Earthday contest : Win The T-Shirt Game party game
Tomorrow, April 22nd, will be Earth Day. It’s a time when we, as normal type people, can take the opportunity to evaluate what we do in our daily lives and see what we can change to be friendlier to the environment. One can do something as easy as saving fuel and carpool or just plan out our errands so that we get them done in one trip or turning off the lights when we are not in a room all the way to organizing school or community events pertaining to earthday.
Companies can also take a look at their production practices to see what can be changed. It’s also a chance for companies to let people know what they are doing to produce their products in a more eco friendly way and hopefully encourage other companies to follow suit.
With that thought, I know that after speaking with Buffalo Games and seeing their new products that they are striving to make more and more earth friendly products and packaging while still being durable and practical to gamers. Like they use recycled material for all their boxes and use soy based inks for their printing. But really, what I find great about their environmental concern is that they do their own design and manufacturing in house in Buffalo, NY so they have the chance to directly ovesee how things are made. Call me old fasioned, please be nice and don’t call me old 
, but I like that.
Ok.. enough about what Buffalo Games is doing for the environment, I want to know what YOU will be doing for earth day and after. To help inspire and get people talking about earth day ideas, Buffalo Games has agreed to offer 6 copies of The T-Shirt game to six people that leave a comment here about what you will be doing or changing in your normal routine for Earth Day.
In the spirit of community, I have contacted six other game bloggers, players, etc to be the judges of the comments.
Our judges :
Yehuda – His intelligent and insightful game related articles are a delight to read. He also has a great general board game news site at the colorful Purple Pawn.
Gameguy thinks – His spirit of playing games for fun and a way to relax with friends and family is contagious.
M.A.D. - [who's actually quite happy I think ] Is a great example of the love of all things creative (working on her own comic book) melding with a love of games.
Donna – Is the organizer of a local casual game group here in Buffalo, NY. I’m also a member. They are a fun group and welcoming to all other casual board game fans looking for some laughs, good games, and conversation.
Eric – Editor over at the always updated, honest and even witty Board Game news. It shares a happy space in my RSS reader.
Crystal – Is a longtime virtual friend of this blog’s MySpace page and a fellow video and board game fan.
I look forward to your comments about what you will be doing for the environment and I will remain silent through the comments to allow your ideas and words to take center stage. This contest will run until May 1st 2008 at 12:00 midnight EST. Please keep in mind that this contest is only open to shipping addresses in the continental United States and Canada. Also, only one comment per e-mail, name and ISP address.
Note : The T-Shirt Game is a recent release from Buffalo Games and is an example of their environmental concern with a small compact box design and a molded fiber tray and box that is made exclusivly with recycled material and printed with soy ink.
Contest sponsor : Buffalo Games
Update : Great comments so far. Even if you have a similar idea or story (short or long) please leave it in the comments too, the more often others read an idea the better it may sink in. Ideas/stories of recycling, planting, changing routines, donating time anything earth friendly related is ok.
Edit : This contest has ended
Here at work, we use paper cups for the coffee/tea machine (which is a recent upgrade (environmentally) from the styrofoam we were using).
I have a tendency to use a new paper cup each time I go to the machine… However, for Earth Day, I’ll start to ensure I take my old cup with me each time, minimizing the paper cup usage. Since I drink about 10 cups of coffee and tea per day, this should be a decent savings.
Yes, I could use a ceramic mug, and I will *try* to do that too, but I know me. I will forget to clean it all too often and then be too grossed out to use it…
–Stephen
Hi! I’m a board game fanatic and the T-shirt game looks like a lot of fun! For Earth Day and for EVERY day, my hubby and I have decided to discontinue drinking bottled water to reduce the amount of plastics in our landfills. We installed a water filter system to the kitchen sink and the shower, we purchased some reusable canteen type of bottles and now we bring our own whenever we go out. I also have made a point to use launderable dish towels more and have really cut down on paper towel usage. I also share any tips I can think of on my blog so that others can use the ideas. Some of them are really simple but are often easily overlooked. But in honor of today and going forward, I have also resolved to return to simpler products and cleaners that are not as harsh on the environment. I’ve already been doinga similar thing with the foods we eat, by buying locally, organic and eating very few processed foods, so this is another step in the “green” direction. It feels good in more ways than one.
Hello! What a wonderful idea to celebrate Earth Day. Earlier this year, we turned down the temperature on our water heater and limit our time in the shower. I made a pledge that our family was going to do its’ share in becoming more eco-conscious! Each family member has her/his refillable water bottle, so we could quit using plastic water bottles. This summer, we plan on turning up the air conditioner temperature. We only cool the upstairs for night at bedtime and turn the temperature way up on the main level. Please enter me in your drawing. My mephew has a birthday in May and I would love to give him your T-Shirt Game!!!!! Thanks very much.
Cindi
Huge Kudos to Buffalo games for taking a leadership role in environmental production!
My name is Tommy. On Earth day, as every week, I took my recycling down to the green bins in my building. My wife and I chose this apartment because it is walking distance to her work, and cycling distance to mine. We have never, nor will ever, own a car.
We grow our own herbs (in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment!) and feed them compost (don’t tell our landlord that’s what’s in our balcony bin). Our energy consumption is limited to our fridge, stove, computer, and some small appliances: we do not have a TV or heat. Auckland’s climate (but if we win, you can ship to my folks in Winnipeg, Canada) makes it easy to get by with sweaters and socks by day, and hot water bottles at night–even in wintertime! Of course we carry our own mugs & water bottles everywhere, and we never, EVER eat fast food, which is shipped long distances and comes with more packaging than food. We accept no paper (flyers, advertising, even our banking is paperless). Finally, we shower together most days (washing one another is also good for our relationship)!
All in all, we try our best to live by the idea that what is good for the earth is good for us, our spirits, and our friends. Every day, including Earth Day, we seek advice and examples on how to do better. We like this contest because it’s given us some good tips on just how to do that.
Thanks, Buffalo Games!
Not sure if these are the earth day activities you’re looking for but…I’ve been hesitant because I don’t have a very green thumb and our yard is not very big but this year we’re going to plant a small vegetable and herb garden. I’ve also been cleaning out closets this week and am donating many bags of old clothes in good shape & some old furniture to goodwill.
Here at home we decided to not just recycle plastic bottles more then we used to but now were recycling all plastics we use to help the enviorment and clean up our garbage intake. We also at work went back to paper cups when we use our new coffee machine so to keep waste down
Earth day has always been an important issue to me each year due to im very concerned how bad our enviorment is with waste and not recycling what they use.
In the environmental education programs, there are three parts that they tout, reuse, reduce and recycle.
To reduce, I bought 10 nice cotton bags on eBay to use in place of grocery sacks. This is before they became available in the local stores for purchase. I’ve recycled those plastic bags for years so the added bonus to not using the store bags is that I don’t have to remember to take the bags with me to the store!!
Also, last year I put in my first vegetable garden and started composting my food and yard waste. I just dumped out the barrel from last year waste into the garden and hope last year’s waste will help this years veggies.
Earth Day has reminded me that the human race takes for granted this wonderful rock that we inhabit. If we all dont start to take care of it, it will deteriorate to the point that it will be uninhabitable. My family has been working at improving and conserving our environment by, using and reusing paper bags instead of plastic, picking a park or a public area once a month and walking through and picking up the litter, we try to limit our travel as much as possible(price of gas is helping with this also). I know that there are so many more things that we can do to be Earth Friendly and plan to make it my mission to be more Earth Friendly in the future.
This isn’t so much a change as things I do that I didn’t think much about.
At work, about 2 years ago we all went to mugs from styrofoam.
We recycle every piece of paper we produce through Allentown Industries.
AT home, I use no chemicals, I use a steam cleaner and I have an H2O steam floor cleaner. Works on every surface , kills all the germs and if I want a pretty scent, I throw a dryer sheet in with the cotton towels that go on the cleaning head and and that’s the smell I get. (That’s the only time I use the dryer any more).
I don’t get a newspaper, I read it on line.
I always have a travel mug that I fill with whatever (but Panera won’t let me use it there).
I bought an air conditioner 3 years ago and I can’t make myself use it. Its never even made it out of the box. I have 2 fans and if it gets dire, I turn them on.
In the winter, when I’m not at home, the house is set at 60. 15 minutes before I come home, it goes up to 64. I have a heated water bed, so at 11:00 pm, it goes back down to 60 overnight.
Because of my old age limits, I guess I am doing something
We made a number of changes in honor of Earth Day this year. My favorite was that we finally installed a clothesline. With the warmer weather these past two weeks, we’ve dried 18 loads of clothes outside with no energy consumption.
We’ve also completely stopped using bottled water as of the beginning of April, and are doing quite fine. We have two young children, and the bottles come in handy, but not handy enough to go through that much waste. As they get older, I hope the fact that they’re not “addicted” to the ease of the bottled water outweighs the desire to have one around.
The last thing I’ll mention here, and certainly the most important in my opinion, is that we have slowed down on our consumption of long-travelled food items. I recently finished “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and my wife is currently reading “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”. Both books talk about how almost every bite we eat in America has travelled approximately 150 miles to get to our plates. To avoid getting preachy, I’ll just say that we have really increased buying locally at farmer’s markets and direct from farmers.
Thanks for the chance to get this out combined with a chance to win what looks like a great game!. . .
Already doing:
Using canvas bags every time I go shopping, everywhere.
Have the thermostat set at 58 degrees at night and when not home.
Recycling everything that I can put in the blue bin.
Using a refillable water bottle, and still getting spring water by purchasing 5 gallon jugs.
Wash my clothes in cold water.
Hang dry all laundry on clotheslines.
Have changed all light fixtures with frequent use to compact fluorescent bulbs.
I unplug chargers from outlets when not actively charging to prevent “vampire power”.
I use only rechargeable batteries in the things I use most often.
Attempting with sporadic success, and intend to increase:
Composting food scraps.
Finding ways to capture and reuse grey water.
Cycling to work.
Buy local: I seldom travel more than 5 miles from home. I’m wanting to utilize the farmer’s market more this summer.
Grow my own vegetables.
Hanging on to a broken tv and monitor so I can do a drop off for electronics recycling so that I’ll keep them out of the landfill.
I just booked a trip via Amtrak in order to create fewer carbon emissions than if I drove or flew. (this will be my first time traveling by train domestically, and I chose train because of the lessened environmental impact.
I’d love to drive a hybrid, but can’t afford one. My environmental efforts are currently those that are cost neutral or cost saving.
That’s what I come up with off the top of my head.
Lana
I am a teacher and my class and I did quite a few things for Earth day. We started our day with cleaning the block of our school by picking up trash. We then planted flowers in recycled egg cartons to replant at home. We finished off the day beginning our birdhouses which we have made out of recycled milk cartons and dead twigs that had fallen off of trees around our school.
The students have an assignment due on May 2nd — they are to create a piece of art using recycled materials. I am sure that they will create wonderful things. They are 4th graders and truly enjoyed the experience.
I have preordered 10 baby trees from the Arbor Day Foundation to raffle off in the classroom for Arbor Day.
I am a strong believer in recycling, not just for Earth Day but for every day. I collect autographs and I reuse the envelopes that I send out until they are practically useless just taping them together over and over again when I use them for the return postage. It is kind of strange the responses I get from the celebrities but most of them understand and some of them even admire the fact that I am environmentally conscious (sp?). Our family also takes all of our aluminum cans to our local recycling center every few months when we have a few pounds of aluminum.
I know that there is probably more that we could do but we try to do our own little part.
Earth Day came and went, and I didn’t so much as notice its passing. I changed nothing at all in my daily routine. I’m certainly not the most environmentally conscious person around, though I do generally put forth at least token effort. I recycle most paper and plastic products I use. I always try to turn off lights, computer monitors, etc. when not in use.
I must admit that I find a certain irony in giving out The T-shirt Game for Earth Day – the process used to make your average cotton t-shirt wastes a ton of water and is NOT environmentally friendly in the least
There are a few changes that I want to make for earth day:
1) a doozy, get my daughter potty trained to stop filling the landfills even if the diapers say the are biodegradeable
2) minimize container waste by buying things in larger quantities and then using all the food and recycling the containers
3) cut down my driving by 20%
4) look for a place closer to work so I can bike in
5) play more board games and fewer computer games.
Granted, I wanted to make these changes even before I realized it was earth day but I do try to do my part.
On Earth Day, our family cashed in our aluminum cans and plastic bottles we had been collecting at the local Big Foot recycler here in northern California. Then we went to the local garden nursery and bought organic vegetable starts with the money we received.
We planted our treasures in our backyard garden. It turned out to be a great way to spend a family day and honor Earth Day at the same time.
I missed it … but I did reuse all of our old lansdscape rocks by moving them to the backyard in a place where we have a lot of erosion….we also planted several plants and put new mulch down.
We also donated our old lawnmower and some furniture to the local food pantry (like a small town salvation army).
We also recycle religiously.
Just do the earth some good as much as can. Give to her the way that she has gave to you(i do by the way).
Well, this isn’t so much what we are going to do but what we already do. We are already environmentally friendly.
We have only 1 car for 6 of us. We recycle our cardboard and plastic containers as well as glass. We also keep all soda cans for return to the store for the 5 cent refund. Our Dad bikes to work every so often (more in the summer, when it’s not raining). We have no gas lawn tools, only a push mower. We almost never go to fast-food places. We don’t use paper plates or cups. We also have fluorescent bulbs and an energy efficient washer and dryer. We also reuse plastic bags for trash bags and for poop cleanup (we have a dog).
And the game sounds cool too : )
My plan for Earth Day is to pack up the bikes, a few backpacks, and the family and spend the day outside in the sun. We will take a nice bike trail that overlooks a beautiful lake and runs through a lush green forest. We’ll eat lunch and I’ll surprise everyone by pulling a small board game out of my bag!
Sounds like a perfect day with the family while celebrating Earth Day!
We went for a walk and picked up trash along the way. Great day for the earth
It’s an everyday thing to use less electricity,less water, cut down on the plastic, use cloth bags for the store, cut use of plastic bottles, but a reusable container and buy the gallon jugs if nothing else, unhook all appliances when not in use, even lamps. It takes some from everyone to make a difference, join in together and lets have a green earth for our kids and grandkids. omccoy
i live in an apartment building, so i always see people throwing away cans and bottles instead of recycling them, so i pick up the bags and recycle them myself. I can’t believe how many people don’t recycle, it’s so easy!
At my work i proposed a system where we use the blank side of old printed documents, so we can save on paper, so much goes to waste at our work, i think this will really work!
This year I spoke with neighbors and decided for us and 2 other families to combine trash pick up. Since we recycle and compost, we never fill the bin each week, neither does our single neighbor. So we will save the gas from the garbage truck stopping twice. The third neighbor I talked into sharing our trash service used to burn their trash – plastic included! So this move will really help the earth by saving it from the nasty plastic burning neighbor’s toxic fumes.
i plant as many plants as i can afford it makes my yard soooooooooooooooo beautiful
I plan out where I need to drive in a day so I make less trips with the kids and places to go.
A few months ago I bought a plastic garbage can for the break room for drink cans and once a week I return them and save the money for monthly pizza parties.
I am starting a more concentrated effort not to waste anything. Recycle what I can thru conventional methods, or unconventional ones (think abstract art projects here).
I work in the printing industry. Most paperboard boxes are made with recycled content, even 100% is not uncommon for box material. If Buffalo Games wants to take a stand, it would be the inner contents that can make a difference, the paper used for cards or rule sheets can add up to a big environmental impact. Also, its also fair to note that soy-blended inks are not uncommon in today’s print world either. If a game manufacturer wants to be friendlier to the environment, plastics are best avoided. Let’s praise Buffalo Games for manufacturing in the US, as some games are made overseas at very low costs. And for manufacturing good games. But I don’t see their Earth Day connection.
Thanks for the message and praise for them manufacturing in house in the US and nice to hear you like their games.
I didn’t want to go on and on about everything they do with their products and bore people with alot more text than I already had in the post
but they also use recylcled and recyclable materials for the inside stuff too. Like The T-Shirt Game’s molded fiber tray to hold everything so no plastics are used inside and the cards are simply paper products. I know they are looking into other ways to use recycled materials, for even the smallest of details, to make their future games even more earth friendly.
You can also contact Buffalo Games themselves at their website for more official stuff that I am not aware of. Best to ask the experts
http://www.buffalogames.com/contactus/
-Tim