UPDATE:  It’s official – Congratulations to our lucky winner, Bryan E., who was selected at random (via random.org) … Thanks to everyone for participating.  Stay tuned for our next Great Green Giveaway!  The original post, follows…

This Earth Day we’re celebrating in a very Neat way — this Great Green Giveaway is generously sponsored by The Neat Company.

Here’s a great way to de-clutter, reduce paper consumption, recycle those piles of paper and go digital.

One very lucky reader will receive a NeatDesk unit, (check out the brief video).  This awesome hardware scans receipts, business cards and important documents and exports the info to Excel, Outlook, your PDA or smart phone or simple pdfs.  NeatDesk is fully compatible with Turbo Tax, Quicken and QuickBooks (totally neat since the IRS accepts scanned images of receipts.)  Eco perk – the ADF Scanner + Digital Filing System is Energy Star compliant.

(Retail value:  $399.95 + free shipping to anywhere in the USA or Canada.)
Here’s how to Enter this Random Drawing:

• Check out the NeatDesk unit and discover how to help make your life clutter-free and more organized.
• Then leave a comment on this post, telling us why this NeatDesk is for you.
• Be sure to add the following address to your email address book: m at AlternativeConsumer.com.
• By close of business Friday, you can also enter NeatDesk’s contest (5 winners will be selected)!

One lucky winner will be selected in our Random Drawing, and notified by email. Contest ends Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 11:59p (EST). Winner has 24 hours to claim their prize, or offer is null and void. Winner’s names will also be included on this post.

*more ways to enter

• 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 a day — 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 become a friend on FaceBook. (If you’ve already signed up, just enter a comment to let us know.)

Note: this giveaway is also featured on free!grechen.

We can’t forget the furry creatures on Earth Day…this one’s from the archives.  America loves cats. Those tens of millions of felines need more earth-friendly and cat-friendly choices when it comes to the litter box. Historically kitty litter has been made from the clay-based combo sodium bentonite which is not a renewable resource and which, if ingested, can cause respiratory and digestive problems for cats.

Thankfully for cat lovers there are some greener, healthier alternatives. Here are some healthy choices:

• Purina’s Yesterday’s News is made from recycled paper, is low dust, 3x more absorbent than clay, fragrance-free and recommended by vets for post-surgery cats.
• Feline Pine made of recycled pine chips has no artificial additives; it’s dust-free, chemical-free and all natural. No trees were cut down to make the litter.
• World’s Best Cat Litter has an understated name and is made from whole-kernel corn which is said to be good on odors, 99% dust-free, has no respiratory or ingestion problem and can be disposed of as clumps without emptying the whole litter box.

We all know how ‘particular’ cats can be so they might not immediately take to the texture and feel of a new litter. You may have to put some of the old stuff on top to get them ‘going’.

• Unfortunately toxic stuff is all around us…Invisible Threats Mark Earth Day at 40 – msnbc
• On the plus side…Carbon, Nitrogen Link May Provide New Ways to Mitigate Pollution – sciencedaily
• Does this include green lighting a 3D remake of Gilligan’s Island? Hollywood Studios Recycling and Reusing at All-Time High – ecorazzi
• Which side is your company on? Betting on Climate Change – reuters
• There may be no planes in them but…Ash Cloud’s Silver Lining: Bluer Skies – myway
• The important theological question of cleavage…Boobquake Bid to Prove Cleric Wrong – orange.uk
• Amazing…Iceland Volcano Pictures: Lightning Adds Flash to Ash – natgeo

For the purposes of this Tried and True Product Review — Solo, the makers of BARE (Bringing Alternative Resources for the Environment) dinnerware provided us samples of this new line of “eco-forward” disposable plates and cups.

So, what products did we try and what do we think?

• We tried BARE by Solo’s compostable dinner, lunch and dessert plates, (pictured above, right)
• We loved the texture; you can cut food on the plate without tearing the surface; we liked the unusual shape, sizes and neutral color.
• They’re sturdy yet lightweight; and microwavable, too.
• Eco upsides: comprised of plant-based renewable materials, sugarcane.  Up and downside: although compostable in a commercial composting facility, (more…)

Here’s our interview with eco fashion pioneers, Howard Brown and Karen Stewart, the design visionaries and founders of seminal ethical fashion line – Stewart + Brown.

Q: With Earth Day fast approaching what do you see as the important green issues facing your brand and the fashion industry in general?

“Overall the economy has had, and continues to have, the biggest effect on the green fashion industry. When fashion is truly organic and fair trade/fair labor the costs are much higher all around and so people who do believe and understand being sustainable most often do not have the financial means to afford buying organic.  Another challenge has been a breakdown in the supply chain, as well where, due to the economy and recession, many small family run business have gone out of business – not to mention the continued surge of green-washing and marketing techniques of opportunists who contributed to so much confusion of knowing what is authentically green.”

Q: What role do you see the fashion and clothing industries taking in making the planet a better, more sustainable place?

“At the highest levels companies need to step it up, be authentic and
act in action by doing the right thing – not just in buzz but actually
walking the walk, show strong leadership and stop grandstanding.”

Q: S + B has always been an innovator in earth conscious fashion.  What are some of things your brand is doing to make the world a greener, better looking place?

“Stewart+Brown uses only organic and sustainable fibers, no petro-chemicals in our fabrics or production, fair trade labor, we minimize the impact of earth’s precious capital and spreads the wisdom of sustainability and inspires others to do the same.”

Q: Any new eco friendly fabrics, materials, or manufacturing initiatives you’d like to discuss?

“For our spring 2010 collection we are using a new woven linen and organic cotton twill that is so light and easy to wear and was
produced using no herbicides or pesticides.”

Q: What are some of the fashion trends you see emerging in 2010 and 2011?

“Continuing to find new and unique ways to utilize surplus fabrics, discovering new sustainable sources to create innovative designs, and use of color stories within our collections.”

Q: What’s next for Stewart + Brown?

“Coming lines…men’s, kid’s and home textiles.”

Re-using things that already exist is often a rewarding way to go green.  Britain-based Matteriashop offers a variety of striking vintage wallpapers in a wide variety of retro animal and nature patterns.  These limited edition wall coverings are the perfect adornment for the lair of your family’s discerning, baby environmentalist.

The exploding economies of such countries as India, and China in particular, are making automobiles a more affordable luxury for many of those countries’ consumers.  With more cars comes more pollution – and unless those cars are low, or zero emission vehicles – more environmental damage.  Toward that end US electric vehicle pioneer ZAP has just outlined production plans to bring all-electric vehicles to the Chinese market.  The company is displaying its all-electric ZAP Taxi targeting the fleet market as well as its innovative all-electric Alias prototype sports car at the Beijing Motor Show.

“ZAP is gearing up to meet the need in the China marketplace for high-quality, environmentally friendly vehicles,” said Steve Schneider, ZAP CEO.  “Importantly, as these vehicles are 100% electric, they emit zero pollutants and are very economical to operate when compared to traditional gasoline powered vehicles.”

With China’s increasingly more affluent population exceeding 1.3 billion people, reducing emissions from cars, cabs and public transportation is a growing concern.  Now if China could stop generating a large portion of its electricity via coal-fired power plants the transition to electric vehicles could prove even more profound.

Find out more details at the ZAP blog.

You’ve got to love a book that carries the Smithsonian’s mission statement on its opening page, especially when you get to the part about its offering “the world a picture of America, and America a picture of the world.”

This is truer than ever in a new book for kids aged 5-9 called “Global Warming,” the latest literary collaboration between the Smithsonian and award-winning author Seymour Simon.

A retired educator, Simon has written more than 250 books for young readers, and his “Global Warming” cannot possibly disappoint as a full-color photographic introduction to the causes and effects of global warming and climate change.  Part educational primer, part gorgeous pictorial, “Global Warming” draws attention to the increasingly rapid changes in our environment, and more importantly, to the role and responsibility humans have in its causes and effects.

In smart, but totally kid-friendly terms, Simon lays out the complicated concept of the greenhouse effect, clarifies the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘climate’, and teaches so much more all while taking the young reader on a journey from the Arctic to the Antarctic, making important stops along the way to drive home the point that the whole planet is at risk in the global warming age.

Simon’s evidence is compelling, especially when he writes about coral reefs, and somehow the simplicity of his language makes even adult readers sit up and take notice.  It’s hard to ignore a sentence like:  “If coral reefs die, then much of the animal life they support will be wiped out as well.” (more…)

Is this kitsch, art, or both?  Either way, this little iFork gadget stand is crazy cute.  Made from silverware – the Fork Head Stand is the perfect gift for all food and phone obsessed individuals.  The stand can hold a variety of gizmos and small gadgets – or you can have one custom made to fit any unique doodad you may feel compelled to display.  Also comes in an iSpoon version.

$30 @ forked up art’s etsy shop via: recycleart