Well, the August Challenge for Eco All Stars was an exciting one!  It has been fun watching all of the posts come together and to see how we are starting to get out and connect with our communities.  Before we announce the winners, let 's go over what the Challenge was:

With the roll out of the New Localism- janeAnne, Mary and I were all excited about how we can get the word out on GREEN in the Community even more now.  The end result to keep in mind is that Localism will be opened up for anyone to join which is exciting!

Now, what was the criteria?  This is from the Tie breaking post..

Well, we decided to look at the criteria again:

• Must be about your Community-  Yep.
• Have local pictures to associate- Yep.
• Tagged Properly-  That too.
• Grammar and Spelling-  Yes.
• Interesting, Unique and Different- All were that too.

So what can we do for a Tie Breaker?  Oh my, that's tough.

The last item on the Challenge was actually a Bonus.  It was meant from the beginning to help be a tie breaker...so we are revisiting this one.  This is the only part of the criteria that none of the posts had:

• Bonus if it is an interview or otherwise and the local business, etc. comments on the post.  Remember, the end goal of Localism is to get the community involved..i.e. YOUR Community

Also as a reminder, Rich hopped in and sweetened the pot- Here is what everyone and the winners get to look forward to:

You get an Additional 200 Points for Entering: (200 points for writing + 200 = 400)  When the Winners are announced:

• 3nd Place= 200 Points
• 2nd Place= 300 Points
• 1st Place= 500 Points Plus a Shiny Gold Star on the Big Board (AR Feature)

Well, it was really tough judging this Challenge.  All of the posts were phenomenal and really had the spirit of Community in them. 

Now- for the big announcement!!

1st Place goes to Joan Whitebook!  Joan wrote about Lull Farms, a local market that has a real sense of Community and a handful of folks hopped in to talk about their experience there and how much they enjoyed it! 

2nd Place goes to Sylvia Barry!  Sylvia gave Marin County an amazing resource for Recycling and is urging them to have the highest Recyclable Collection Rate and had a Fantastic response from the Community.

3rd Place goes to Mark Hall!  Mark talks about how Green-ness is taking over the Parade of Homes for Clark County this year!  The builder and lender that he met out there both hopped in to show gratitude for the write up. 

Honorable Mention for the Challenge goes out to Diane Aurit. Diane has an awesome post about how Lake Norman is going green and is trying to gather a GREEN, Local online community to really raise awareness in the area.

Everyone who submitted posts did AWESOME!  Did all of you enjoy the Challenge?  Interested in another one?