It's here! My big Tu B'Shevat Birthday Party for the Trees is here!
Tu B'shevat is the Jewish holiday celebrating the "new year (or birthday) of the trees." The name comes from the calendar date on which it falls: Tu is the Hebrew equivalent of 15 and Shevat is the Hebrew month in which we are in right now. Tu B'shevat was originally a day when the fruits that grew from that day on were counted for the following year in regard to tithes.
In modern times, it is celebrated as a Jewish "Earth Day" -- celebrating trees, planting trees, and reflecting on environmental and ecological issues. This year, Tu B'Shevat falls on Tuesday, January 22nd, next week.
Over the next week leading up to Tu B'Shevat, I'm celebrating green here at Ima on and off the Bima with a Birthday Party for the Trees!
No party is complete without party favors, so visit all week for giveaways and winners -- giveaways will be posted today, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday so come back each day this week!
Here we go...
My children love books. We have a large collection, they love to read (and chew) on them.
My whole family loves books. But did you ever think of the environmental impact of your books? Books are, of course, made from paper, which comes from trees. A new organization, Eco-Libris, is trying to balance out our books -- planting a tree for every book. They've generously offered to plant 10 trees for one lucky reader, with accompanying stickers to put into your own books to proudly show your "tree offset" and your commitment to the environment. Check them out -- they offer gift cards and easy payment via Paypal. Their blog is full of great greeny stuff.
How can you win?
1. Make a comment here or on any of my Tu B'Shevat posts. Say something nice about trees or the earth. This is your entry! You can enter each day - once per day. Come back and visit all week for this and other giveaways.
2. For an extra entry, post on your blog or tell a friend about this giveaway and Eco-Libris and link back to me. Use my button:
<a href="http://imabima.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc126/imabima/tubshevatparty.jpg" border="0" alt="Birthday Party for the Trees at imabima.blogspot.com"></a>
3. Don't forget to give me a way to get in touch with you if you win!
4. This giveaway ends on Tuesday, January 15th at 9pm Central Time. Winner will be announced Wednesday morning, along with the next Tu B'Shevat Birthday Giveaway!
Come back all week for the Tu B'Shevat Birthday Party and more green green green....hug a tree!
24 comments:
This sounds like a wonderful giveaway. I am a book-a-holic and quite honestly never thought of my mammoth bookshelves as having had such an impact on the environment. And my daughter is 2 and her personal library rivals the actual library in our town.
I don't have a public blog that I can link to, but I will try to send to one person who may be interested.
I love a good party!
I don't think either of my kids are doing much for Tu B'Shvat this year, but my Thursday Thirteen this week will give everyone the skinny :).
Anyone interested in helping to plant trees in Buffalo and its surrounding communities can make a donation to Re-Tree Western New York.
http://www.re-treewny.org/main.html
On October 12-13, 2006 an unusual snow storm hit that left over 18-inches of snow. Because it was so early in the year the trees and leaves were still on the trees the trees collapsed under the weight of the heavy snow.
Literally hundreds of thousands of trees collapsed.
What a wonderful celebration!! I love trees! ;-)
What a great shot -- her eyes are just stunning, so big and blue. And I like the angle of the picture too.
What a great point to make about books and trees...I'm with Amanda, I never thought about the impact all the books that we have impact the trees and environment - definitely another good reason to support the library!
what a nice celebration & a great give-a-way. love the picture, too. those big eyes!
btw: i tried unsuccessfully (twice) to follow your simple link directions in the bsm post. apparently i'm doing something wrong :(.
What a great thought to ponder! Another reason to love our library.
And as far as something nice to say about the earth, the snow falling this morning is beautiful!
I love the angle on that shot! I don't think there's anything better than a child surrounded by books!
what a cute shot. :) love the angle and the love of books.
i'm excited about your tree celebration this week! what a great way to raise awareness. :) i'll be adding your button to my contest page.
Hello, I like how the landscaping around a home can help shade and protect a home. This, in turn, uses less fuel for the home. Thanks,Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
how did I miss this contest-post? Does it really end tomorrow...you will be celebrating all month? I will post your celebration and the story. I love it. Eco -friendly goes back to the beginning of time!! Love this picture...we love to read too!
I loved celebrating Earth Day at school as a kid!
Trees, trees, trees, beautiful trees!
dansan826 at yahoo dot com
We love books too!!!! In fact, we buy most of books 2nd hand, so I like to think we are helping the environment as well as saving $$$. Best place to read a book is under a tree! (there's my tree reference!)HeHe!
We have tons of books and I never thought ecologically about the impact. What a great giveaway!
Love the picture of your little, too. :)
Adorable picture of your sweetie, great perspective! We're book lovers here, too. Most of our books come from the library or thrift store - saves money and trees!
Love the perspective on that shot! We love trees over here, and I have to admit that I've never given much thought to the environmental impact our personal library has. We have A LOT of books!
Awesome idea!
I need to get my own EcoLibris stickers; I'm remiss in this.
What a great idea - I hadn't heard of this before, but it's fabulous!
And I love the picture: any day a kid is having a good time with books is fantastic.
She is gorgeous! I love taking pictures from above. WE love our books and our trees, too!
First, love the photo. Cute and great perspective.
Second, I love books. I love trees. I love the environment. I think your party and the tree planting is an awesome idea.
And thanks for the lesson.
Never even thought that my love of books had such a negative impact on our world...wow. Thanks!!
We've been talking a lot about trees as we always do this time of year. Filling out our forms for JNF in memory of those for whom the kids are named gives us a chance to talk about the earth and those we miss.
i added your button to my contest page. :)
such an adorable photo :) Well done!
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