UPDATE:  It’s official – Congratulations to our lucky winner, Cathie M. Thanks to Amanda for sponsoring such a lovely giveaway, and thanks to everyone for entering.  Be sure to check out our latest giveaway for another chance to try a cool, eco friendly product.

We’re thrilled to feature The Andean Collection as our generous sponsor of this Great Green Giveaway.  This collection of eco friendly and fashion forward jewelry is the creation of founder and designer, Amanda Judge.

When I met Amanda at The Green Fashion Shows kick off party, she was wearing this beautiful Acai necklace, (above, R), and I thought it would be wonderful to offer one to our readers.  One lucky winner will be able to select their favorite color from an array of 8 gorgeous variations. (Retail value, $49 plus free shipping to anywhere in the USA and Canada.)

Here’s how to enter:

• checkout the array of necklaces, earrings and bracelets @ theandeancollection.com/
• Then leave a comment on this post, telling us why you’d like to win this necklace, and which is your favorite color.
• Sign up for their enewsletter and Receive an entry by leaving us a Comment to let us know.
• Add the following address to your email address book: m at AlternativeConsumer.com.

One lucky winner will be selected in our Random Drawing, and notified by email. Contest ends Monday, November 2, 2009 at 11:59p (EST). Winner has 24 hours to claim their prize, or offer is null and void. Winner’s name will also be included on this post. Giveaway includes free shipping, anywhere in the USA or Canada.

*One entry per person.
*EXTRA CREDIT If you have your own blog, you can post about the giveaway with a link back to this giveaway post. To make sure we know, you can come back and leave a comment with a link to your blog post. If you Twitter, you can tweet about the giveaway (once per day), and be sure to refer to @altCon, and leave a comment linking to the status. You can also receive additional entries 3 more ways: subscribe to our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter or friend us on FaceBook. (If you’re already a subscriber, just enter a comment to let us know.) Time’s ticking, so start clicking – good luck!

A little background about this ethical, socially responsible company:  The inspiration of the line came to Amanda while she was in Ecuador working on her thesis. The designs are fair trade made and handcrafted from natural seeds that have been sustainably harvested from the rainforests and lowlands of South America. Amanda has conceived of a smart way to ensure the survival of the world’s rainforests while providing the local inhabitants an alternative income, (rather than logging or selling their land to destructive industries).  As an extra perk, the artisans are not only paid fair wages, but also share in the profits as partial owners of the company.

The necklace (above) is made from Açaí (ah-sah-EE).  As you may be aware, Acai is not only gaining a spot for itself among indigenous artisans in Ecuador for its unique look and delicate size perfect for jewelry such as this, but also quickly gaining popularity as a drink for its antioxidant and energizing properties.

Shout out to New York City visitors and residents – The Andean Collection is in Madison Square Park at a great craft market (west side of the park) through November 1st, so if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say Hi for me. (11a-8p)