Happy American Thanksgiving = Happy November Giveaway!

Remember the time D'Angelo sent me a shot of her awesome handmade paper pens? Well pencils are unfortunately a little harder to make since it's not so easy to pick up pencil lead to make 'em with. Enter Earthzone Recycled Pencils!

Last month Earthzone kindly offered to send me some pencils not just to test out but to giveaway!

Being my first official review-giveaway, I couldn't wait! But when they didn't show, I started to think they'd accidentally gotten lost in the mail. Turns out we have a new mailman, who's been putting our mail in a wooden box on our porch instead of our mail slot... Oops!

However, as usual, I digress... I excitedly took these eco-pencils for a jot, and I gotta say I was impressed! They without a doubt live up to their "World's Most Environmentally Friendly Pencil" claim...

• Made from 100% recycled newspaper and graphite core.
• No toxic chemicals

In fact, just like D'Angelo's paper pens, "old, whole newspaper sheets are flattened and cute into pieces. A coat of water-based glue is applied to the newspaper to tightly wrap the graphite." As shown below:

But my two fave things about these pencils...?

The Special Edition pencils keep their newspaper lookin' charm AND they make the perfect ecoCompanion to my ecojot journals, notebooks and sketchbooks!

Therefore, it only made sense for my November Giveaway to be both a 12 pack of Earthzone Special Edition Pencils and a handy 9x12" ecoKids Sketchbook... Perfect for some holiday sketching!

Contest will run till November 30th. I'll announce the winner on December 1st.

As it's American Thanksgiving today, how about you tell me what you're most thankful today as a comment entry? Such as the fact, that I am very thankful for your visit to my blog.... Thank you!

Am off to Connecticut to eat some turkey, and my Uncle M's super awesome mash potatoes... Happy American Thanksgiving!

See you back here on the 1st ;)

xo,

ej

PS- Just 'cause, how about an extra entry for helping me advertise "my first official review-giveaway" if you tweet about this post or share it on Facebook profile? ;D Simply mention if you did as a separate comment!

ecojot 100% proud sponsor of R4 !

Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending University of Waterloo's STEP (Sustainability Technology Education Project)'s R4 Fashion Show.

As blogto fashion writer Briony put it, "A squadron of sustainable tech nerds from Waterloo showed a packed crowd at their R4 Fashion event that going green can be high-fashion as well."

The event was headlined by some of Canada's top fashion designers: AIME by Monica Mei, CARRIE by Carrie Hayes, Thieves by Sonja den Elzen, and Rachel Jasmine Chan, and also included an Emerging Designers Competition.

While I don't count myself much of a fashionista, and most of the outfits seemed a little too out there for me, I was just so impressed by the university students who put the entire event together and their commitment "to promote sustainable design & technology, lifestyle, and eco-friendly consumer decisions in the community."

What do you think of the clothes? Anything catch your eye and could see in your closet?



xo,
ej

And the ecoLeadership winner is...

And the ecojot Canadian Student Leadership Conference ecoLeadership Writing Contest Winner is.... Aimée Cunningham of Heritage Park Secondary...

It wasn't an easy choice, for as cliché as it sounds, we thought all the entries were winners... However, we were so impressed to hear that Aimée and her classmates built a recycling program from the ground up and are committed to continuing to improve it!

Congratulations to Aimée and her leadership classmates... Can't wait to send you your ecojot prize pack, and your ecoCause a $75 cheque!

Thank you to all who participated! It's been such an ecoInspiration reading all the entires... I hope for all of you too ;)

I shall be back with my semi-regular ecoLoving thoughts next week!

Bon Weekend !

xo,

ej

ecoLeadership poetry, take 2

According to Andrea Lee...
"Reduce, reuse, recycle... that's definitely the key!"

I've got just one more entry left, and the winner of the ecojot Canadian Student Leadership Conference ecoLeadership Writing Contest to reveal tomorrow!

Meanwhile, as it feels like ages since I've posted a random cool video, came across this and thought to myself, "I will never see dominos the same way again!"

Happy Thursday!

xo,

ej

Being an ecoLeader means doing your part.

Just three more entries to share, which means I'll be revealing the winner of the ecojot Canadian Student Leadership Conference ecoLeadership Writing Contest this Friday, so be sure to stay tuned! Here's hoping you've enjoyed the entries thus far :)

Sometimes many simple eco-friendly acts to make a major difference is what defines being an ecoLeader by Coreen McEwan...

Happy Hump Day ;D

xo,

ej

ecoLeadership poetry

Introducing Parker of PEI, the ecoLEader poet...

If you want clean air,

Fresh water and green land,

You'll have to get in motion,

An eco-friendly plan.

You could change your yellow bulbs,

Into curly white lights,

Or you could plant new trees,

That will grow to amazing heights.

Stop putting up those smoke stacks,

That cause acid rain,

Those hurtful little water drops,

Do nothing but cause pain.

Sort your garbage daily,

Into green and black cans,

Or grab some friends and pick up,

Debris out of the sand.

Recycling, Ebert & Roeper say,

Gets two green thumbs up.

Try to use some of ming china,

Instead of styrofoam cups.

Turn off everything,

Before you go to bed.

Change to graphite pencils,

Instead of lethal lead.

All of this should be,

Vegan food for thought.

Stop paving paradise,

To put up a parking lot.

Now that's what I call ecoPoetry!

xo,

ej

ecoLeadership stories continued...

Hi Everyone!

Here's hoping you had a lovely autumn weekend... Oh how I love watching the leaves change colour! As promised another entry from the ecoLeadership Writing Contest ecojot hosted at the Canadian Student Leadership Conference.

Thoughts on improving their recycling program by Taylor Cunningham...

Not only does Taylor's school recycle, but they compost too! And from the sounds of it they can use their school-made fertilizer at their cafeteria's garden.

More inspiring ecoLeadership stores to come!

xo,

ej

"why it is so great to be an eco-leader"

Fiona Bastiaansen's thoughts on ecoLeadership....

My favourite line is, "If we care as a leader about the environment, then we will inspire others to as well."

True story!

Thanks Fiona! More thoughts on ecoLeadership next week.... In the meantime....

Bon Weekend!

xo,

ej

Making a difference as an ecoLEADER

A few months ago ecojot was asked to sponsor the 25th annual Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC), and we happily did. In fact, we even hosted an ecoLeadership Writing Contest!

For the next few days, I shall share the entries with you, and reveal the winner in the end!

So without further ado, please check out how Laura Broom of Mission, BC and how her classmates made an ecoDifference in their school...

Talk about inspiring! Oh and if you haven't yet already be sure to click on the second image from the top too, to zoom in and read "The Star Thrower" -another great story reminding us on how the littlest acts can make a difference!

xo,

ej

Rechargable, colourful and oh-so cute!

While I don't personally own anything that requires batteries... If I did, I'd totally pick myself up some Sanyo eneloop batteries. They're eco-friendly since they're rechargable, they're colourful... Not to mention there isn't a cuter way to check the state of your batteries!

Shaped like a dog, the eneloopy lets you know if your batteries require charging. "When you place your eneloop batteries into the device the dog's nose will light up: green for fully charged, orange for partially charged, red means your battery needs charging and no light means you have a dead battery on your hands."

Not sure if they're only available in Japan, but according to DVice eneloopy launches this weekend!

Random, but too eco-cute not to post ;)

xo,

ej

October Giveaway Winner

I'm back... And the October Giveaway Winner is... jennifer57

who re-used costumes from last year! Congratulations jennifer57! And thanks for being green this Halloween!

The special mystery prize? Well I decided to ask what your favourite ecojot is, so that I could surprise the winner with their preferred Ecojot treat! So jennifer57, you're going to receive some "dog ecoprints!"

Please excuse the delay of this post everyone 0:) I didn't have steady access to interweb while in NYC. But now I'm back to my semi-regular ;D blogging schedule. And what would my blog be without a video here and there?

Something upbeat, happy and randomly awesome....

Pearl and the Beard - Will Smith Medley from Goddamn Cobras Collective on Vimeo.

Happy Thursday!

xo,
ej