Ready to give your kitchen the mother of all overhauls? One lucky reader will win a suite of Le Creuset pots and pans, Blendtec appliances and a $500 gift card to Whole Foods Market. That’s more than $1,700 in prizes for your kitchen. Read on for the details. 

EcoSalon has partnered with Pure Wow, Organic Authority and Time Out magazine for this giveaway opportunity. We all love our readers so much we couldn’t think of a better way to say thank you then with this mega giveaway.

The lucky winner will receive the following items:

Blendtec Design Series Blenderand Twister Jar  ($573.95 value): The company calls it “the world’s most intuitive blending machine” and “the Swiss army knife of blenders.” Those are pretty big statements, and for good reason!

Design Series Blender: Engineered to bring a whole new level of beauty and functionality to the high-end blender category, without compromising the famous power and efficiency of our Total Blender Classic. This machine wears many hats in your kitchen: It’s a whole juicer, meat grinder, latte machine, bread mixer, ice cream maker, grain mill, coffee grinder, milk shake mixer, and blender.

Features include:

• Complete speed control
• Vivid icons
• New sleek design
• Easy, fast cleanup
• Versatile functionality

The Blendtec Twister™: This jar is designed to blend your thickest recipes, such as nut butters, hummus, baby food, dips, thick shakes, dressings and more! Best of all, the Twister jar is compatible with all Blendtec consumer blenders. The innovative jar works simply by twisting the lid counter-clockwise while the blend cycle is running. This twisting motion forces the ingredients from the sides of the jar back into the blade, allowing you to achieve a perfect blend every time.

Features include all of these unique Blendtec advantages:

• Patented Twister lid
• Mini Gripper™ lid for containing thinner blends
• Patented single-prong tuned wingtip blade
• Easy-to-read jar markings up to 16 fl oz
• Durable BPA-free material that stands up to heavy use
• Compatible with all Blendtec consumer blenders, not compatible with Blendtec mixers.
• 3-Year Warranty

LeCreuset Cookware Set ($700+ value):  Le Creuset makes food taste like it should. The enamel cast iron and stainless steel cookware will change your relationship with cooking and baking. Le Creuset—“the crucible” in French—began creating cast iron cookware over 85 years ago in a foundry in Northern France. The same foundry, in Fresnoy-Le-Grand, that today uses individual sand molds to fashion each and every hand-inspected cast iron kitchen product that Le Creuset sells. From the most trusted and treasured cookware, bakeware, dinnerware and more, you’ll receive a set full of everything you need to make fabulous, quality meals, including stainless steel sauce and frying pans perfect for shallow frying, braising, and cooking down liquids.

Included:

– 10 ½ in cast iron skillet
– 11″ stainless steel frying pan
– 2 QT. stainless steel sauce pan with lid
– 5 ½  QT. round French oven with lid
– 6 QT. stock pot with lid
– Revolution spatula
– Revolution spoon
– Heritage 4 qt rectangular casserole
– Heritage loaf pan

Whole Foods Market Gift Card ($500 value): Goji berries, kombucha, organic kale—whatever your heart and stomach desire are just as far away as the nearest Whole Foods Market. You’ll have $500 to spend at the world’s yummiest grocery store. And with those new kitchen appliances, you will want to stock up on healthy, delicious goodies to get you cooking and blending.

Ready to win more than $1700 worth of foodie products? Go to this page to sign up between April 28^th and May 25^th.  By entering this contest you are signing up for newsletters from Organic Authority, Pure Wow, Time Out, and EcoSalon. To read the full terms and conditions go here.  We will not sell or share your information. Winner must live in the United States. Click here for full details.

Well, what are you waiting for? Sign up to win already! 

The post The Foodie Lover’s Giveaway: $1700 + Worth of Whole Foods Market, Le Creuset and Blendtec Products appeared first on EcoSalon.

Wishing for a Vitamix but just can’t come up with the cash? Enter to win  your very own Vitamix with the EcoSalon, Organic Authority and Well + Good NYC Sweepstakes!

Pulling together thoughtful sustainable meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner just got a whole lot easier. We’re big fans of all things plant-based, local, and organic but who has time to spend all day chopping greens? Knock a few items off your meal prep to-do list with this all-in-one versatile kitchen tool. Whether it’s a mango lassi or homemade miso soup, you can make yummy sustainable meals at home.

If you’ve ever used a Vitamix, you know that it provides restaurant quality results in a few seconds flat. But no matter how much time it saves you in the kitchen, it’s a pricey venture. That’s why we’ve partnered with Well + Good NYC to launch this awesome sweepstakes to win a free Vitamix 5200 [a $450 value]!

Vitamix is the universal tool for creating everything from your favorite kale smoothie to an orgasmic parsnip puree. The 64-ounce container is big enough to create tasty meals for the whole family with chef-quality results.

Put all your favorite organic fruits, vegetables, superfoods, and plant-based proteins to work in your very own Vitamix. Chop, cream, blend, heat, grind, churn–basically do it all with one versatile kitchen tool. When you’re all done, clean up is a cinch just add a drop of dish soap and run on high for 30 seconds. That’s it!

Enter to win your very own Vitamix along with a Getting Started Guide, DVD tutorial and cookbook with over 100 chef-tested recipes just by entering our EcoSalon/Well + Good NYC Sweepstakes.

Want that Vitamix 5200? Enter today! The Sweepstakes start at 8:00 AM EST on Monday, November 4, 2013 and ends at 8 AM EST on Friday, November 22, 2013 (“Contest Period”). Learn more about eligibility, and other terms and conditions at Well + Good NYC. Good luck ES readers and here’s to hoping that we can all juice our way to health and happiness this holiday season. Still haven’t signed up? ENTER HERE.

Like this? Follow Sara on Twitter and Facebook.

Related on EcoSalon:
Can I Have a Kale Smoothie with That
Vegan Smoothies: Mango Lassi
Sunday Recipe: Kale and Ginger Green Smoothie

Image: quinn.anya

The post Wanna Win a Free Vitamix?! Enter the EcoSalon/Well + Good NYC Sweepstakes ($450 Value) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Join EcoSalon and Ecover as we head into October with a sweepstakes that celebrates your Green Closet!

Ecover tells us: “As you know, one of the elements of Green Closet is all about stopping the clothing rotation: buy good quality clothes and keep each item longer by taking good care of them.”

At EcoSalon, we are all about slow and conscious consumption when it comes to clothing, so we are more than happy to collaborate with Ecover to promote their Green Closet sweepstakes.

What’s the deal? Well, one very lucky and randomly selected Grand Prize winner will take home a stunning prize package that includes fashions from celebrated Green Closet designers Auralis Herrero-Lugo of Auralis and Tara St. James of Study, NY, an eco-styling session with Green Closet supporter Greta Eagan of FASHIONmeGREEN, a signed copy of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by fashion expert Elizabeth Cline, and of course Ecover laundry products that will help you keep your favorite clothes sustainably fresh and well cared for – a total value of more than $600.00.

Auralis Ava Top (pictured above): This is the top for all seasons. 100% silk crinkle chiffon with an iron oxide splatter. Made in NYC.  – $128 plus an Auralis Hannah Scarf (below): Indigo with Tumeric shibori accents. Perfect as a beach cover-up/sarong, a picnic blanket or a winter scarf.  4 feet x 4 feet. Fabric –  crepé plisé: 37% Silk, 35% Hemp, 28% Organic Cotton. Made in NYC.  – $80

Study, NY Berry Blouse (pictured below) – 100% organic cotton blouse with open back in the winner’s choice of white or pinstripe. Made in NYC – $165

An online eco-styling session with Greta Eagan of FASHIONmeGREEN (pictured below). This 1.5-hour session includes: an overall style assessment, defining of personal and professional goals in dress attire, evaluation of five different outfits from the winner’s closet, and eco-fashion integration into their shopping knowledge and habits based on their personal values.  – $200

One copy of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth Cline which talks about “fast fashion” and the price we pay for not shopping sustainably. -$29.99

One each of the following full-size Ecover products (below), plus 2 reusable shopping totes approximated value $51

Now that you’re probably screaming at your screen “How do I enter?!!!” here’s how:

We want to see either a photo of a favorite garment that you have owned for 5 to 10 years and/or a brief description of why your beloved garment is so special to you.

To enter, “like” Ecover’s Facebook page and click on the sweepstakes tab under their cover photo. You will be asked to upload your photo and/or brief description, as well as your contact info. The sweeps ends on October 14, and the winner will be selected by random drawing on October 15th.

Good luck!!

If you are interested in learning more about Green Closet, go here.

The post Ecover and EcoSalon Celebrate Green Closet With An Eco Fashion Sweepstakes! appeared first on EcoSalon.

VivaTerra, the leading retailer of distinctive eco goods for the home, is offering an Eco Escape to one lucky winner, provided by WanderTours.

Winning a trip anywhere is pretty cool. But winning a trip of your choice to an exotic destination? Now that’s what we’re talking about. From today through September 30, 2011, our fabulous sister site, VivaTerra, is offering a $5,000 eco escape to a grand prize winner, provided by WanderTours. The travel voucher can be used for either a scheduled tour or a custom tour, which will be created specifically for the winner.

WanderTours features both women-only and coed tours, and offers explorations that are as sustainable as humanly possible. Local guides are employed, making it an even better experience, and tour groups are kept small to reduce the impact on the countries they visit. The winner will discover some of the world’s most fascinating regions including Papua, New Guinea, Bhutan, India, Vietnam and Cambodia.

You must be 18 and a U.S. resident to win. Full terms and conditions are available on the VivaTerra website. Otherwise, what are you waiting for? Enter now!

Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.

The post Places & Spaces: Win a $5,000 Eco Escape from VivaTerra appeared first on EcoSalon.

“It’s funny how new furniture has a way of restoring people,” says the sweet, pastel-coated spread (above) appearing in online and print magazines.

Why the reminder to hug a couch today?

It’s all part of a $20 million ad campaign launched by Ogilvy & Mather to spur Americans to focus on the bird in the hand, namely homes they now own and can play with even if the economy ain’t recovering and we can’t bid on new real estate.

Decor spending is in the toilet with showrooms hurting and closing in all major cities. According to the Commerce Department, sales of home furnishings fell 12.9% over the last year, and they’re still dropping. Sales were down .9% in July from June.

But don’t be part of that sluggish market when furniture can lift your spirits to new heights. A new pillow can make you thinner and an upholstered headboard will make you rich. Remodeling your bathroom can cure halitosis. Don’t even get me started on that imported bidet!

“Things that fill our home also fulfill us. They become who we are. Giving us joy. Providing us with comfort.” That’s what the ad says, which has appeared in Metropolitan Home’s eco edition and other respected journals.

Meantime, a product information invoice attached to the sofa in the ad ironically says: “22 percent cotton, 13 percent giggles, 15 percent hugs, 11 percent afternoon naps.”

Okay, so now we know why those ad men make the big bucks. It’s genius to assign the same value to seating as quality family time and showing affection. There’s even a makeover opportunity if you tell your cheap, lazy ass friends to clear out that dilapidated jalopy of a couch from their college years and the hideous side chairs they inherited from a cousin. Don’t you want a hug and tickles, you slob you?

If I entered the sweepstakes I’d get myself out of the laundry room and make a real office in a prefab shed outside. But I’m so unlucky at these prizes. My mom always wins raffles, purses at luncheons, free dinners, you name it. Not me. Damn, and I could get Monica Pedersen to stage my office, whoever she is. I wonder is she is related to the Bret Pedersen who works with my husband. Now he could use a makeover.

According to Fast Company, the story behind the ad is rooted in the maverick Las Vegas way of doing things. While High Point, North Carolina, once ruled as the center of American furniture production and sales, the focal point has shifted to the World Market Center,  a 1.3-million-square-foot showroom and exhibition space in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas group apparently commissioned the ad campaign as a stopgap measure for the hurting industry. It’s a $20 million gamble that just might pay off!

Image: Homeyet Lifestyle, Homeyet Lifestyle, Fast Company

The post Ad Urges Consumers Who Can’t Buy a House to Refill the One They Got appeared first on EcoSalon.