The Gaiam Community site is a great resource for information on not only green living, but also health and wellness, mind-body fitness, and even spirituality. The site contains articles, discussion forums, and videos, but no blog… at least, no blog yet.
In October, Gaiam Community will launch it’s blog, and, judging from their plans, it will quickly attain the status of a "must-read." They’ve already lined up yoga guru Rodney Yee, and Gaiam Real Goods founder John Schaeffer to write for it. In fact, the only thing they don’t have is a name. Rather than hand that task over to the marketing department, they’ve decided to hold a contest.
The "Name Our Blog" contest will end on September 16th, so start thinking quickly. They’re looking for a name that "will encompass the spirit of all the subjects we cover here in the Gaiam Community — and be clever and unique too!" The winning entrant will receive a $250 Gaiam.com gift certificate; five runners up will receive $50 gift certificates.
We’re happy to give the Gaiam Community a plug, and encourage you to enter the contest. And we’re looking forward to the blog itself…
The Piaggio Group USA, a US subsidiary of the famed Italian maker of Vespa scooters, is giving Vespa riders and enthusiasts a chance to express their passions with the launch of its "Go Green Vespa Video Challenge."
Launched on August 20th, potential entrants have until October 15th to make a video (15 seconds - 2 minutes in length) that highlights "Vespanomics," or the facts about scooters’ contributions to reducing gas consumption, carbon emissions and traffic congestion. A few claims made by Vespa:
- Did you know that if Americans were to switch just 10% of their total mileage to scooters, they would save roughly $42 million on gas and consume 14 million gallons less fuel PER DAY (based on $3/gal average).
- If Americans were to switch just 10% of their total mileage to
scooters, carbon dioxide emissions could also be reduced by 324 million
pounds per day.
- By shifting the daytime vehicle mix to 80 percent cars / 20 percent
scooters in the Manhattan (New York City) Central Business District
(stretching from 60th Street to the lower tip of Manhattan), there
would be a total decrease in delay of more than 4.6 million hours per
year - which translates to time savings of nearly 100 working hours per
person annually.
The prizes for winners are, as you might guess, Vespa scooters. The grand prize winner takes home a GTS, second place scores an LX150, and third place a LX50. Official contest rules are available here.
Apparently, Vespa also has hybrid scooters in the prototype stage… we’ll keep an eye on this.
Thanks to all of the writers who submitted entries into Green Options' "The Lighter Side of Green" contest. Given the time frame for entries, and our pre-launch status, we were happy with the response we received. Thanks to all of you that took the time (and exercised your patience) in providing your response to the entries: rest assured that we considered your votes when we chose a contest winner.
The winner of the "Lighter Side of Green" is…. drum roll please…
Wendy Laird, author of "There is Nothing Funny About Environmentalism."
Wendy will receive the $100 prize, and a one-month starter contract as Green Options' resident humor writer. We hope that you're looking forward to her contributions as much as we are!
Again, many thanks to all of you who participated in the contest! This was only our first — we'll have many more!
Just a reminder that the entries in our "Lighter Side of Green" humor writing contest are up and ready for your votes. We have had some glitches with the voting system (which our developers are handling), so please make sure to:
- Vote in order
- Vote on every entry
We appreciate your feedback — it will definitely figure into our choice of the contest winner!
The submissions for Green Options' "The Lighter Side of Green" Contest are ready for reading… and voting! We've added a rating feature to each essay so you can tell us what you think.
We'll be deciding on a contest winner this week, and your response will certainly play a role in our decision. The winner will receive not only a $100 cash prize, but also a one-month starter contract as a blog columnist — so let us know which writer you'd like to see come back! We'll announce the winner next Monday.
Many thanks to our entrants — we'll have a tough time with this one!
Wow! It's the first day of February — only a few days until Green Options goes live in all of its glory. February 1st is also the last day to submit entries to Green Options' "The Lighter Side of Green" contest. We've received some great entries (yes, we've been laughing), but we're also guessing that a few procrastinators can still tickle our funny bones.
So, if you're a humor writer who's driven by deadlines, get your motor running — today's the day! We'll post all entries this weekend, and invite visitors to take a look, and let us know what they like. We'll choose a winner during next week's launch, and announce him or her on February 12th.
Crank up the computer and the coffee pot, and get us your entry — we'll accept them through midnight Pacific Standard Time. Email them to lighterside@greenoptions.com.
On Monday, we announced the Green Options The Lighter Side of Green contest, and we've been really pleased with the response we've received. Of course, we'd love to see more contest submissions, so if you think you can make us laugh, take your shot at a $100 cash prize and a starter contract as GO's resident funny man or woman.
Having trouble thinking of a topic for your 250-500 word column? That's probably not because there's not enough material out there; rather, there may be too much! Nothing's off limits: our personal habits and quirks, the statements of politicians and/or activists, or even the statements and actions of green critics are all fair game. We're looking for light humor vs. biting satire; poking fun vs. roasting over the coals.
February 1st, the contest deadline, is getting close — one week from today. Send your submissions to lighterside@greenoptions.com.
Let’s face it: those of us living and promoting the green life can be awfully serious. That’s understandable, as we’re dealing with serious issues like climate change, resource depletion and ecological degradation.
At Green Options, though, we know that green can be fun. In fact, we even believe it can be downright hilarious! And we’re pretty certain that some of you also see the lighter side of the green life.
With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce the Green Options A Lighter Side of Green contest. We’re pretty sure that there’s a green Dave Barry or Art Buchwald out there, and we want to find that writer and hire him or her. The contest winner will receive a one-month starter contract to write for Green Options, and $100.If you think you’ve got the goods to tickle our funny bones, write a 250-500 word column that addresses some element of the green life in a humorous manner, and send it to lighterside@greenoptions.com in MS Word or rich text format by February 1st. Feel free to poke fun at your fellow greenies (we can use it occasionally!).
When we launch on February 5th, we’ll publish all of the contest entries, and ask for comments from GO readers. On February 12th, we’ll announce the winning entry (which will be chosen by the Green Options staff). Once we work out details with that writer, we’ll start featuring his or her work in a weekly column.
We’re moving quickly on this one, so don’t wait around – February 1st is the deadline for entries. We’re looking forward to laughing a lot…!
