Green Options » contests

Creativity 350

Kelly Rand — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:33:14 +0000

To spread the word about the need for meaningful climate action and motivate our elected officials that we need to act now to solve global climate change, Bill McKibben, of Step It Up fame, has stepped it up himself with his new organization 350.org.

350.org is spreading the word far and wide about the importance of the number 350 and you can help! Together with Craftster, Etsy, Craft Magazine, Burda Style and Thrifty Fun — 350.org has launched the Creativity 350 partnership and contest to draw creative energy and attention to 350.org’s goal of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million to stave off dangerous climate change.

The contest is in two parts; a 350-themed craft contest and a 350-themed T-shirt design contest. For the craft contest, you are invited to craft any project that creatively expresses the importance of the number 350, using any crafting technique. For the T-shirt contest, you may create an original T-shirt design that creatively expresses the importance of the number 350.

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Labor of Love Week Give Away: Win a Pair of IsaBooties or an Envirosax!

Susie Kim — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:58:24 +0000

As part of Eco Child’s Play Labor of Love series on birth stories, natural birth, hospital births, and home births, our writers will be sharing their birthing and pregnancy stories. We’d like to hear your birth stories too, whether you are a mother, father, grandparent, or adoptive parent.

We are encouraging our readers to share their thoughts and birth stories by hosting a giveaway contest.

Entries in the contest are made by leaving a comment or birth story on the Green Options Forum. At the end of the week (6/28), we will randomly pick two winners for this giveaway. Up for grabs are:

IsaBootie: Funky and Stylish Soft Soled Baby Shoes

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Enter the Green Science Fair!

Kelly Rand — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:17:35 +0000

Ah, science fairs, the rite of passage for middle schoolers everywhere. A perpetual procrastinator, even to this day, my late night project for my school’s science fair consisted of testing the hypothesis of which plant fiber made the best paper. Using various plant fibers from the field by my house, I created lumpy pieces of “paper” and tacked them to poster board.

I didn’t win.

But here is a chance to try and redeem myself:

Intructables along with Discover Magazine have teamed up to bring the Green Science Fair for a Better Planet contest. By testing out a “green” hypothesis you could win some great prizes. Enter an eco-friendly project, test and compare “green” products, repurpose old parts, or just show how to live a more greener life. Prizes range from a GPS system, hand-crank radio, MP3 players, and t-shirts, stickers and books.

So get crackin’! The deadline for entries is June 6.

Oh, and maybe leave the potato clock for another time.

Wanna Be On TV? Casting For a New Teen Craft Show

Victoria Everman — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:03:25 +0000

Crafter extraordinaire and co-host of DIY Network’s Creative Juice TV show - Cathie Filian - also has her own production company. With her fellow executive producers Greg Byers and Steve Piacenza, Cathie is on the hunt for teen/young adult crafters to show off their skills on a new craft show she is working on. Think you got what it takes (CAGW is sure you do)? Then check out the details below from Cathie herself on how to enter!

Casting Notice – Untitled Teen Craft Show

Our production company, Two Bees and a Pea, is casting young adult & teen crafters for a new “untitled” craft show. This show will be guest based - so you could be the star of the show. We produce Creative Juice on DIY and HGTV and this will be a brand new show.

We are seeking crafty guests from all over the USA and will begin the process with DVD submissions. The DVD’s are not for air on TV they are for casting purposes. Fear not if you don’t have access to a video camera. Just send a photo of yourself (big smile) holding or showing off your handmade items.

Here are a few guidelines:

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Book Giveaway: Tell Us the Book That Could Green the White House

Timothy B. Hurst — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:10:24 +0000

In the spirit of the seemingly endless campaign for the presidency of the U.S., I am going to put a little green twist on a question that was raised on the PBS program, Bill Moyers Journal, the other night. Moyers showed clips of one question that CBS’ Katie Couric had asked of all the candidates she interviewed;

“What is the one book, other than the Bible, that you would take with you into the White House as the next president?”

But as soon as I heard the question, my irrational fascination with all things green led me to wonder, what book with an environmental theme would I consider to be an essential read for the next president. I thought about that question a lot and came up with too many answers. Please help me flesh these out a little by helping me answer the green version of Katie Couric’s question:

[Other than the Bible] what ‘green’ book should the next president take into the White House?

Leave a comment with the name of the green-themed book you think is a must read for the incoming president and you could win a book yourself. Here’s the catch, you’ve got to make a case for it.

Valid entries will consist of a reply that is concise, clearly articulated and well-reasoned. One submission meeting those very simple requirements will be randomly drawn to win a copy of …

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Contest Alert!: The Great American Craft Off

Victoria Everman — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 06:02:07 +0000

Feeling patriotic? OK, so it’s nowhere near July 4th, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try and channel your love for the stars and stripes … especially for over $6,000 in prizes! The Great American Craft Off was established by Homegrown Market and features the most extensive Grand Prize package I’ve ever seen:

+ An all-expenses-paid trip to the John C. Campbell Folk Art School including one week’s tuition, room & board, and round-trip airfare. Total value over $1500.
+ A Singer CE-250 embroidery/sewing machine & serger valued at $1200.
+ A complete custom website design including online store and hosting from BizLandCrafters.com valued at $2100.
+ A $500 gift card to Michaels Arts & Crafts.
+ A gift certificate to SonicPrint.com for 2,500 custom postcards and business cards.
+ A $375 Premium Subscription to the Online Learning Library at Lynda.com.
+ A signed copy of Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts by Leah Kramer, founder of Craftster.org
+ A HomeGrownMarket.com Handmade Gift Pack valued at $350
+ PLUS the winner will also be featured in the Spring 2008 issue of Adorn Magazine!

In addition to the Grand Prize, two runners-up will receive a HomeGrownMarket.com Handmade Gift Pack and a signed copy of Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts by Leah Kramer, founder of Craftster.org.

What kind of creations are permitted in the contest?

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X PRIZE Unveils Multi-Mullion Dollar Automotive Prize Contest

Ryan Thibodaux — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:31:21 +0000

In 1996, the X PRIZE Foundation was troubled by what it saw as 40 years of stagnation in spacecraft innovation, so they "sought to bring about a radical breakthrough in the advancement of human spaceflight." Eight years later, the foundation sparked headlines around the world when they awarded their $10 million prize to aerospace designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft's Paul Rubin for successfully launching a personal spacecraft into the earth's orbit twice in two weeks.

Now they've set their sites on spurring innovation closer to earth. We learned today from Chris Baskind at Lighter FootStep that the X PRIZE Foundation has formally announced its rules for the new Automotive X PRIZE. The multi-million dollar prize will be awarded to the teams in two categories who build cars that get at least 100 miles per gallon of gasoline (or its equivalent with other fuel types).

The first category is for a "mainstream class" automobile that can carry four or more passengers, has four or more wheels, and has the size and general capabilities that consumers are used to. There is also an "alternate class" category for a two or more person car with no size or wheel limits.

X PRIZE isn't just looking for nifty science fair projects, though. They want the winners' cars to be desirable, cost-efficient, and mass producible. Automotive X PRIZE rules (PDF) state that the winning vehicles cost "must be reasonable enough to justify sales of 10,000 units per year in the intended market(s)", and that it is doubtful that any car priced at more that $75,000-$80,000 will meet this requirement.

Other Automotive X PRIZE requirements include:

C02 emissions per mile to be no more than 200 g/mi

Accelerate from zero to 60 in under 12 seconds

Have a minimum top speed of 100 mph (80 mph in the alternate class)

Have safety equipment, air conditioning, heat, feedback gauges, lights, horns, and most other common features consumers have come to expect in a vehicle.

X PRIZE will begin accepting registration applications later this year and will announce the prize winners sometime in 2009.

Environmental Contests Give Students Hands-On Projects

Kelli Best-Oliver — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:04:59 +0000

Poster and essay contests are widely-used avenues to engage students in environmental activism, but are often solitary activities that involve individual students.

For those teachers looking for something more hands-on, opportunities beyond the traditional poster contests challenge teachers and students to design creative solutions to environmental problems. Students benefit by having a structured setting to think critically and creatively, problem solve, and work cooperatively (not to mention the possibility of extrinsic reward for winning!) Sponsoring groups benefit by finding young talent and creative solutions that may be marketable and beneficial to both businesses, non-profits, and communities.

The Lifecycle Building Challenge, sponsored by multiple groups, including the EPA, Green Building Blocks, and the American Institute of Architects, challenges professionals and students to create buildings, building services, and/or building components that promote materials reuse throughout the entire lifecycle of a building, from design to deconstruction.

By creating buildings that are able to be reused or whose components are built with minimal material waste, contestants will design solutions that reduce the large environmental impact that comes from building and design. Students can enter in three categories: building, component, and service, and the top designs from each category can win multiple prizes, including $2500.

Canon's Envirothon is an annual competition in which students compete for scholarships by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. Student team are tested in multiple subjects and present orally in order to determine winners. One of the most extensive contests, there are numerous local and state Envirothons in which student groups can participate, with winners advancing to the national competition.

Finally, hip-hop band The Roots and non-profit Global Inheritance are teaming up to sponsor Feed Your Roots, a student contest to promote composting in schools. Student groups create a program that involves composting and design a poster with information for schools about composting. Winning schools will receive specially-designed compost bins autographed by The Roots themselves.

Contests such as these are interesting and atypical ways to move students from thinking into doing, and hands-on problem-solving allows them to create authentic solutions and make real change in the schools and communities.