Halloween has come a long way from the days when it honored the harvest and marked the start of the ancient Celtic new year. Once a sacred time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was believed to thin and allow communication with the spirit realm, today's celebrations revel in macabre mythologies and seek the thrill of chills and things that go bump in the night.

Nature may only have four seasons, but the human calendar includes at least one more: Back to school season, and we are about to enter it.

Tampons are a big part of the monthly female lexicon. American women spend about $2 billion on them annually and will use about 11,000 during their lifetimes. But they are a product that few people regularly discuss. That dynamic needs to change: Tampons, which come into contact with some of the most sensitive tissue in a woman's body, aren't as straightforward as they seem.

There are more than 80,000 synthetic, human-made chemicals on the market. Yet, the Environmental Protection Agency has required safety testing on only 200 of them. Seventh Generation talks about toxins in the home with Dr. Alan Greene, practicing pediatrician and renowned authority on family health issues. Q: Why should we worry about chemicals in our homes?

With thinning polar ice caps, extreme weather events, and other indications of a climate crisis becoming difficult to ignore, increasing numbers of Americans are working hard to reduce their carbon footprint, or the total amount of carbon dioxide that they create. For most that means dialing back electricity use, consuming less hot water, adjusting thermostats, and reducing driving. Actions like these are invaluable, but many people are surprised to learn that making simple changes in their diet can have an equally large impact.

Jeffrey Hollender, Seventh Generation’s Chief Inspired Protagonist, co-founder, and Executive Chairperson, is a prolific author and speaker on the subject of sustainability. His blog, www.inspiredprotagonist.com is closely followed by the business community. He is also the author of several books, including What Matters Most and Naturally Clean.

Did you know that Seventh Generation offers a line of natural feminine care products, including tampons made with organic cotton? If you eat green and clean green, you should consider going green for feminine care. Seventh Generation tampons and pads are available at a wide range of retailers, including Target, Whole Foods, Amazon.com, Drugstore.com and natural food stores in your neighborhood.

As thrilled as we are to introduce our new dish liquid formula, we are equally excited to introduce the packaging that it comes in. To protect this new formula on its way to shelves and homes, we sourced a new 25oz dish bottle that contains 90% post consumer recycled plastic, up from 25% in our current bottles. In fact, depending on whom you ask around here, getting the bottle right took as much patience and perseverance as developing the new formula. New Formula

With household budgets under pressure and locally-grown foods all the rage, the backyard vegetable garden is making a comeback. Increasing numbers of Americans are discovering their green thumbs along with the bigger savings and better flavors of meals grown a few steps from their kitchens. But eating backyard bounty is the easy part. It's the growing that can get a little tricky. As any experienced gardener will tell you, success is rooted in your soil.

It's fall, and America's farms and gardens are brimming with a cornucopia of edible plenty. The harvest is here, and there's so much fresh produce available that try though we might, it's impossible to eat it all. And so comes the locavore's annual autumn lament: If only there was some way we could set a table like this all year round. The short answer is you can. The secret lies in the lost art of do-it-yourself food preservation, a once vital family tradition that the many conveniences of modern life have let most of us largely forget.