Healthy Child Healthy World has set up a contest that has become one of the best-kept secrets in online giveaways at the moment. Beyond our personal ties to this great organization and our love for what they do, I have to say to you, as a reader who probably likes free stuff and is proud of something your family does to help the environment, this is a quick and easy contest you really shouldn't miss.

HCHW is collecting videos of what families do to help the environment or family health. You can get the deets on their YouTube page. But here's the thing: The contest ends April 18, has ten prizes including an iPod Touch and a year's supply of Seventh Generation cleaning products, a Flip camcorder, Seventh Generation cleaning products, and the new paperback edition of HCHW's great eponymous resource, Healthy Child Healthy World. They currently have fewer entries than prizes - proof positive that the best giveaways don't always rise to the top as far as online attention is concerned.

We'd have entered ourselves if it weren't for our own ideosyncratic constraints. We are pretty restrictive with what we put online featuring Z - a home policy that has nothing to do with what other people do for and with their kids online, and everything to do with how much exposure Z'd get as a cutie-pie "endorser" of products if we didn't draw that line. (Shudder.) We want her to be able to choose her own path, and we don't want to trade on her charms to advise readers on products we like, or have her associated with a cause or position she has no control over. In other words, unless you are in our exact situation we think you should enter and have fun with this!

Here's one example of the (few) videos they've received so far:



You can do more, or much less, and be proud of your contribution to the conversation. As for those prizes, folks, you really can't get better odds. Videotape your kids sorting plastics or blending up an organic smoothie and you've made what is likely to be a very valuable investment of your time. As the organizers point out, you don't even have to have a video camera - you can use some online software like SlideRoll to create a video from still photos.

Get started here.