Then the economy went to hell.

Well, OK, actually that’s been brewing for a while, but with the plunge in the stock market and the freezing up of the credit markets in the last couple of weeks, nearly all of us have our eyes on the economy now. With that in mind, we’ve decided to tweak this event to put it more in line with your biggest concerns leading up to the election.

First, we’re going to refocus on the candidates’ plans to build a green economy.

And secondly, we’re going to give away $1200 in prizes. The participant who builds the most impressive body of web finds and comments will receive a $1000 grand prize, the runner-up will receive $100, and we’ll also give away two $50 honorable mentions. Consider it our own little economic stimulus package. In addition, the winner (or, Election Transparency Guru, as we’ll name him/her) will receive a guest posting opportunity on Red, Green and Blue.

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EcoSMART makes a line of non-toxic insecticides made from botanicals - natural essential oils like peppermint, rosemary, and wintergreen.

“University research has shown that these oils attack the Octopamine neuro-receptors. Octopamine is a key insect neurotransmitter that regulates insect movement, behavior and metabolism. The blockage of the receptor activity prevents the transmission of the Octopamine signals, which leads to immobilization and/or knockdown, followed by death.” -EcoSMART Fact Sheet

EcoSMART products include an Insect Repellent, Ant and Roach Killer, Flying Insect Killer, and Wasp and Hornet Killer, all of which are safe around kids and pets.

“Eco–friendly and composed of natural ingredients, these compounds are biodegradable and help maintain a sustainable and healthy environment. Additionally, EcoSMART has no adverse impact on birds or fish and will not contaminate water sources.”

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Project “10 to the 100th”, in honour of Google’s 10th anniversary of helping you surf the web (and email and calendar and who knows what else these days), the internet behemoth is asking people to submit their ideas that will have broad impacts on people’s lives.

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Yesterday, Sean let me know about a little giveaway they’re holding, and I immediately agreed to participate.  It’s pretty simple: just register at GLI, and sign up for their excellent GreenIdeas newsletter. Once you’ve done that, submit a comment on this post with your GLI site username (they’ll need to confirm that you did in fact register, and came from sustainablog). In two weeks (that’s October 7th), we’ll pick and announce a winner from those of you who signed up and left a comment here. That winner will receive a Green Living Ideas/sustainablog t-shirt (made of organic cotton, of course!).

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The contest recognized affordable home designs that achieve sustainability in creative ways.  Juror Robert M. Rogers, FAIA, of Roger Marvel Architects states in a press release on the AIA website, “We were especially intrigued with projects that executed beautiful design ideas and were inherently green by concept. From small ideas for the kitchen, to a way of life, the winners embodied these principles.”

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The winning submission was sent to us by Mary Lemmer, a student at the University of Michigan, who, like many of the entrants emphasized the gains made by the environmental movement while also pointing to the insufficiency of those gains in terms of actual substantive achievement. Mary wrote:

“Youth across the nation are energized about issues concerning global warming, alternative fuels, and other environmental topics. Young adults are driving the sustainability movement, studying related topics, encouraging people to recycle, and proclaiming the green word!

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Featuring a diverse musical line-up including Widespread Panic, Modest Mouse, Trey Anastasio, Dave Mathews Band, Primus, and many, many more - the festival is certain to be one of the best gatherings of the summer.

Well, would you like to go to ROTHBURY: The Music Festival With A Purpose at the Double JJ Ranch in Michigan this weekend, July 3rd - 6th?

I figured as much. And because I’ll be covering the event for the Green Options Media Network, and reporting back all week, I was able to score a few extras that I’d like to share with our readers. But I can’t just give them away, so in 100 words or less, answer the following question:

What is right, and what is wrong, with the environmental movement today?

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Three winners have been randomly selected for our Labor of Love Week Giveaway from our Eco Child’s Play forum.

• Candu won a pair of IsaBooties!  Candu lives in Hanoi and suffered wounds from his wife’s grip:

All day the contractions got more painful and intense. She had to wait for 40 second long contractions and we had been waiting all day for it. I should have got her to cut her nails earlier, for now I have open wounds on my back and hands. Girls got some grip! She would lean right into me and hold on tight when she got another wave. She shook in pain and her eyes squeezed tight. Wave after wave after wave… Now I know why they call it labour!

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There’s no time to waste on this one, though: the deadline for entering is July 4… “in honor of the local, independent communities we hope the Green Guides will help create—free from the domination of fossil fuels, global warming, and toxic pollution.” By that time, you will need to put together a regular book proposal… overview, table of contents, and sample chapters… the works. CG spells it all out on the contest announcement.

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The folks at Sundance have given us a bag full of green goodies, and we’ll give it away to one lucky newsletter subscriber. All you have to do: subscribe to the newsletter by May 20th. On the 21st, we’ll one name from our subscribers, and that person will win the bag. What will s/he win?

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So I suppose it’s not surprising that some people are looking for meat alternatives, and I’m not talking about Tofurkey. I’m talking about real meat, but minus the animal.

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On 12/12, Recycline’s founder and president, Eric Hudson, went to New York City to accept the $100,000 prize from Forbes.com and Hewlett-Packard. While it was many months of pulling out all the stops, the contest was quite enjoyable for us, largely because so many folks rallied for us with votes and encouragement. We are very thankful for all the support we received from everyone who voted and asked their friends to vote. The grand prize will help us take on more environmental initiatives and introduce Preserve products to more and more people across the U.S.

This year, Forbes started accepting submissions for the $100,000 prize on April 2^nd . Open to all entrepreneurs, with the high visibility of green business, eco entrepreneurs have an excellent chance of winning again.

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Contestants participate in “Big Ideas For A Small Planet,” which is presented by Lexus Hybrid Living. What do you have to do to participate? Submit a one-minute short film or photo essay featuring your “Big Idea” to sundancechannel.com/bigideascontest before May 20.

Viewing of the top 25 entries selected by the program takes place between May 27 and June 24. After that, the five proposals ranked by the number of votes are reviewed by a panel of environmental experts who will pick the winner. Bear in mind that the jury judges submissions on creativity, overall theme, feasibility and presentation. The winner will be announced the week of July 7th and is awarded a cash prize of $10,000 to fund the idea.

Over 500 entries were whittled down to a 20-strong shortlist with an astonishing diversity of projects.

The winning entry, this super-cute dog bed is as ingenious as it is stylish. My only worry would be finding a suitcase big enough to squeeze my long-legged lurcher into.

My favourite entry though has to be this rather macabre baby doll coat rack. I’d love to make a version with teddy bear parts. What was great about this contest was the fantastic amount of reappropriating and reusing of materials that was displayed. Inspiring stuff.

Just to mix things up a bit, take a look at this car from the 2008 Eco-Marathon, registering at a whopping 7,148 MPG (via Autopia):

Looking like one of those space caskets from Star Trek, the single-seat racer you see to the left, constructed by a team from the French technical school St. Joseph La Joliverie and dubbed the Microjoule, traveled an amazing 7,148 miles on a single gallon of fuel (in other words, almost ten miles per teaspoon).

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How do you enter? All you have to do is create your own version of Burda’s Sidonie skirt pattern. “This simple A-line mini skirt is a quick project ideal for your perfect little basic skirt that has been missing in your closet. Even better, you can use it as a base for your own designs and develop it further,” says the Burda Style website.

How long does the contest last? What do you win? Keep reading for the rest of the details, straight from Burda Style’s news blog.

Looking for some extra inspiration? Check out Burda’s own variation to get your own creative juices flowing.

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Seriously, though, this is a great opportunity to make your voice heard on green living. If you don’t think you’re doing some eco-unique things in your own life (and I’ll bet you’re wrong), you’ve certainly got questions about the barrage of information out there on green living. Juntoventure’s contest stands out in that it’s asking you not to simply make a video, but to join a conversation… and we can all do that. Get those cameras a’rollin’…

Also keep in mind that Juntoventure has pulled together a pretty impressive list of prize sponsors for the contest: Sierra Designs, Timberland, Pacific Outdoors, Buck Knives, Burt’s Bees, Mountainsmith, Mission Playground, and Lonely Planet. Certainly you’d like a shot at some of the swag they’re offering…

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I had a tough time making a choice for our first “Think Green Live Green” video of the week: several of the entries were well-shot and edited, and told compelling stories. Given the contest’s purpose to create “a community of dialogue about the challenges of eco-friendly living,” I didn’t use professional presentation as a criterion, though. Rather, I asked myself which ones really engaged me in such a way that I wanted to respond. Ultimately, while I enjoyed almost all of them, I found some of the least polished videos to be the most appealing. My choice for this week’s featured video came from YouTube user MattG124. Here it is:

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