When you’re first starting out, it’s important to remember that your early efforts in setting up your organic garden do pay off. You’ll end up with better soil that’s more resistant to disease and when you prepare the soil beds properly, you eventually have fewer weeds to deal with.

Green living (and organic gardening) is all about looking ahead — making choices now that will create better, healthier results down the road. Much of the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into is because of here and now thinking & acting. It’s so easy for us to tell our children that they need to consider the consequences of their actions. The truth is, so do we.

So back to organic gardening. If you’ve taken the plunge and decided to grow some things either for the first time, or if you’re gardening again this year — please let us know how it’s going. Do you have questions? What are you growing? Why is organic gardening important to you?

Sponsors: Studio Press: Genesis & Prose Child Theme

To raise awareness for this promotion, Patagonia is giving away a pair of their shoes to one lucky Smart Green Tips reader. Read on for more details. . .

I’ve written about Healthy Child, Healthy World before and discussed the important work they are doing to keep us and our children safe. You can read my post about them and visit their site yourself for helpful information and to learn more about how they bring about change.

Patagonia has long been a company that focuses on quality shoes and clothing just as much as they focus on their environmental impact. It’s fitting that a great company like Patagonia would support an organization like Healthy Child.

As part of this promotion, I was able to get my own pair of Patagonia shoes. I went with the Release Leather Trail Running Shoe and I couldn’t be happier. They are incredibly comfortable and stable with a gender-specific Vibram® outsole. As with most of their shoes, Patagonia has incorporated recycled materials into the Release.

For a chance to win your own pair of Patagonia shoes (you may select from any Patagonia shoes at Onlineshoes.com), simply do any or all of the things below and leave a comment for each, letting me know that you did them.

• Sign up for Smart Green Tips email updates (using the form on the upper right of this page) and leave a comment letting me know you did.

• Tweet this post to raise awareness about the promotion & the giveaway (include your tweet url in the comments).

• “Like” or Share this post on Facebook.

The winner will be announced on Earth Day, April 22. If you don’t happen to be the lucky winner, you’ll still have time to support Healthy Child through this promotion and snag yourself a great pair of Earth-friendly shoes in the process.

Update: The winner of the Patagonia Shoe Giveaway is Julie. Congratulations! Watch for an email from me letting you know how to get your shoes.

Sponsors: Studio Press: Genesis & Prose Child Theme

To enter the contest, visit the website, What’s Essential, or the Nordic Naturals Facebook page. There, you’ll submit your description (in 200 words or less) of what’s essential to you. Upload a photo to go with your essay & you’re all set. Prizes will be awarded to the best 19 entries.

• Grand Prize Winner: One winner will receive a trip for two to Santa Cruz, California with all the trimmings, including airfare, car rental, hotel, spending money, Nordic Naturals award-winning omegas, and more!

• Second Prize Winners: Each of the six Second Prize winners will receive one Canon® Vixia HF M400 camcorder and a one-year supply of Nordic Naturals award-winning omegas.

• Third Prize Winners: Each of the twelve Third Prize winners will receive a one-year supply of Nordic Naturals award-winning omegas.

Nordic Naturals says, “No matter what your chosen course in life, we want to hear about what’s essential to you. That’s because your imprint on this planet is important and your story holds a special truth. “ I couldn’t agree more.

This is what’s essential to me:

Keeping myself and my family healthy. Yes, I care about the planet. Yes, I care about animals and wildlife. Yes, I care about consuming less and reusing, reducing, and recycling. But honestly, without our health, we can’t give our fullest to any of these other areas. It’s true that it’s a cycle — much of what makes us sick are the toxic chemicals and excessive waste in our environment. By cleaning up and reducing and avoiding the mess, we will become healthier. The folks at Healthy Child, Healthy World believe, “the best way to save the planet is to save ourselves,” because what’s healthy for us is also healthy for the environment.

To keep my family healthy, I reduce our exposure to toxic chemicals and unnecessary hormones and antibiotics wherever possible. To do this, I buy hormone & antibiotic-free meat & dairy products. I avoid pesticides in our food by growing my own or buying organic for at least the Dirty Dozen. I use as few chemicals and fragrances in my house as possible. I clean with non-toxic cleansers and use Earth-friendly (and people-friendly) detergents (or I make my own). I’m careful about the hair & body products we use. I rely on the Skin-Deep Cosmetics Database to determine which products are safest.

Sometimes it feels like a lot of work. But then I try to remember what’s essential: our health. I want my kids to run and play and live long lives free of diseases brought on by man-made, non-regulated chemicals. I want my girls to avoid starting puberty at age 9, like many kids do, because they’ve been exposed to endocrine-disrupting-chemicals through meat, dairy & household products since they were very young.

I don’t always get it right. Sometimes life gets in the way of my good intentions. But I try to focus on what’s essential, and just maybe, we’ll come out a little healthier and happier as a result.

I encourage you to visit the What’s Essential site or the Nordic Naturals Facebook page and post your own entry. The contest runs until April 30, 2012.

About Nordic Naturals: Based in Watsonville, CA, Nordic Naturals is committed to delivering the world’s safest, most effective omega oils to help provide the essentials of a healthy life. Distributing to more than 30 countries, Nordic Naturals offers more than 150 omega-3 products in a variety of flavors and formulations all with leading safety, efficacy and sustainability standards. By providing omega-3 supplements for adults, kids, athletes, and pets, Nordic Naturals helps everyone do more of what they love. Nordic Naturals is a new trusted-partner with Healthy Child, Healthy World.

Sponsors: Studio Press: Genesis & Prose Child Theme

Here at Smart Green Tips, the focus is on saving the planet and saving money. Most importantly, when we do those things, we also save ourselves. Generally, what’s good for the planet is also good for us. But that philosophy uses a wide brush. I’d like to help you narrow it down, help you figure out which changes will have the most impact and which will be easiest to implement.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments, or by email, if you’d prefer. Where are you feeling overwhelmed? What questions do you have? What would make it easier for you?

Photo Credit: cmcgough

Sponsors: Studio Press: Genesis & Prose Child Theme

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Sponsors: Studio Press: Genesis & Prose Child Theme