We know it's early to start thinking about Halloween, but as you probably realize, one of the keys to living and celebrating green is to plan ahead.

Swapping, as you also may realize, has come into its own. The stars are doing it (U.S. Weekly reported that Reese Witherspoon loves to get together with girlfriends and swap away!), so why not the rest of us? It makes sense financially, but when you throw in the earth-friendly aspect, it's a no-brainer.

And when it comes to kids clothes and especially something like costumes which most children wear once, it's a double no-brainer!

That's why, Green Halloween, in collaboration with KIWI magazine, is launching National Costume Swap Day on October 9th.

We want to raise awareness about swapping as a habit, but especially when it comes to Halloween costumes. Setting up a costume swap among your friends, child's school, at your church, community center or in collaboration with a thrift store, can be a great way to do something positive for your community with relatively little work (don't you love that last part?).

On the National Costume Swap Day site, you can find tips for setting up, as well as listing a swap. If your swap is only for friends and family, the listing will show the city and state. If it's public, the listing can include all the details about time, place etc. 

And by the way, swapping isn't just for kids. Over the last several years, there's been a surge in adults of all ages buying costumes.

So whether for you or the kids, join the fun. Put together a swap and get a jump on greening your Halloween.

And let us know if you've got questions.

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are a mother-daughter team and co-authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, available at www.CelebrateGreen.net.

It's standard for any event ... you must have a team.

I'm lucky, I have a couple friends from high school that started a green wedding consulting company, Green With Envy events. If you have never planned an event before, I would highly recommend you use such a service and plan a minimum of one year out. I am used to planning fundraisers with less than two months time, but really ... the wedding planning has been the hardest event I've ever planned -and it's still not done!

So here's my tips!

1) Hire a Green Wedding Consulting service - you will not regret it. They will work with your budget -whatever you can get from them will help you immensely if not just for ideas. Sometimes you need a 3rd party "professional" to mediate the ideas with your better half ;)

2) Choose your friends! You will have girls that want to help; use them, regardless of their green level. This is your opportunity to convert your friends if not already greenies or make them even greener! You have the opportunity to challenge your team to bring your wedding to a whole new eco-level!

3) Lay down some laws! It depends on what you want. Maybe you are not the Green Queen but you have a friend that is -put that person in charge! If you are the Green Queen, then communicate clearly to your family and friends that are helping you out not only your ideas, but absolute laws. For instance, I had to tell my mom she was not allowed to make impulse purchases unless she could qualify the purchase by knowing the product was sourced responsibly meaning a minimum of fair trade or made in the U.S., reusable, recyclable, and preferably biodegradable. This law has helped significantly!

4) Resources ... you will have your family and friends wanting to help you. They, regardless of their eco-mindedness will sometimes get distracted and want to pick up magazines or books. Here's some rules on resources: use your library, if some book is not available except for purchase please try to use www.BetterWorldBooks.com first, and go online! You can find almost anything online. Start with blogs such as The Green Girls, The Green Bride Guide, Green With Envy, Eco-Luxe Living, Eco Stilletto, The Offbeat Bride. You will find suggestions for how a green wedding goes and from there start typing your wishes into Google's search engine and see what you can find!

5) Challenge your Team! Regardless of their experience in any field, challenge your team to raise the bar if that is important to you. There are many events leading up to the actual wedding, all of which count. Rethink everything and every step. How can you make every motion, every moment as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible.

So who's on my team?

• Right hand woman, leading lady: My Mom!
• Monica Salazar of Green Addict & Rainforest Action Network: General ideas, support, and location for after wedding party in L.A.
• Christine Johnson: My sister, she's my maid of honor, in charge of engagement photos and website www.christinemonet.com
• Phu Styles eco-friendly celebrity stylist (She dressed the people from The Cove for the Academy Awards, as well as Ken for the Grammy's): Wardrobe for myself, wedding party, and my darling fiance
• Demesha Hardy (long time friend and eco: Make-up and hair
• Amy Tan (Treespace Studio): Save the Dates, Invitations, and wedding topper
• Laura Rankin (Green With Envy Events): Bridal shower
• Ann Murray (life long vegetarian and PR): Bachelorette Party

Learn more about Janine at Green Wave

Green with Envy already posted about my ring, however, they did not have the actual photo. So here it is, my beautiful engagement ring approved by Ken, and inspired by one of Liza Shtromberg’s designs; an Austrailian champagne diamond made with 100% certified recycled platinum.
 

Rings symbolize sustainability. They symbolize the circle of life, that life goes full circle. There is no actual destination. Engagement is not an end, and similarly, once you are married you have not arrived at any finality yet have entered just another phase of your life. Rings are a “take me as I am and as I will forever be, whatever that is” or a “journey with me”. To me, marriage or any long term relationship is “real”. You must lose the delusion or expectation of future. You can dream, yet you must accept the path, enjoy the ride.

The journey toward world sustainability is the same. It is not a destination but a path. It teaches you that life goes full circle. It’s a compact with life, a philosophy, a covenant. Take me, Life, seriously. Honor me, cherish me, enjoy me, but sacrifice for me all the same.

On this journey of wedding planning I have realized there are sacrifices as there will be once we are married as well. Sacrifices come in the shape of compromises. I originally wanted quite a few separate events …The Big Fat Green Wedding was to be an extravaganza of small events for the family and one big blowout party for our friends and associates. Now, it will be condensed to a more traditional wedding in that we will have our ceremony and a reception will follow. Although the ceremony will remain private, the reception will now be a larger affair than I had originally envisioned. I am marrying the man of my dreams though, so I have no complaints J

Sacrifices also comes in the form of what you need to cut back on. Both of us have been wanting to go to Burning Man for several years. The wedding is basically 2 weeks after Burning Man … most likely we will forfeit that trip as well. Ken also likes to go to a hockey dream camp in Niagra Falls. He was unable to last year because he was touring, and because of the wedding this year, he will again have to miss his beloved camp. However, sustainability means you can't always be selfish if you want to live harmoniously/ without harm.

As a culture, we have all been living life on the edge whether we have realized it or not. The industries that we take for granted are subconscious pillars of our society and we have leveraged convenience to the point of collapse as seen in the our financial industry as well as the environmental atrocities that continue everyday (most recently, the greatest oil spill in history, just days ago). Now regardless of choice, we as a species live symbiotically to all the other species and systems of the Earth. I realize now that choosing to walk the path of an eco-conscious citizen was like wanting to marry the Earth, or wanting to at least be in a long term relationship with It. Now that I am soon to be officially married, I see Marriage as beautiful. Marriage is on some level sacrifice, and it's beautiful. It causes us to slow down and look at what's important. You realize to make the relationship last, you must compromise, or sacrifice, but the bigger picture, that relationship is so much more important you are more happy to make any sacrifices -in fact, it's joyful. I guess I hope that one day we can all look at Life on this planet not just as a long term relationship but one that we want to be in. Sustainability would become a natural and joyous part of our everyday lives.

We've shared with you how much fun we had at our recent Anniversary Bash, but there was so much more to that day. At the event, a very proud moment for us here at TheGreenGirls.com also occurred.  Congressman Brad Sherman presented Apple Levy, Dan Cashdan, Allisyn Cashdan & The Climate Community with a Congressional Recognition for outstanding & invaluable service to the community.   

Apple Levy a bit taken back

Dan Cashdan, co-founder of The Climate Community addresses the crowd

Allisyn Cashdan (& Daniel) co-founder of The Climate Community & Green Girl Guru

We are so honored and thank Congressman Sherman for this recognition. We also thank Dan & Allisyn Cashdan & The Climate Community for their partnership & unbelievable support.  A recognition from Congress definitely fuels us to keep doing what we're doing .... and then some.