Have you noticed a fancy new red car cruising 15th Ave E? Cruising responsibly in an ecologically friendly way, of course.

We’re told neighbor Margarete Walden won the car and $10 grand for her Pen Pal Project — “an online, interactive pen pal network between American students and students from developing countries. The goal of the network is for students in both countries to encourage each other to lower their individual carbon footprints.”

Much more ambitious than our support of the new Capitol Hill community message boards, no?

We tell you about the Student Conservation Association-sponsored contest for two reasons:
1) A neighbor has done good.
and
2) The folks at the SCA did their homework (ie, excellent Google searching) when it came to issuing a release. We’re so much happier receiving information about honest-to-goodness neighborhood happenings. Nice work SCA.