In celebration of Earth Day, Gibson Musical Instruments held a month-long Internet essay contest, with the winner receiving a Gibson Les Paul SmartWood Exotic, the environmentally-friendly guitar.

The winners were selected based on creativity and originality. The Grand Prize winner is Jared M. from Corning, NY. with the following essay:

Drinking in sweet rain filled air, I wander slowly across the pretty Notre Dame campus. Fresh green grass flanks the sidewalk and among the newly budding trees could be seen the pink and white blossoms on a thorny bush at the corner of a buliding. Those passing by in the quad can't help but be drawn in by the splendor of the scene. For me, Earth Day is about so much more than just the planting of trees. Although I have, admittedly, done that too, Earth Day is for me first and foremost about appreciation. We can pass all the legislation in the world and it will all be worthless if we don't take the time to appreciate the world around us. Nature is beautiful -- the smells, the sights,the sounds, the wonders -- they all inspire something in each of us that can't be reached in any other way. But too often, we spend our days walking with our heads down and our hands in our pockets. So for this Earth Day, I took some time to love the Earth, and feasted on the purity and beauty of nature.

Along with this Grand Prize, there are four runners-up prizes featuring exclusive merchandise from Gibson Strings & Accessories. The first runner-up is Malcolm M. of Phoenix, AZ with this essay:

My Earth Day Essay: What do I do to celebrate Earth Day? I give my daughter's little tree deep soaking of water and tree food. So what's so special about my daughter's tree? That is really what this Earth Day story is about: My daughter is now ten years old. On Earth Day when she was three years old, she and I went to the Phoenix zoo, to see the special events they were putting on. As you were leaving the zoo, they had gift bags full of fun stuff for kids. However, my daughter and I love the zoo so much that by the time we left, all of the fun-bags had been given out, and they were making 'make-shift' bags with things that they had left. My daughter got a comic book, some small pieces of candy, crayons (always appreciated!) and a single seed in a folded and stapled plastic envelope. The card that told what sort of seed it was had been lost. We got home, and settled into the comic book and crayons. And then she wanted to plant her seed. Being a grown-up I had little hope of getting a single seed to grow, but we got some potting soil from the garage, and a small pot and planted her seed. A week later it was growing! Her little tree grew out of the pot, and we transplanted it into a larger pot. It lived on the patio for many healthy months, and then it unexpectedly died. I never had the heart to throw it out. But one day early in the spring I noticed that it was starting to grow small buds. And then it hit me! Its not an ever-green type of tree! Here in Phoenix we don't have many trees at all, and of those almost all of them keep their leaves throughout the year; we weren't expecting a tree that didn't! So after 7 years the little tree is still living in a (now huge!) pot on my patio. My daughter lives with her mom now. I am in the process of buying a house, and my daughter made a special trip up to see me to help me find a place in the yard to plant the tree. She won't be here for Earth Day, but we have a special day planned later when we will plant her tree in the new yard. And yes, I'll continue to give her tree a special deep soaking of water and food on Earth Days from here on out. Peace!!!

The second runner-up is Mark T. from Brandon, FL with:

I spent Earth Day travelling on a plane from a convention in Las Vegas back to my home in Tampa. You may not think that flying is particularly good for the Earth and I would agree. However, it does give you an interesting perspective on this planet we live on. As we travelled east, we crossed many natural wonders; the Grand Canyon, the mighty Mississippi river, and countless others. We flew over many man made items too; Hoover Dam, cities, and zillions of miles of asphalt. The point is that what we have created has scarred our planet and precious little remains in a natural state. Seeing this gave me resolve on Earth Day to teach respect and appreciation for our planet. I'm an Assistant Scoutmaster with a Boy Scout troop and I'm committed to teach the next generation how precious our planet is. Earth Day may have "flown" by me but I'm going to make sure that it's a scheduled stop for those that follow.

The third runer-up is Rob G. from Glendale Heights, IL with:

I visited the place I call "Sacred Ground" it is a section of my yard where I have planted over fifty different trees. My grandfather planted the first and we have kept it up. Today I planted one more, added another member to the family. A family that everytime I look at gives me one overwhemling and healing feeling. That no matter what they still stand tall watching over all the children that laugh below. They give all of us hope for a cleaner tomorrow.

And the fourth runner-up with the most humorous entry was Todd L. from Scranton, ND with his song written to the tune of Lola:

I am a small farmer up in Dakota
where they till the ground and feed the cows
al- falfa a-l-f-a falfa
They walk up to me and they buy all my food
and every day is a happy earth day for a farmer
f-a-r-m farmer, fa fa fa fa fa rmer
Well, this earth day like any other time
carin' for the land but don't make a dime.
We do a good job as some can see
But others don't know from where they get their meat.
Well, I'm not the world's most passionate guy,
but when I look at the land, well I almost cry
for the farmer, fa fa fa fa fa rmer ...

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to write truly thought provoking essays, and those of you who made us laugh. If you didn't win, see the Les Paul SmartWood Standard and SmartWood exotics at your nearest authorized Gibson dealer or call 1-800-4GIBSON for more information.