Today's winner is Heather Rosen of Toronto.

---

It's not easy being green, as the saying goes. Especially when some of the "green" activities we're forced to embrace make some of us feel, well, green – around the gills, that is.My mother was an uneasy convert to Toronto's now highly successful municipal composting program when it was implemented a couple of years ago. For six months prior to the start of the program, she railed against having to scoop out slightly rancid dairy products from their noxious plastic receptacles, then rinsing said containers and putting them in the blue box. Or removing soggy, brown vegetables from the crisper, separating the organic material from the plastic bags, and disposing of each in the proper container. She would shudder and gag each time she read about this impending crisis, as she called it. It was a tough sell. And I had the unfortunate job of trying to change her mind. I am an avid recycler/composter. I am utterly excited at the prospect of collecting discarded food scraps from the bottom of my pet parrot's cage and depositing them in the "green" (composting) bin. Yes, I'm that dedicated. Even obsessive. My mother's generation thought nothing of wearing clothes for a couple of hours and throwing them in the washing machine, or using multiple bath towels only once – for a single shower – and washing them in HOT WATER. (The very thought makes me shudder – even when I stay at hotels, I let the housekeeping service know that I will be using my towels a second time, and that the linens do not need to be changed daily.) After a long uphill battle, I've converted her to a slightly greener lifestyle, though she still insists on using the hot-water wash cycle. Someday that'll change, I hope.

---

Thanks to Heather for sending in her story. Heather wins two adorable organic cotton baby outfits from Alterna Boutique (and yes, you can buy them online) – the Kabuki Kimono top and pants (pictured) and the Zen Plum top and pants. Today's code word: persuasion Read more: • Making greener choices in the kitchen • Make your grocery shopping greener • The benefits of composting