Back in September we launched our Starfrit contest offering readers the chance to win a nine-piece eco-friendly cookware set from the company. The response to the contest has been overwhelming, with over 1500 of you answering the daily trivia questions and throwing your name in the pot (there's a little cookware-related humor for your Friday morning).

We were almost sad to close the contest, but all good things must come to an end. Except for our winner, who will begin what we hope is a love affair with green cooking. Heck, maybe we'll even have a hand in inspiring the next Jamie Oliver or - heaven forbid - Hell's Kitchen guru Gordon Ramsay!

To keep the process fair and most importantly, as green as possible, we have eliminated the issue of paper waste by using a random internet selection tool rather than printing off each inidividual name as you would in a traditional draw. Each name has been assigned a number from one through the total number of entries. 

Now the range of numbers has been entered into the custom random number generator at Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies website.

Without either of us looking at the screen I am going to repeatedly hit enter to generate numbers until Cee Bee tells me to stop.

Here we go! Drumroll please....

And what do you know - we have a name!

Without further adieu, our winner is.....

(Of course we'll make you jump to find out!)

...read the rest...

Now that barbeque season is winding down, you'll likely be using your stove and oven a lot more. Though the energy consumption isn't very eco-friendly, you can add some green to the cooking process by using green cookware - like the really awesome options from Starfit that we've been promoting through our super-simple contest. The non-stick cookware produced by the company foregoes the usual addition of toxic chemicals, in favor of Ceram-Eco, a 100% natural ceramic powder that has similar properties to Teflon, minus the release of chemicals into the air (and your food!).

Starfrit was kind enough to provide us with an entire nine-piece set of cookware that we're going to award to one lucky reader. It could easily be you! Visit our contest page after the jump to see the entry form. Besides your contact information, you'll have to answer a quiz question based on information found in one of the stories currently on our homepage (it's easy, we promise!). Fill out the form complete with your answer and submit it. Doesn't that sound super-easy? It sure is!

The only catch is this is the LAST DAY OF THE CONTEST so make sure you get in on the chance to win this awesome prize before it's too late! We'll be drawing a winner on October 10th, so stay tuned this Friday when we announce the contest winner.

Just think of the fantastic fall recipes you'll be able to whip up and impress your family, friends and a significant other with if you win this - don't forget to send some of the results of your culinary expertise to us!

» Ecollo Contest

Hit the jump to see today's quiz question.  Hurry, there's only one day left before the contest closes!  It's your second-to-last chance to win the awesome, eco-friendly Ceram-Eco cookware set from Starfrit!

» Starfrit Contest

That's right, kiddies!  It's hard to believe that our draw for the winner of the 9-piece Starfrit Ceram-Eco cookware set is almost upon us.  We've had thousands of entries so far, but there's still a chance for you to win!  Hit the jump to answer our daily quiz question!

» Starfrit Contest

The food you eat is only as green as the place you prepare it in. You can eat organic or eat local to be more earth-conscious, however if your kitchen is a pit of wasted energy or you aren't even using simple ways to be eco-friendly, then what difference does the "right" food make? Over the past week we've tackled some of the issues and tried to offer some helpful suggestions. Naturally we can't cover every single topic or idea, so if you have any we didn't mention, feel free to share them with us. In the meantime, check out some of the week's best below.

* One of the high points of this week was launching our newest contest! The grand prize is a nifty nine-piece Starfrit cookware set, that is also eco-friendly. All you have to do to enter the contest is answer a trivia question correctly. Come back each day for a new question!

* What items in your kitchen pose the highest risk for leaching potentially toxic bisphenol A? We looked at various kitchen tools to see which you many want to consider replacing in the future.

* Before you flip on your oven, consider trying one of your smaller kitchen appliances to save energy.

* Going green in your kitchen doesn't have to cost you a lot of money or precious time. Check out some of our simple suggestions for doing so.

* Leafy Green has six convincing reasons for you to grow an herb garden in your kitchen. 

* Is it more environmentally-conscious to give your dishwasher a rest or hang up your yellow rubber "dish" gloves?

» Ecollo (The Green Kitchen)

You may have noticed over the past couple of weeks that greener ways of eating is a topic near and dear to the hearts of your resident Ecollo team. We also have a pretty big love for Starfrit eco-friendly cookware, which we've featured on our site in the past. Leafy Green first discovered the company earlier this year when his non-stick frying pan decided to take a permanent vacation and a visit to Wal-Mart in search of a replacement turned up a Starfit pan. We've also been fortunate enough to chat with Starfrit about their products to find out exactly what makes them so earth-conscious.

Now the kind folks at Starfrit have provided a fantastic nine-piece cookware set for us to give away to one lucky reader! The set includes:

☆20 cm fry pan

☆26 cm fry pan with lid

☆three sauce pans - 1.5L, 3L and 5L - all with lids

☆reusable container.

All you have to do to win this awesome set is keeping checking back on Ecollo every day (even weekends!). We'll have a different trivia question each day. Send us the correct answer by midnight MST and you'll be entered into a draw for the grand prize. To increase your chances of winning, tell your friends about the contest and for each one that visits Ecollo that day and enters, we'll give you an extra entry.

Why is Starfrit cookware so fantastic? It is coated with Ceram-Eco, 100% natural ceramic powder that boasts similar non-stick features of Teflon, but without the worry of toxins being released into your food and the atmosphere. The exterior of the pots and pans is made from 99% recycled aluminum and feature bamboo handles. The pans can also withstand heat up to 1000 degrees - that's more than twice what Teflon can handle before it begins to release chemicals. And of course, the packaging of a reusable bin prevents more cardboard boxes from heading to landfills while conveniently providing you with a durable storage container.

So what are you waiting for? Hit the jump to visit the contest page and answer our first trivia question!

» Ecollo Contest