by Christopher Gavigan

I think every parent has a favorite eco-friendly toy. The kind of toy that makes you feel so good watching your child play with it that you're desperate not to get rid of it the moment they grow out of it. The charming giraffe, the wood blocks from Grandpa, the cotton baby doll that either ends up as a decoration on a shelf or gifted to a close friend or relative. Well, now you can nominate it for the Second Annual Best Green Toys Contest sponsored by Eco-Child's Play and The Goddard Schools for Early Childhood Development.

Toys must meet the following criteria:

• the toy is eco friendly
• the toy is affordable (under $25)
• the toy encourages creative, social, and engaging play activities
• the toy is interactive and lends itself to child-initiated play
• the toy is appropriate for preschool to early elementary school-aged children

According to the Eco-Child's Play announcement the top green toys will be awarded the Eco Friendly Toy seal and listed in the Top Ten Eco Friendly Toys of 2009. In addition, preschoolers at participating Goddard Schools will get to play with the Top Ten and then name the "Local Preschoolers Picks" for the top kid's choices.

The contest is open to environmentally safe toy submissions until October 1, 2009, and the winners announced at the end of October. To enter, download the Eco Friendly Toy Test entry form and read the guidelines.

Now they need your help!

What's your favorite eco-friendly toy under $25? Please leave your nominations at EcoChild's Play. Personally, I nominate Green Toys, Inc and their "Indoor Gardening Kit". This earth, social, and health conscious company actually makes all toys in California from recycled milk jugs. No batteries here. The toys are packaged in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastic, tie downs, or cellophane. Of course they meet all safety requirements, as well has having NO traces of phthalates, lead, or BPA. Good for the earth, and great fun for you kids.

If you're on Twitter, please complete and Tweet this using the hashtag #bestgreentoys @EcoChildsPlay: I nominate ______ for the #bestgreentoys contest.

If you know a green toy company, reach out to them to enter the contest by sending them a link to this post.

There is a Flickr stream set up (bestgreentoys) for you to upload a picture of your child with their favorite green toy (tagged with #bestgreentoys) to suggest that the company should enter the contest. And we have a Best Green Toys Facebook Page (please become a fan and upload pictures and leave comments).

I can't wait to see all the nominations. Regardless who wins, I'm sure it'll be an awesome list of wonderful, safe, eco-friendly toys.

Related Topics:

• Video: Child-Safe Toys
• Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
• Get great tips from the Parenting & Children's Health Newsletter

Labels: children's health, contest, environment, green, health and wellness, toys

by Janelle Sorensen

Can you believe we live in a day and age where anyone can make their own reality TV show? When we started our "Healthy Begins Here Video Contest", I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to record a video of my daughters, edit it, and then publish it on YouTube for the whole world to see. I was even more amazed by the videos other parents submitted. Seriously, the videos were clever, the kids were adorable, and they shared some really easy, great tips.

After tallying all the scores, here are our Grand Prize and First Place Winners. Congratulations!








Want more? Visit our YouTube channel to see all of the submissions. And if it sparks an inspiration, feel free to submit one of your own. The contest may be over, but we want more! These videos help us teach parents to create healthy environments for children. And, the more people who start taking simple steps and making smarter choices, the closer we get to a healthy world for all children.

So, next time you're scrubbing your tub with baking soda or getting some local produce at the farmer's market, whip out the video camera and record it. Be a part of Healthy Child reality TV!

Related Topics:

• Health eHome
• Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
• Get great tips from the Parenting & Children's Health newsletter

Labels: contest, environment, green

Final Announcement!

by Healthy Child Healthy World



We laughed, we learned, we were amazed. I refer of course to the fantastic videos that have been submitted to our Healthy Begins Here Video Contest, sponsored by Seventh Generation.

If you haven't had time yet to check out the entries found on Healthy Child's YouTube channel, you'll soon be as excited as we are. As we anticipated, the videos are full of humor, authenticity, and inspiration. Well done to all!

And what we're hearing from our friends and supporters is that you all need more time to join in the fun and get those creative juices flowing. The response has been great thus far, why curb the enthusiasm? Therefore we are going to extend the contest deadline until May 12 - and announce winners May 15, 2009!

So this gives you more time to capture your Earth Month commitments, document changes you are making around the house. And, if you submit a video of yourself doing what you do, you can win fabulous prizes - generously donated by Seventh Generation (The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive an Apple 8G iPod Touch pre-loaded with Seventh Generations Label Reading Guide application in addition to a years supply of Seventh Generation home care and cleaning products and a copy of the Healthy Child Healthy World book and DVD. FIRST PRIZE will receive a Flip Ultra digital video camera, a Seventh Generation Living Home Starter Kit and a copy of the Healthy Child Healthy World book and DVD. The eight runners-up will receive a Seventh Generation Living Home Cleaning Kit.)

There is only one rule (well, actually, there's a list of rules and you can find them at our website) but there is only one Golden Rule and that is you must have fun! If you're having fun doing it, people are going to have fun watching you, and hopefully then they'll try it too. And that's the whole point. We want you to inspire others to do whatever they can to protect their home, their health, and the planet.

So, here's how you can get started:

Step #1 - Read the Official Rules and use our Tips, Tricks, and Tools to make your video in a snap.

Step #2 - Still stumped? Check out other submissions. While there are kids in many of our videos, there DO NOT have to be children in the videos you submit!

Step #3 - Have fun making a 2-3 minute video about healthy solutions! No video camera? No problem. Turn photos into video using a free service like SlideRoll.

Step #4 - Submit your video.

Step #5 - Wait until May 15th when we announce the 10 winners!

Good Luck! We can't wait to see your videos!

Related Topics:

• Health eHome
• Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
• Get great tips from the Parenting & Children's Health newsletter

Labels: contest, environment, green

Show Off Your Healthy, Green Stuff for Self-Promo and Prizes

Healthy Child Healthy World

What's all the hoopla about Earth Hour, Earth Day, Earth Month and going green all about? It's really about more than just a day or month of the year. It's about you, and me, and each one of us - taking simple steps, making smarter decisions – every single day. By making the healthiest choices, you CAN protect the Earth and everyone living on it. It's really so much easier than you think.

And every little bit helps.

For example - according to Seventh Generation, if every household in the US replaced just one box of 100 sheet virgin fiber facial tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save 332,000 trees, 859,000 cubic feet of landfill space(1,200 garbage trucks), 120 million gallons of water (a year's supply for 900 families of four), and avoid 20,000 pounds of chlorinated pollution.

From one box of tissue. Small actions really do add up.

So, what are you doing? There's so much you CAN do!

And, if you make a video of yourself doing what you do, you can win fabulous prizes generously donated by Seventh Generation (The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive an Apple 8G iPod Touch pre-loaded with Seventh Generations Label Reading Guide application in addition to a years supply of Seventh Generation home care and cleaning products, and a copy of the Healthy Child Healthy World book and DVD. FIRST PRIZE will receive a Flip Ultra digital video camera, a Seventh Generation Living Home Starter Kit and a copy of the Healthy Child Healthy World book and DVD. The eight runners-up will receive a Seventh Generation Living Home Cleaning Kit.)

In addition, these videos will be used to educate and inspire thousands of other people! That could mean great promo for your own blog (if you have one) or simple good green Karma (you'll be an educator - put it on your resume!).

There is only one rule (well, actually, there's a list of rules and you can find them at our website); but there is only one Golden Rule and that is you must have fun! If you're having fun doing it, people are going to have fun watching you, and hopefully then they'll try it too. And that's the whole point. We want you to inspire others to do whatever they can to protect their home, their health, and the planet.

Show us your stuff by making a video less than two minutes long of you or your kids or your pet Chihuahua or your hamster or your crazy Uncle Eddy taking some sort of simple step to make your home greener and healthier - protecting your little piece of the planet. Then enter it into our "Healthy Begins Here" video contest, because it all begins with you.

So, here's how you can get started:

Step #1 – Read the Official Rules and use our Tips, Tricks, and Tools to make your video in a snap.
Step #2 - If you're still stumped, check out our other submissions in our playlist.
Step #3 - Have fun making a video!
Step #4 – Submit your video by 12 a.m. PST on April 19 as a video response to ours.
Step #5 - Wait patiently until Earth Day when we announce the winners.

Good Luck! We can't wait to see your videos!

Related Topics:

• Health eHome
• Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
• Get great tips from the Parenting & Children's Health newsletter

Labels: contest, environment, green

Show How for Chance to Win Great Prizes!

by Healthy Child Healthy World

Healthy Child Healthy World translates the complicated issues of chemicals in our environment into understandable information with easy solutions, but oftentimes the best tips come from people like you. In honor of Earth Month, we're asking for you to share your best advice by submitting a very short video to our Healthy Begins Here contest.

How do YOU create a cleaner, greener, safer home?

Get started by visiting the new WebMD Health eHome, an interactive tool to help you find easy ways to protect the planet and your health. Maybe you learn something new or maybe you're way ahead of us and have something better to offer. Whether it's your great grandma demonstrating her old school chemical-free cleaning tricks or your dog taking out the recycling - send us a video under 2 minutes that shows us how you protect your little piece of the planet. Do whatever you do, but do it refreshingly different. Make it fun.

Actually, having fun is the Golden Rule of our contest (read the other rules on our website). Going green and living healthier doesn't need to be complicated, or a hassle, or a sacrifice. Talking about it shouldn't be doom and gloom or wrapped in contrived morality. It should be fun. And it CAN be fun (especially if you get your kids, or pets, or eccentric relatives involved). If you're having fun doing it, people are going to have fun watching you, and hopefully then they'll try it too. And that's the point. We want you to inspire others to do whatever they can to protect their home, their health, and the planet.

And, if you make a video of yourself doing what you do, you can win fabulous prizes, generously donated by Seventh Generation (The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive an Apple 8G iPod Touch pre-loaded with Seventh Generations Label Reading Guide application in addition to a years supply of Seventh Generation home care and cleaning products and a copy of the Healthy Child Healthy World book and DVD. FIRST PRIZE will receive a Flip Ultra digital video camera, a Seventh Generation Living Home Starter Kit and a copy of the Healthy Child Healthy World book and DVD. The eight runners-up will receive a Seventh Generation Living Home Cleaning Kit.) In addition, these videos will be used to educate and inspire thousands of other people! Going green never felt better.

What are you waiting for? A healthy planet begins with you (and we're only accepting submissions until 12am/PST April 19, 2009. We can't wait to see what you can do!

Related Topics:

• Health eHome
• Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
• Get the Parenting & Children's Health newsletter in your inbox weekly

Labels: clean, contest, environment, green

How an Hour of Darkness Can Shed Light on the World

by Janelle Sorensen

How often do you sit in the dark? I'm guessing never (unless, maybe you're an insomniac). This Saturday, I'm going to try sitting in the dark for an hour with my family. I think we'll either tell campfire ghost stories or play board games by candlelight.

Why?

Because we're voting for Earth. Not following me? Allow me to explain.

Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (your time zone) is Earth Hour, a global event where people all over the world turn out their lights for just one hour as a sort of unified honor the Earth moment. This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world's first global election, between Earth and global warming. Lights off – are a vote for Earth. 2,500 cities, towns and municipalities (up from a mere 370 last year) in 83 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, and the event's coordinators are hoping to get one billion people to participate.

One billion people taking one simple action to show united, global support for addressing climate change. It will be an unprecedented moment. Never before have so many humans stood together on one issue.

According to EarthHour.org,

"The historic event will see millions of people gathered in parks, streets, town squares and homes around the world to witness the lights going out on iconic landmarks and city skylines, while taking in the atmosphere of some truly unique Earth Hour events. In Sydney, where Earth Hour began in 2007, every ferry in the city's famous harbor will sound its horn at precisely 8.30 p.m. to herald the beginning of Earth Hour in Australia, while in Melbourne a people-pedal-powered concert will be underway at Federation Square. On the other side of the world, arrangements will be underway for a host of concerts and parties in cities across Europe, including a 'circle of percussion' in Athens, where people will be given percussion instruments to play, led by a conductor, as the lights go out on the Acropolis. In Oslo's city centre, members of the public will take up the challenge of peddle-powered light bulbs, while residents in the city of Lisbon will sit down to an evening of outdoor candle-lit dining as they watch their city skyline go dark."

Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr. Andy Ridley, says Earth Hour is more than just a call to action on climate change."Earth Hour is an opportunity for the global community to speak in one voice on the issue of climate change, while at the same time coming together in celebration of the one thing every single person on the planet has in common - the planet," he said. "Whether it's joining your community in a town square to watch the city lights go dark or hosting a lights out party in your own home, I encourage everybody across the world to be a part of this historic occasion. Turn off your lights, celebrate the planet, enjoy the moment and cast your vote for Earth."

What about when the lights come back on? Many argue that this event is completely missing the point. That we need to do more than just turn out the lights for an hour. They're absolutely right.

So what are you doing? Or, what are you going to do? Today marks the launch of the "Healthy Begins Here" video contest challenge where we are asking you to submit a video less than 2 minutes in length that shows what you can do to make a healthy, green home (which helps support a healthy, green Earth).

But, we don't simply want you to show us what you do, we want you to have fun. Because if you make it fun, other people will be inspired to try it too.

Going green and living healthier doesn't need to be complicated, or a hassle, or a sacrifice. Talking about it shouldn't be doom and gloom or wrapped in contrived morality. It should be fun. And it CAN be fun.

Whether it's your great grandma demonstrating her old school chemical-free cleaning tricks, your dad skateboarding to work, or your dog taking out the recycling - send us a video under 2 minutes that shows us how you protect your little piece of the planet. Do whatever you do, but do it refreshingly different. Make it fun.

Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/HealthyChild to learn more.

Related Topics:

• Health eHome
• Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
• Get the Parenting & Children's Health newsletter in your inbox weekly

Labels: contest, Earth Hour, environment, green