Halloween. The very name sends tears streaming down any Eco-Hero’s face as they contemplate the mass murder of millions of innocent pumpkins. But fret not. Out of this pumpkin massacre, some good can come. And that good is known as roasted pumpkin seeds and homemade pumpkin pie.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Let us begin with the pumpkin pie recipe. Now I’m not talking about pumpkins from a can, or frozen pre-made pumpkin pies. No. I’m talkin’ ’bout some made-from-scratch, down-home, honest-to-goodness, homemade pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Pie Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• one half teaspoon ground ginger
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups stewed pumpkin, mashed
• 12oz of evaporated milk

Here’s whatchu do:
* Find a pumpkin (a jack o’ lantern will do). After appropriately mourning its brutal death, collect all the parts that were cut out (eyes, nose, mouth, the works).
* Skin these pumpkin pieces, and cut them into “manageable chunk” size.
* Boil these in a microwave or on the stove until you can easily push a fork through them.

* Mash up the boiled pumpkin.
* Add condensed milk, sugar, eggs, and spices.
* Dump it all into a pie crust (filling to about 1/4″ below the top).
* Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes, then bake for about 50 minutes at 350. You can tell it’s done if you stick a knife in it and it comes out pretty clean.

* Let cool on rack
* Eat the delicious pie made from the flesh of the defenseless pumpkins, or you can wrap it up using some reused foil from a restaurant, like so:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

* When you clean out a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern, save the seeds.
* Rinse the seeds, removing any of that orange, stringy mess.

* Add a wee bit o’ oil, some salt, and any other flavors you want (hot sauce, honey, curry).
* Bake at 275 degrees for 10-20 minutes (until they’re golden brown), stirring the seeds when they’re halfway done.

* Congratulations, you have now made a delicious and nutritious snack from the guts of a freshly killed pumpkin. I hope you’re proud of yourself.

These are great ways to use every part of the pumpkin, much like the Indians (these Indians, not these) used every part of the buffalo. Let me know if y’all know any other good pumpkin recipes. Thankee kindly.
Also, it is not too late to enter the free giveaway contest!! Click here for some details.

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Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve for you traditionalists) is rotch around the corner, and everyone is getting pumped about it. But before we get all carried away with this great holiday, let us take a moment to reflect on ways to make this Halloween the “greenest” Halloween yet.

Green Halloween Candy

Forget about all that plastic-wrapped, cavity-causing, diabetic-killin’ sugary candy. Instead, give out these delicious treats to the lil’ ones who come trick-or-treating to your door:

• Raisins – long known as “nature’s candy”, these all-natural treats will keep trick-or-treaters coming back for more!
• Apples – there was a time when, if someone gave me an apple when I was trick-or-treating, I’d angrily chuck it at their house the second they closed the door. I’d probably still do that, but still, this fruit is healthy and natural and mess.
• Homemade Strawberry Jam – fill dozens of used (and maybe even cleaned) baby food jars with jam. Tell the kids that it’s a jar of guts, and watch their eyes boggle at that spooktacular thought.

Green Halloween Costumes

Instead of going with disposable, plastic costumes, here are some more eco-friendly costume alternatives:

• Adam and/or Eve – just get some leaves and glue, and bah-bam, you have the ultimate Earth-friendly Halloween costume.
• Hobo – I actually did this one year. Just find your oldest, dirtiest clothes, smudge some dirt on your face, and presto, a bum is you.
• Shoeless Joe Jackson – take off your shoes. Hey, great costume!
• A Giant – wear your old clothes that are too small for you. You’ll look like a giant who can’t find clothes that fit!

Green Halloween Decorations

• Acorn Pumpkins – Sadly, I used to do this. Find acorns and draw jack-o-lantern faces on them. Be prepared for a ghoulish good time!
• Booby Traps – dig a hole in your yard and cover it with sticks and leaves and such. Watch as trick-or-treaters fall into it. *BONUS* Take their candy and reuse it by giving it to any trick-or-treaters who somehow manage to make it to your door.
• Easy Scarecrow – sit in a chair or stand in your yard and don’t move. Congratulations on the greenest Halloween decoration of them all!

I hope these green Halloween tips have helped you. I know they’ve helped me. The main thing is to just use your imagination and some ingenuity, and you can have a great green (and cheap) Halloween.

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Hut hut hike! It’s almost Super Bowl time, and for many o’ us, that means going to a party to watch “The Big Game”. All too often, this means a lot of trash and wasted energy. Make sure you don’t get penalized for roughing the Earth by following these helpful Super Bowl party hints.

Kick an Extra Point with Online Invitations!

Instead of throwing a desperate Hail Mary of paper invitations to people to your Super Bowl party, throw a quick shovel pass of an online invitation (much higher completion rate), through email or Facebook or what have you. This will cut down on paper waste, as well as speed up how soon they receive your invitation.

Don’t Let Your Environment get Sacked by a Blitz of Trash!

• Don’t use disposable plates/cups/forks/chop sticks. Serve people with reusable plates and cups.
• Recycle any bottles or cans that there be. Make sure people know about this, so they don’t just automatically toss their can into the trash.
• Decorate with reusable decorations. That way you can use them each year to bring joy to people, instead of having them sit in a landfill.

Choose First-String Food!

The Super Bowl is for all the marbles; don’t let the benchwarmer food into this game!

• Serve local food. Check your local farmer’s market or local food store.
• Avoid food with way too much packaging. Go for the food that’s naked and ready!
• If you want, serve vegetarian food. It takes a lot less energy to get a pound of vegetables than a pound of meat. Plus, it’s healthier!

Warning: Green Super Bowl Tips for Eco Pro-Bowlers

• Don’t watch the Super Bowl on an energy-sucking TV; listen to it on a low-watt radio, or better yet, just ask people the next day who won.
• Don’t buy any food. Instead, at halftime, go outside to forage in your yard/woods for any edible roots or grubs.
• Power of imagination. Set your brain lose, and just imagine the entire Super Bowl. Anything can happen! Another “wardrobe malfunction”! A crazy 4th quarter comeback! Streakers running all over the field! That player you hate gets injured!

Hopefully, this playbook of how to have a green Super Bowl party has got you fired up and ready to give 110%. Remember, when it comes to helping out the environment (and saving you some money), EcoJoes is ready to take the handoff and score a touchdown! (or else fumble miserably as the crowd boos)

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I got an email today tell me about some insanely ‘uge organic roses from Ecuador. Since they were organic and gigantic, I decided to check out. God dang they are huge. Here, just look at this picture:

The lady in the red shirt is obviously terrified, and rightfully so. Her red shirt, meant as a sign of solidarity with the red roses, has only provoked them. These are probably her last moments alive; the roses will soon be feeding.

Click right about HERE to go enter the free giant organic rose giveaway sweepstakes contest, just in time for good ol’ Valentines’ Day. But please, be careful around them.

BEWARE…

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That’s my excuse for not posting much of anything for awhile. Me and Tiff just got back from there, and had a grand old time. Uruguay was almost devoid of tourists, so we were usually the only Americans around. But that was great, since I got to practice my Spanish, and also it meant that it wasn’t all touristy with trinkets and such.

Perhaps later I shall write more on this exciting excursion. But for right now, I shall sit back con mi yerba mate and contemplate el mundo.

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Just last night me and me woman put up our Christmas tree. As I was hanging up the millionth ornament, I started thinking about Christmas in terms of environmental impact. Just think of all the packaging thrown away every year. All the trees cut down, screaming their silent tree screams that only Captain Planet and other eco-heroes can hear. As I started to silently weep, I clenched my fist with the determination that I would find a way to “greenify” this savage winter holiday.

Eco-Friendly Christmas Tree

• Most natural Christmas trees come from tree farms, so there is only temporary deforestation from their harvest. Plus, recent studies from my alma mater have shown that if Christmas tree farmers choose their pesticides wisely (or use organic methods), they can have a negligible environmental impact. Of course, once Christmas is done, most trees are just thrown out on the curb to be taken to the landfill.
• Plastic Christmas trees have a higher embodied energy; basically all of them are made from polyvinyl chloride. But they do last forever, so they can be reused all the way until the Earth finally blows up.
• I’d recommend looking around the inside of your house for a tree (real or fake) that you already have, and just decorating that.

Green Christmas Presents

• Skimp on the packaging. If you must wrap a present, do so by reusing some magazine or newspaper pages. ‘Tis the present that counts, not the packaging.
• Give non-material presents. Perhaps coupons for a massage, yard work, or the gift of friendship, if you’re really cheap.
• Make some food for them. “Wrap” it in tupperware or a metal tin that they can reuse.
• Give a green present. Perchance a low-flow shower head, a solar roll, or a nice compost bin.

Green Traveling During Christmas

• Carpool if you’re going long distances. This will cut your gas price, and give you some company on that long holiday drive.
• Ride a bike. Throw on your coat and hop on your bike if you’re just going a short distance.
• Sled or ski. If there is snow on the ground and you only have to go downhill, this is the tip for you.
• Ride a moped. Save money, use less gas, and spread holiday cheer as people laugh at with you.
• Hitchhike. Maybe Santa Claus will pick you up in his sleigh. What a story that’d be!

Don’t forget to save energy and money this winter by following these simple tips.

After thinking up these ideas, my eco-tears finally stopped, and I was able to resume hanging ornaments on our tree. Merry Christmas to everybody, and please give a hoot, don’t pollute.

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