medications which I hate...I was certainly ready to give up on having any hope for even a normal life. Thousands of dollars on therapy and nothing cured me. Doctors told me I would live in a state of fight or flight the rest of my life but what kind of life is that?
 
While I've been a vegetarian for many years after reading your book eight months ago I cut out dairy caffeine refined sugars and then I began listening to what my body wanted. For the first time since I was a kid my body knew what it wanted and needed.
 
About a week after following The Kind Diet mostly superhero my body made a collective sigh. My muscles relaxed! My body took a breath of relief. I no longer have nightmares stress bloating melted away my mind belongs to me and not to intrusive thoughts... and I can smile. I recognize my long-lost face I freely leave my home and adventure and find beauty in strangers.
 
Without a doubt changing the way I eat has given me life again and for me at least I changed my eating habits because you took the consideration to write your experiences in truth and love."

What a beautiful story Elizabeth! It makes me so happy and fills my heart. Thank you so much for sharing.
 
If any of you kind lifers have a success story you'd like to share private message me or post a note to your profile and "like" it. I may feature you on the homepage of The Kind Life!

More Success Stories

Sarah Reverses Her Freshman 15
Angela Keeps MS at Bay
Justine's Dramatic Weight Loss
Sarah Says Goodbye to Endometriosis

announcing the winner of the kind lifes two-year anniversary gift basket

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Thank you so much to everyone who submitted suggestions for The Kind Life 2.0 coming soon!. There were so many good ones! Our randomly selected winner made a suggestion I think you'll all appreciate - congrats Jenna! Here's what she had to say:

"I would love love love to see a companion animal section. My husband and I had been what I call 90 vegan / 10 vegetarian for years. Cheese would be the killer every time. But after reading your book we went 100 vegan and we moved our dogs to a vegan diet because we really want our entire home to bekind. Our four rescue dogs are our kids and we want them to live as healthy and happy of lives as we do. Even though they have always eaten super premium foods we felt tremendous guilt for what we know goes into making their food and for feeding it to them. So we moved them to a vegan food and they love it! This site is wonderful; I applaud you and congratulate you on your two-year birthday! And if you had a kind life for 'furkids' tab that would be the icing on the cake! For instance: recipes for food and treats recommendations for companies that are humane and eco-friendly why spay and neuter is kind eco-friendly and why saving shelter animals is kind and eco-friendly..."

Thank you Jenna - I'll be posting a blog about the importance of animal rescue soon so stay tuned! I hope you enjoy your kind gift basket.

Love
Alicia

eco resolutions for the new school year

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When I posted my EcoTools back to school giveaway I asked you to share how you plan to make this year your most eco-friendly school year yet. I was so excited by all of your answers!
 
Here are your top 25 eco resolutions for the new school year: good work people!!!

Pack 100 reusable lunches by using eco-friendly washable resusable lunchbags thermoses and snack containers instead of plastic baggies and disposable lunchbags
Go out to eat less
Take on a leadership role in your fave enviro org
Walk or bike to school instead of driving
Share vegan snacks with classmates
Plant a winter garden
Take public transportation
Start composting
Teach kids to cook kind foods
Host monthly clothing swap & potluck party
Craft with recyclables
Purchase tree friendly binders and notebooks
Use scrap paper to take notes instead of fresh sheets
Go completely paperless
Volunteer at a no-kill animal shelter
Give away unused or old items on FreeCycle.org
Buy back to school clothes at consignment shops instead of brand new
Make DIY household cleaning products and beauty products for example clean with vinegar and baking soda instead of going out and buying a bottle of household cleaner or make your own lotion out of shea butter and essential oils instead of going out and buying lotion
Stop buying bottled water and soda and carry a reusable water bottle instead
Learn to cook a few new veg dishes
Plan to sponsor a turkey at an animal sanctuary for Thanksgiving
Make eco-friendly Christmas presents
Use only reusable grocery bags
Rent books instead of buying if you want to buy used that's a good option too but checking out books from the library is the most awesome of course!
Go vegan!

I can't wait to hear how this year has been going for you! What have you done to kind your school year so far?

Related Stories:

Sign up for Project Green Challenge
Farm Sanctuary's National Conference to End Factory Farming
Beware of Plastic Water Bottles
Pedal Powered School Bus

hot apple cider

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Apples are in season and as we get into cooler weather what's nicer than a mug of hot apple cider? Here's how I made it for Thanksgiving last year:

Ingredients

6 cups organic apple juice
1/4 cup real maple syrup you can use way less – let's face it apple juice is sweet on its own
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice berries I never really use these but if you have them laying around go for it
1 orange peel cut into strips optional
1 lemon peel cut into strips optional

Instructions

Pour the apple juice and maple syrup into a large stainless steel saucepan.
Place the cinnamon sticks cloves allspice berries orange peel and lemon peel in the center of a washed square of cheesecloth; fold up the sides of the cheesecloth to enclose the bundle then tie it up with a length of kitchen string. Drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture. I'm not that concerned if it all sits in the broth loose – just be careful not to pour it into your mugs when you serve it.
Place the saucepan over moderate heat for 5 to 10 minutes or until the cider is very hot but not boiling. You can leave it on the lowest simmer during a party.
Remove the cider from the heat. Discard the spice bundle. Ladle the cider into big cups or mugs adding a fresh cinnamon stick to each serving if desired I never do that part – it looks fancy and nice but feels like a bit of a waste of a cinnamon stick – so it's optional.

What's your favorite fall beverage?

More Kind Recipes:

Hawaiian Pumpkin Bread
Dreamy Pear Trifle
Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Chayote Ceviche

action alert: ban live animal export

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In Australia it is still legal to export live animals to Asia Indonesia the Middle East North Africa the Philippines and Mexico – places where animal welfare laws do not protect against cruel treatment and inhumane slaughter. The trip from Australia can take weeks and many animals die during transportation before they even reach a slaughter house.

An organization called Last Chance for Animals is taking a stand against Australia's live animal export industry by holding a protest in Los Angeles in front of Fox Studios in Century City. The reason they've chosen this location is that Rupert Murdoch Australian-American CEO of News Corp owns a number of papers that are anti-animal and anti-activist. Thousands of Australians are already fighting to end live animal export so let's help them out!

Whether you live in Los Angeles or elsewhere there are a number of ways you can participate in the protest and help to ban live animal export in Australia:

Attend the rally at Fox Studios:

Location:

Fox Studios corner of Pico and Motor 10201 West Pico Blvd Los Angeles CA 90035

Date & Time:

Friday October 21 10:30AM – 12:30PM

RSVP here

If you can't attend the rally you can send an email to Australia's Prime Minister The Hon Julia Gillard MP using this email form.

You can also join the "virtual protest" by posting your own protest video here.

And as always you can share a link to this post on Facebook and Twitter to get your friends and family involved.

How will you show your support for banning live animal export?

action alert: help put captive chimps on the endangered species list

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Protecting chimpanzees and ending experimentation on these intelligent primates is an issue I deeply care about. Recently I blogged about chimps in captivity and the U.S. government-funded experiments done on them. Because of all the chimps used for entertainment and experimentation in the U.S. many people don't realize that they are an endangered species in the wild.

One way to help endangered chimps and end cruel experimentation on captive chimps in the U.S. is to ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list all chimps including those in captivity as endangered. The Humane Society of the United States along with other animal rights organizations has filed a petition to make this happen. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now asking the public to comment on the issue so now is the time to speak up for chimps!

To help fill out this petition at The Humane Society and don't forget to personalize your letter. Let's do everything we can do give chimps better lives.