Alright, the coffee is flowing and I am feeling much more chipper.

Unfortunately, the special guest judge I had in mind for our current contest turned out to be unavailable, so I had to fall back on my usual crew—my kids. I read them all of your entries and let them choose the three winners, each of whom should email me with an address so that I can send out your “Save Nanu” t-shirt. The interesting thing, to me, was that they were in perfect agreement on the winners, which is a historical event, I’m pretty sure.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, I give you our winners:

Tori drew guffaws from the kids for this tidbit:

My 3 year old son walks around the house turning off lights to “save the polar bears and penguins” (you know so they won’t drown) Which would be wonderful news if only people were not in the rooms reading when he turns the lights off.

Enjoy your shirt, Tori, and I only wish it came with a handy flashlight.

Stephanie Chance’s explanation of why we shouldn’t waste water fell on deaf ears with her daughter, but was a great source of merriment for my kids:

I tell her that when water goes down the drain, it goes to a place where it has to be cleaned so that it can be used again. I explain that cleaning water that is not dirty is like washing dishes that are not dirty; it takes time away from something else that you could be doing. I could tell the wasting time and energy part went right over her head when she responded, “Eww, you mean this water is used?”

(If I am remembering correctly, Stephanie, your daughter ought to be able to wear this size 12 for a looooong time, so feel free to remind her often that her shirt is used.)

And last but certainly not least, we had a prolonged discussion about whether or not Kate‘s son runs alongside his dad’s car when they go somewhere:

My 11 year-old is killing me. We let him watch Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” movie and since them he refuses to ride in my husband’s SUV (which he needs for work), despite the fact that we have 6 family members, he is in charge of all recycling (okay, I admit that I toss tomato sauce cans in the trash, rather than rinse them out), and he yells at my twins if they use too much toilet paper.

Thanks to everyone who participated! Although my children may not have been too impressed with the tips on how to live more eco-consciously, I definitely did. Great stories and great suggestions all around!