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Green Halloween
Tricks for Earth-Friendly Treats
The scariest aspects of Halloween are the unhealthy
sugar overload and disposable waste in costumes, deco-
Tranquility
rations and pumpkins left to rot. Ranking second only to
Christmas as America’s best-loved holiday in a Family-
by laura Tucker
Fun.com poll, Halloween started going green across the country last year, with the
help of a grassroots, volunteer-run initiative on the Web at
GreenHalloween.org.
While the movement started in Seattle in 2007, spreading to New York City
Sand and walls were the mediums of
and Phoenix, neighborhood, school and community groups around the United
choice for artist Laura Tucker when she States and Canada are now getting in on the act. Founder Corey Colwell-Lipson
was a wide-eyed toddler, taking in her
is behind the move to get people to “think outside the candy box.” Thousands are
world with wonderment and an ever-
logging on for start-to-finish ideas for staging local eco-Halloween festivities.
growing imagination. Family auto trips
One twist is to substitute alternative keepsakes like yarn bracelets, seed
as a youngster and teen found her bus-
packets, polished stones, organic fruit leathers and foreign stamps instead of
ily sketching colored landscapes while
candy. A 2003 Yale University study found that nearly half of
young trick-or-treaters picked a small toy over candy when
nature’s creations and manmade scenes
given the choice. Another option is reverse trick-or-
flashed before her hungry eyes.
treating, an initiative of Global Exchange, where kids
Today, Tucker’s commissioned
hand out free samples of fair trade chocolate with an
and gallery art has evolved into two
informational card on the benefits of supporting fair
distinct types of painting: abstracts,
practices in the cocoa industry (search trick-or-treat at
comprised of geometric shapes with
GlobalExchange.org).
bold, sharply defined lines; and sensu-
ously colored images with evocative,
fluid impressions. “My inspiration is
ignited by nature and the peaceful
Europe Leads
International Support for Small
place in my heart—from family, and
Farmers and Artisans
what love brings,” the Fort Myers artist
Although fair trade is still modest in scope,
explains, “and by the wildlife and the
given the factors of smart product design,
colors I wake up to every day in sub-
business strategies and economies of scale,
tropical Florida.”
Europeans are proving that it can be a viable
She painted Tranquility on a week-
market, even in recessionary times. More than
end trip to the Florida Keys. “I spent the
70 percent of the British populace, for exam-
day at the Turtle Research Hospital in ple, now recognizes the fair-trade mark, while
Grassy Key, where the faces and soulful just 28 percent of U.S. consumers do, according to
expressions of the turtles resonated with
a recent survey by the Fairtrade Foundation. More, one
me. Tranquility is a state these turtles
in four UK shoppers now regularly buy several fair trade products, while fewer
reach after rehabilitation and release
than 6 percent of Americans could even name a fair-trade organization.
back into the wild. It was also the state
Fair trade is based on the principle of paying workers a fair price for sustain-
able products. Damien Sanfilippo, a cotton project manager with the international
I reached while working through the
Pesticide Action Network, points out yet another benefit: “Fair trade can provide a
entire painting.”
stepping stone for [Third World] farmers to convert to organic, because it’s easier
to become fair-trade certified,” he says. “Once they have access [to higher fair-
To view more of Laura Tucker’s art,
trade prices], they can decide to use the premium to finance the training that they
contact her at 570-236-7676 or Tuck- need to move towards more sustainable practices—all the way up to organic.”
13soccer@aol.com.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
1 Collier / Lee Counties
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