After GladRags was announced as a finalist in Green America's People & Planet Awards, I sent an email out to my friends and family. I'd been pondering what to say on our blog here when it occurred to me that the GladRags community is kind of like my friends and family so it only makes sense that I would share the same email I sent to my grandma, the neighbors I have potlucks with, and my dearest friends, with all of you. You'll find it below.

If we win, we'll use the prize to further our efforts in increasing our environmental sustainability, supporting our partner Empower Women in Africa, and increasing the positive impact we have on our community. I'd love to hear your comments or suggestions about how we can continue to be a business that is, above all, doing right by people and the planet.

Hey friends & family,

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've probably seen this already (and hopefully voted!) but I wanted to make sure everyone saw this.

GladRags was chosen as a finalist out of 250 nominees in Green America's People & Planet Award -- and could win $5,000. But what's more important to me is the opportunity for GladRags to be recognized as a leader of values-driven business. Many of you know that at one point my plan was to be a social worker -- I am lucky that through GladRags I am able to accomplish similar goals, with the same core values of social justice and environmental sustainability, only on a much larger scale!

Everyone can vote for three businesses, so I encourage you to take the time to check out some of the other amazing finalists, too. Ultimately of course, I hope you'll "spend" one of your votes on GladRags. Please feel free to forward this email on to anyone you think would be interesting in voting, too.

You can click here to vote: http://www.greenamerica.org/green-business-people-and-planet-award/

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for supporting green business!

Love,

Tracy