Superbowl Sunday promises to be a spectacular event this year. Practically Green offers 20 ideas worth a total of 360 points to make your Tailgate Party greener and more fun!
Giants vs. Patriots: Superbowl XLVI (nfl.com)
While the real action is on the field, think of the following as your very own game; the more actions you take, the more points you earn. Enlist your friends to do the same and get a friendly competition going. If we all take some of the actions below, we’re in for a great season where we’re all winners. Go Team Green!
We admit it! Obsessed with SustyParty’s compostable plates and bowls. Order in your team’s colors & toss into the compost without even scraping the food off!
Go Waste Free
Pack your own reusable plates, water bottles, glassware, and utensils: 20 points!
BYO cloth napkins or PeopleTowels: 20 points!
Or use recycled paper napkins and you’ll still get 10 points.
People Towels: We think Coach Belichick would go for the heart tree! Coach Coughlin: "Dream Green"?
Drink And Eat Sustainably
Fill your (reusable) bowl with organic or at least more natural chips and snacks, snag 10 points.
Drink wisely – celebrate touchdowns with organic and/or local beer (10 points), hydrate with filtered tap water in a reusable bottle (10 points), and stay awake and warm with organic coffee (20 points). You winos want to look for eco-friendly wine (20 points). Jack your score by 10 more points when you recycle the corks — and add a big 50 when you recycle the bottles!
Whew! Is it half time yet? If you’ve done ALL of those actions, you’ve got 180 POINTS already!
More:
Fire up your grill with eco-friendlier briquettes (10 points) and cook up some sustainably raised meat (another whopping 50 points!) and/or organic veggies (50 more!). Who knew eating guacamole could be SO extra-green?
Southwestern Layered Bean Dip: one of a zillion drooly ideas on EatingWell's special Superbowl recipe collection
If you’re a sausage fan, definitely throw some of Applegate Farms’ organic hot dogs (10 points) on the grill. Do you have a solar-powered grill/oven? Our friends Corey and Lynn of Celebrate Green swear by them — they’ve got another 20 points each!
Applegate Farms cheezy bacon organic hotdog: Yes, please!
Clean Consciously
Before you chow down, clean your hands with a natural hand sanitizer or hand soap and score another 10 points.
When the game is over, recycle everything in sight. We already mentioned bottles; beer cans count for another 20 points!
Wipe up spills and degrease the grill with a natural all-purpose cleaner for 10 points, not to mention reduced air pollution.
That’s a total of 360 points! Sounds like a nice round number to us. How’d you do? If you’ve got more ways to Green up Superbowl Sunday, please post them or drop us a line. (Hmmm, maybe Practically Green should give points for suggesting new actions?)
Not everyone can win a fancy Superbowl ring, but we can ALL be Practically Green!
Avoid food packaging and cling wrap containing PVC.
We’ve been obsessed with tasty healthy food all week: lobster rolls, salmon, and sushi; takeout craves you can just as well make at home; hormone-free burgers and chili; and even roasted potato dominos. YUM yum yum. Now let’s get serious: what about the stuff that TOUCHES your food when you store it, transport it, or reheat it? Today’s action rewards you for choosing anything but PVC to wrap and reheat your food!
If you know of cooler storage-bowl covers, please let us know asap. For now our favorite is this set from Hunter Gatherer. Only possible drawbacks: 1) they're not organic cotton; 2) they're flown from the UK. But still. We love them.
Beaba Multiportion Baby Food Freezer Tray... not just for babies! Grown-up pesto will freeze gorgeously in these BPA-free trays.
Cling wrap is an easy solution for leftovers and a common packaging material. But not all plastic wraps are alike: some are polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which environmental groups like Greenpeace refer to as “poison” plastic. From manufacture to disposal it’s highly toxic—for humans and for the earth. Traces of the chemicals used to make it pliable can migrate into food, especially things that are fatty or warm (never microwave plastic, especially PVC!). Exposure to PVC has been linked to dizziness, headaches, asthma, liver damage, brain/nervous system damage, and increased cancer risk. People who work in or live near PVC factories have it the worst.
Here's another cool idea: Laurie David's PVC-free shower cap solution, featured in The Family Dinner. Rinse caps after using to cover food and dry them on the window sill!
PVC is particularly difficult to dispose of as it is made with heavy metals like lead and cadmium; less than 1 percent of it is recycled.
Use empty glass containers & bottles to store food--or splurge on this set from Williams Sonoma!
Ask your grocery store what kind of wrap they use, especially for meats and cheeses. If it’s PVC, encourage them to change to safer plastic #4. Get your neighbors to speak up; there’s nothing like positive pressure for green and healthy changes!
Great Deal: Pyrex storage containers. These bowls are a great alternative to plastic wrap or plastic containers for food storage. They are safe for use in oven, microwave (take the plastic tops off!), refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher.
To minimize exposure, shop for minimally packaged food and things that come in glass; PVC is also found in plastic trays, candy bar wrappers, and bottles.
At home, store food in glass, stainless steel, or lead-free ceramic containers instead of plastic. If you’re going to use plastic wrap, check to see what yours is made of (“3″ or “V” denotes PVC). But truly, a safe plate over a safe bowl tucked in the fridge does the trick.
- Practically Green: Smart Shopping and Conscious Living with Alexandra Zissu
- Green Living Tips: PVC and the environment
- Healthy Child Healthy World: Shopper’s Guide to Plastics & Food: Cling Wrap
- BeSafeNet: PVC The Poison Plastic
- President’s Cancer Panel: Eat Organic, Avoid Plastics
- Rodale.com: Plastic-Free February
- Greenpeace: The Poison Plastic
- PG Picks! Eco-friendly packaging, Laugh Green, efficient factory, green date ideas, nature and architecture, and cool green products
- U.S. Weighs Cancer Risk of Styrene and Formaldehyde
GLAD says that they do not use any PVC in their products. They also say their products are BPA-free.
Vegetarians, vegans, and pescatarians have the day off. But those of us who love eating meat from time to time are invited to Buy Meat that is Raised Using Sustainable Farming Methods: and boost your score by 50 points! (Vegetarians already have 200 points! And weekday vegetarians have 100 points! See dozens of Food actions here.) Leading up to Superbowl Sunday, we’re looking forward to buffalo wing platters, chili bowls, and an alternative boeuf bourgignon along with everyone. Today’s action encourages you to be picky about the meat in those tasty recipes: Buy Meat Raised Using Sustainable Farming Methods.
By the way, Practically Green’s actions are written by our editorial director Alexandra Zissu, the author of The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat (among other books), so rest assured this is prime tenderloin info.
The word sustainable is widely used in natural food circles. Unlike USDA organic, it isn’t government defined or third party certified. It signifies a lot: healthy farming practices that don’t harm the environment, humane animal treatment, support of farming communities, fair wages and treatment for laborers. But in order to know what is truly meant by sustainable, and if you can trust it, you need to know your producers. Since sustainable meat is local meat, it’s pretty easy to ask questions of your farmer. Good subjects to raise include farming practices (i.e. if they’re using pesticides and fertilizers for the animal’s feed), drug use (i.e. are they administering hormones and non-therapeutic antibiotics to their animals), and general questions about how the animals spend their days. Just because something is local doesn’t mean it is automatically sustainable.
There are many benefits to meat from sustainably raised local animals: it’s usually safer and better for you and the environment, and its transportation footprint can be considerably less than its factory-farmed and mass distributed counterparts.
Smart shortcut: buy Applegate Farms meat products... totally know where each product came from (as in what farm, what town)... and enter their recipe contests on Facebook!
The biggest challenge related to buying sustainably raised meat is finding the good stuff. The process of figuring out what is truly sustainable and where you can buy it can take some time. But it’s very worthwhile. And well-raised meat is becoming increasingly available as consumer demand grows—in butcher shops, farmers’ markets, CSA-style meat shares directly from farms, natural food stores, and even in some supermarkets.
Get your grill on with healthy burger recipes at EatingWell.com!
Browse the recommended links to locate farms near you that are producing sustainably raised meat.
- Bookmark This Site: EatWild.com
- Grist: USDA Inspector General–Meat Supply Routinely Tainted With Harmful Residues
- Sustainable Table: Serving Up Healthy Food Choices
- Practically Green Book Pick: The Butcher’s Guide To Well Raised Meat
- Bookmark This Site: Farm Fresh Directory
- PracticallyGreen.com: Meat Advice To Live By–Alexandra Zissu Introduces Her New Book, “The Butcher’s Guide To Well-Raised Meat”
- Environmental Working Group: 2011 Meat Eaters Guide to Climate Change + Health
Reduce Takeout Meals to Once a Week or less
You’ve been working hard, you’re too tired to cook, it’s so easy to dial up a pizza or shrimp pad thai. We know. We love takeout too. It’s probably not a great idea for counting calories, and it’s not so economical either, but it is terribly convenient to have someone else make dinner — and deliver it, too. You don’t have to lift a finger! We know… but this action may encourage you to think twice before placing your next takeout order.
The National Restaurant Association states nearly a third of adults say takeout food is essential to the way they live. And a survey by the Institute of Food Technologists shows that while 75 percent of Americans eat dinner at home, half of those meals are fast food, delivery, or takeout. Fewer than a third cook dinner from scratch.
Shrimp pad thai recipe from Food52's "9 Takeout Classics, Done at Home"
Reducing how often you rely on takeout is a good green idea. It’s the rare restaurant delivering takeout made from carefully sourced ingredients—local, organic, free of hormones, antibiotics, and pesticide residues, and trans fats. When you make your own food, you control what’s in it. This is healthiest for you, your farmers, and the earth we all share.
Planning a Superbowl Tailgate? Whip up these Jalapeño Poppers from EatingWell!
Then there’s the waste. According to CleanAir.org, the U.S. population tosses out enough paper bags, plastic cups, forks, and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times. Many (often nonrenewable) resources go into making these, we use them for mere moments, and then they clog our landfills for hundreds of years. And questionable chemicals in these one-use items get into your dinner; some of the grease-repellant coatings used in pizza boxes contain PFOA, a likely human carcinogen.
Make your own meals instead of ordering takeout. If you prefer not to daily, try for once a week, then build up. Bonus: you’ll save money.
Imagine your 4-star takeout served from this spiffy stainless-steel To-Go ware... buy from Reuseit.com
To cook, you must grocery shop. Check out farmers’ markets and natural food stores near you. Make large batches so you can have takeout-esque leftovers to reheat the following evening.
When you DO order takeout, why not look for someplace that loves to use fresh local ingredients, like Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville, MA
Choose Safe Seafood. Back in the day if you craved seafood, the conundrum was: salmon or tuna? Now it’s: wild vs. farmed, is it sustainably caught, and crucially—is it safe? How much mercury (a neurotoxin) and PCBs (chemicals deemed probably carcinogenic by the EPA that persist despite being banned in 1978) do you want to serve for dinner?
Salmon from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
The bad news: our waterways serve as a sewer system for our environmentally destructive behavior–chemical runoff, factory dumping, plastic waste, garbage, settled air particle pollution, and even what we pour down household drains contaminate fish and aquatic life. Some hormone disrupting chemicals have even managed to feminize wild male fish; they’re able to grow eggs.
Give your sushi choices a grilling at blueocean.org!
The good news: there’s no need to give up on lobster rolls! There are still safe, environmentally ok, and tasty choices to be had. The best is wild, sustainably caught, low contaminated, and local (if your waterways aren’t too polluted). Farmed fish is trickier; it may be fed hormones, antibiotics, feed containing animal byproducts, and flesh-coloring dyes.
There is presently no USDA organic certification for seafood. Consulting a safe seafood guide is a must. The best of these blend sustainability and overfishing concerns with government seafood safety advisories. Remember: the pregnant and the young are most vulnerable.
Avoid imported fish from China and countries known to have contaminated waters and unsustainable fishing methods. Check country of origin labels.
Shop where you know and trust your fishmonger. Buying off a boat is ideal. For supermarket counters, consult Greenpeace’s helpful yearly scorecard.
Check the Greenpeace Supermarket Scorecard: easy!
From the Food & Water Watch Smart Seafood Guide
Greenpeace’s Sustainable Seafood Supermarket Scorecard
Supermarkets play a big part in the future of our fragile oceans, so Greenpeace has rated popular supermarkets in terms of their seafood sustainability. Find out how your store stacks up and shop accordingly.
Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone
Ensure that your seafood purchase is sustainable by dialing Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone. Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question, and they’ll send a text back with their assessment and recommended alternatives. Great for standing in front of a fish counter or texting while reading a restaurant menu. There is also an iPhone app available.
Greener Choices Seafood Buying Guide
Published by the people behind Consumer Reports, this online guide provides recommendations on how to avoid buying contaminated fish and tips on how to buy seafood.
The Environmental Defense Fund’s Pocket Seafood Guide
Your seafood choices matter! Many popular seafood items are fished or farmed in environmentally destructive ways, this handy pocket guide helps you make smart choices about the seafood you buy. It also considers health hazards.
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guide
Another great pocket guide that you can download to keep on hand the next time you head to the market. They have a comprehensive list of ‘Best Choices,’ ‘Good Alternatives,’ and fish to ‘Avoid.’
Food & Water Watch’s Smart Seafood Guide
Food & Water Watch analyzed over 100 different fish and shellfish to create a guide that assesses not only the human health and environmental impacts of eating certain seafood, but also the socio-economic impacts on coastal and fishing communities. Download the pocket guide.
- NRDC: Mercury Contamination — A Guide To Staying Healthy
- EPA: Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
- Practically Green Book Pick: The Conscious Kitchen by Alexandra Zissu
- NPR: Author Paul Greenberg On The Future Of Wild Fish
- The New York Times: A Seafood Snob Ponders The Future Of Fish
- Ted.com: Dan Barber — How I Fell In Love With A Fish
- The New York Times: Another Side Of Tilapia, The Perfect Factory Fish
- Consumer Reports: Mystery Fish–The label Said Red Snapper, The Lab Said Baloney
Who doesn’t want to save money? Here’s a great way to do it with sustainability in mind: join Practically Green’s Frugalista Sprint! Starting today and through the end of the month, we’re checking off actions for the Frugalista badge. Frugalista badge? Yes, it’s that adorable little pink pig that you see on your PG dashboard when you’ve completed 25 of these actions!
The Frugalista badge rewards you for taking actions that save money while promoting a healthy green life. Some are beyond easy and others require an up front investment, but all will save you money in the long term.
Today’s action: Switch to cloth napkins at home regularly. Frankly this couldn’t be easier. We’re invetrate cloth napkin users and we’ve peppered this post with great suggestions on how to embrace cloth napkins at your house. You could use a favorite old shirt (clean!) as a napkin. More ideas—including why it’s worth the bother—right here:
Using cloth napkins that you wash and reuse instead of paper napkins that you use once and throw away saves natural resources (trees!) and helps minimize the amount of garbage you contribute to landfills. Science backs up this common sense choice: in a life-cycle assessment (this is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts of a product or process) of cloth versus paper napkins, Treehugger’s Pablo Paster declared cloth the winner with about ½ the total impact.
Set of 6 linen napkins with a different gentle admonishment on each... irresistible! From Etsy.
May we suggest: "No texting at the table"?
The same assessment found linen to be more eco-friendly than cotton, in terms of both energy and water used. Any way you look at it, reusable napkins beat paper hands down. If the cloth napkins happen to be linen, vintage, or organic cotton, so much the better. Bonus: cloth makes for a prettier table.
Would you like to have a handy napkin for picnics & take-out? Try PeopleTowels! Choose from dozens of fab designs on derrière-soft organic cotton.
Prowl eBay if your Grammy didn't give you elegant linen napkins.... these transform your table, easy to launder when you line dry!
Pull out those cloth napkins that sit in a drawer waiting for special occasions and put them to use every day. Don’t have any? Stock up. You may need more napkins than you think if you use them regularly.
PG Tip: Assign everyone in the family their own very special napkin ring.... that way they keep track of their cloth napkin all week long!
To use the least amount of cloth napkins as well as laundry, assign each family member a napkin ring. That way you will know whose is whose. Have everyone hold onto his or her napkin until it truly needs a wash or to the end of the week.
Wash napkins in cold water with other clothes so the load is full.
New Year’s Eve! Celebrating, parties, and libations—including wine and champagne: CORKS! Why not plan to recycle yours instead of throwing them into the trash?
1915 English magazine illustration of a lady riding a Champagne cork (Lordprice Collection; Wikipedia)
Harvesting cork from trees Photo taken by Patrick Spencer, director of Cork ReHarvest
Cork is a highly sustainable material. It’s natural, renewable, and biodegradable. It’s also recyclable.
When you recycle cork, you extend its useful life. The material is diverted from a landfill (where, because of overstuffed conditions, even biodegradable items rarely biodegrade) and is (re)used in a wide range of products including floor tiles, place mats, dart and memo boards, and coasters. Reusing cork for these items means not having to harvest and import new material from overseas, which saves energy and reduces carbon emissions.
On Earth Day 2011, Anthropologie & the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance teamed on amazing displays in hundreds of store windows
Cork forests are said to absorb millions of tons of C02 yearly and provide vast quantities of oxygen. Though they’re considered among the most sustainably harvested forests in the world, minimizing the extraction of new cork by reusing what is already available protects them.
PG Tip: Select a nice bowl to collect corks
To locate cork drop-off locations near you, check out the sites listed below. Your local Whole Foods may also have a cork recycling bin.
Set up a spot in your kitchen where you keep your wine corks. Almost 60 percent of the world’s cork is used in wine bottles, so this is likely what you’ll be recycling.
If you’re crafty, you can even try making your own cork bulletin board.
Wine Cork Serving Tray (Etsy.com)
Bookmark This Site: ReCORK America
Bookmark This Site: Cork ReHarvest
Mongabay.com: How Cork Helps Forests And Biodiversity
PlanetGreen.com: Recycle Your Corks With ReCORK America
PracticallyGreen.com: How To Declutter Your House To Prepare For Sale
Give your corks to someone crafty? We found this 16" wreath on Etsy
Okay, now that you’ve nailed the first two New Year’s Resolutions*, here’s a reward: 10 points for eating chocolate that’s delicious, doesn’t contain chemicals, and treats workers fairly.
Dagoba Lavender Blueberry organic chocolate bar
Chocolate! What’s not to love? Well, as it turns out, conventional chocolate production is hard on the rain forest and harder on workers (some of them children).
Conventional cocoa plantations, like most farms, use large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers. They harm the environment and can remain in chocolate. Organically farmed cocoa isn’t permitted to use these synthetic chemicals.
There are a few cacao-specific things to consider as well before your unwrap a bar and devour it. It, like coffee, is a shade tree. To increase production, large plantations cut down the rain forest canopy in an effort to grow trees in direct sunlight. Beyond damaging the forest, this increases the need for chemicals. Many organic chocolates come from shade grown cacao grown on small farms. Some of these farms are also fair trade.
Mmmmm, dark chocolate with hints of orange and spice that's made with Fair Trade Certified Organic Cocoa & Sugar
Taza's 100% USDA certified organic chocolates are handcrafted in small batches from a single origin
Chocolate, coffee, caramel, and salt all in one!
USDA certified organic chocolate is widely available at supermarkets as well as natural food shops. Taste a bunch to see what you like (tough work but someone has to do it!).
A benefit of organic chocolate is that it won’t contain artificial colors or flavors. Go dark enough and it can almost be considered health food.
If you want a fair trade chocolate, look for the label.
As we write, 8 products are live recommendations on Practically Green. For example:
Would you like to buy one? Please do! How about rating it? Simply go to the action page and click click to give your thumbs up.
Do you have a product to suggest? From the same action page, click this button:
Product specialist Rebecca Sama will be delighted to test your suggestion and put it through her no-nonsense approval procedure! (Munch, chomp, YUM.)
Organic Fair Trade Vegan Chocolate Cherry Hearts.. great gift, but you might eat it first!
This gourmet very dark chocolate bar is certified organic, fair trade & contains no soy products.
Organic Dark Chocolate w/ Cacao Nibs, Yacon & Acai. Endangered Species Chocolate
And don’t forget the cocoa!
We found a truly droolicious recipe for hot chocolate at EatingWell.com
*New Year’s Resolution #1: Use Reusable Shopping Bags Regularly
*New Year’s Resolution #2: Turn Off the Lights When You Leave a Room
No matter what you’re celebrating, family time and school vacation means a busy kitchen!
Cooking Quesadillas ChopChopMag.org
You can tell we’re obsessed with great healthy food on Practically Green. We follow lots of foodies to stay inspired and informed @practicallygrn; e.g., @EatingWell, @WholeFoodsPR, @CKummer, @barry_estabrook, @Food52, @famdinner. We can never resist a new cookbook. Some of our favorites this year:
The Art of Eating Well won 2011 James Beard Award for best Healthy Focus cookbook
Check out Alice Waters’s EdibleSchoolyard project
Thank you, Corby Kummer, for pointing out two excellent books for leftovers, aka recycling food:
And one from last year that’s truly stained/beloved by now:
We had a Q & A with Sally Sampson of ChopChop magazine to get psyched to involve friends and relatives and have a great time in the kitchen this season–not just eating and drinking but also dreaming up menus and helping to prepare.
PG: Lots of families will be home together during the school vacation and what better time to get cooking! Please give us a few pointers.
ChopChop: Cooking is one of the best ways for families to bond. It’s also a great way for kids to take ownership of their health. ChopChop’s mission is to educate kids to cook and be nutritionally literate. The first step in this process is getting kids excited about spending time in the kitchen and making them an integral part of meal preparation. To draw them in, let them pick what you will make together. Show kids what to do, and then let them do it themselves or with help, when necessary. Even very young children can measure, pour and stir. Make sure each young chef has an age appropriate task that let’s them feel that they are part of the process.
Baked Veggy Frittata
PG: What are some recipes that families can do together for fun meals — e.g., dinner where everyone does something, even smaller kids.
ChopChop: Recipes that involve everyone are the most exciting for families. Our Baked Vegetable Fritatta is an example of this. An older child can help chop vegetables and grate cheese (organic, if possible!). A younger child can measure out ingredients and help crack the eggs. Either can help stir the vegetables and add ingredients. Adults can move the dish from stovetop to oven, and everyone can eat it.
PG: Looking ahead to the New Year, what are some great recipes and strategies for bringing delicious lunches to school and work?
ChopChop: Try this great recipe for lemony hummus (from White House chef Cris Comerford) spread onto a wrap and filled with turkey and cheese. We also had a romaine lettuce roll up filled with hummus, vegetables, pumpkin seeds and rice. Many of these wraps and sandwiches can be made with leftovers right after dinner. Salads are always easy, but make sure the dressing is in a separate container so it doesn’t get soggy. Remember that salad doesn’t have to be just lettuce and vegetables.
Lettuce Roll-Up
Don’t give your kids food you don’t think they should be eating! Sit down with them and make a list of what they want and plan lunch options together. Put in a few different textures and flavors for variety-some crunchy (carrots or peppers), some chewy (dried fruit), some sweet (apple sauce) and some spicy (like our spiced pumpkin seeds).
Many of these recipes are available under the lunch section at chopchopmag.org.
Getting ready for some serious year-end partying? Consider using biodegradable or recycled tableware!
No matter what you’re celebrating, you can kiss goodbye the cheezy paper party supplies. SustyParty has amazing hand-stamped and colorful compostable plates and cups, just in time for your year-end bashes.
Every once in a while, reusable plates are truly not an option. Unless you have a lot of like-minded guests who would be happy to BYO table settings (a rare but fantastic group of people!), the next best option is to look for party goods made of recycled plastics or bio-based materials. Choosing either minimizes waste as well as the consumption of fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource.
Compostable hand-stamped star cup made of sugarcane bagasse
Heart cups “These babies are also tough: microwave, freeze or put boiling liquid on 'em”
Jessica Doubilet and Emily Holsey met each other at a party (where else) in New York, and they’ve teamed up on a terrific inventory of cool party products that won’t add stress to groaning landfills.
“We wanted to bring FUN to sustainability.”
Plates are compostable & recyclable. Colored w/ natural dyes. Made of tapioca, potato, and grass.
At the end of the day, we ask ourselves: Will this product be good for the environment, the people who made it, and the people who will use it? We also screen our products for these specific standards.
Organic party crown is machine washable, comes w/ a pack of attachable felt shapes: critters (see fish in photo), flowers and numbers 0-9. Update age year after year!
All products must meet at least three of these attributes: renewable (made from a renewable resource); compostable (it biodegrades in 180 days); recycled (made from mostly recycled content); regulated (3rd party verifications and certifications such as Fair Trade or B Corp or Cradle to Cradle); green energy (produced by green energy); made in the USA; durable; non-toxic; artisanal producer.
Shop by color, theme, category, or material
Picture one of these non-toxic, biodegradable straws in your next peach rum colada!
Watch for an expanded product line in 2012 (hint: wedding) and check out their blog for updates; join SustyParty on Facebookand follow them @sustyparty.
P.S. Don’t forget to recycle the corks!
And click here for a quick reminder of 11 sustainable party tips:
It’s getting down to the wire for holiday gifts! When you’re rushing, it’s so tempting to just go to any store, buy the first thing you see that’s mildly appropriate, and be done with it. But that’s how you wind up kicking yourself saying “Why did I get that [insert word: unhealthy, energy-sucking, clutter-inducing] thing. What was I thinking!?!” Even if you’re in a rush, there are good, healthy, and green choices out there.
1. Look for new-to-you vintage goods on eBay. This doesn’t have to mean antique. We know of 3 PG team members who bought from eBay this holiday season: a stainless-steel Calphalon pasta cookset; Hanna Andersson kids’ clothes made from organic cotton; and, in a frenzy, a basket full of outstanding designer scarves and neckties in perfect condition. They all cost less and earn health & stuff points on Practically Green. And psst, this Mrs. Claus is a firm believer in picking up a little something for herself… found an amazing pair of Prada boots on eBay — and miraculously they fit!
2. Opt for durable, safe materials for clothes, including organic cotton or other natural fibers. It’s not just Hanna Andersson. Brands like Patagonia, Nau, Levi’s, and Eileen Fisher use organic cotton in some of their clothing. Seek out local designers using organic materials at holiday arts and crafts fairs in your area.
Nau vest has a recycled polyester shell
3. Towels and sheets come in organic materials, too, and they make lovely gifts. Gaiam is a trusted source, and The Company Store, L.L.Bean, and Target all offer versions.
Won't you sleep better on organic cotton? This bedding is from The Comapny Store.
4. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: a DIY seltzer machine is a gift that keeps on giving! Make your own sparkling water is a complete no-brainer once you’ve got a Soda-Stream penguin.
5. Stuff a reusable bottle into your beloveds’ (reusable) stockings! Have someone on your list who would switch, but complains about bulk? Check out Vapur’s foldable, flat, BPA-free water bottle — so easy! you can buy it or lots of other choices right from the PG action page.
6. Got kids? Give toys made from sustainably harvested and renewable wood. Our users have suggested several great options! One of our favorite playthings ever:
Wooden Play Kitchen from HazelNut Kids keeps children busy for days on end
7. Doesn’t your home deserve a gift, almost any day of the year? We fell for this Plumen CFL bulb. Magical! (… even though we do, philosophically, prefer LEDs.)
Plumen bulb transforms Restoration Hardware shade!
8. If your skin feels a bit dry and neglected after all this shopping, treat yourself to a fabulous Weleda product — or two: our favorite is a squidge of rose oil with a dollop of aloe cream, mix together in the palm of your hand and stroke your deserving epidermis.
9. We’ve said it before and we’re saying it again: Experiences make great gifts! Whether it’s a local theatre production, a day at the slopes, a membership to a museum, or a gift certificate for a local farm to table restaurant—these are low impact gifts that often can be ordered right from your laptop.
What a wonderful gift: ski trip to Sugarbush!!
P.S. If your gift recipient would like to get inspiring communiques like this one on a regular basis, please take him or her by the hand to Practically Green! Registered users receive a timely letter from our team every week. And thank you for subscribing to our blog!
Close friends of Practically Green know the story: Susan’s son Hunter was diagnosed with myriad allergies, she went crazy trying to find reliable clear information to make her household healthy and green, and she decided to create a LEED for Life: Practically Green.
Challenges remain. For example: how to stock up on candy and special treats that are safe for everyone, family, guests, visitors. Ta Da! A few weeks ago, Susan found a wonderful site called the Natural Candy Store. This small California company is run by two sisters, Dawn and Irene, and their mom Molly. You can see their favorite candy here.
For example, Caramella Vegan Salted Caramels, $13.95. Ingredients: Organic unrefined cane sugar, organic coconut milk, organic agave nectar, organic cocoa butter, organic dark chocolate (organic cocoa mass, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, natural vanilla), organic coconut oil, sea salt.
Our customers have a variety of lifestyle and dietary needs – natural, organic, vegan, gluten-free, allergen-free, corn syrup-free, kosher, food dye sensitivities, fair-trade, GMO-free, etc…. they pay very close attention to ingredients. We work hard to provide as much information as possible about each item, including a complete ingredients list…. We want to make it easy for anyone, whatever their special dietary requirement, to find candy they can eat and feel good about eating.
The increasing incidence of conditions like ADHD and autism is also a significant factor. Many parents find that a diet free of artificial ingredients reduces symptoms, with research suggesting artificial colors and preservatives do indeed increase hyperactivity in children. Sugar always gets blamed for making kids hyper, but the research has never supported that — it’s probably all the artificial, petroleum-derived artificial colors and flavors that usually goes along with sugar that’s the real culprit!
Find out what food you buy regularly that contains artificial sweeteners (5 points on Practically Green)
Find out what food you buy regularly that contains artificial colors and flavors (10 points)
Find out what food in your house has artificial preservatives in it (5 points)
Choose organic or natural candy as a treat (10 points)
What makes this frosting blue? Cabbage!
Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans w carrot juice concentrate
Let’s stop talking and start ordering and enjoying! Dawn promises excellent customer service, and expedited deliveries are available for last-minute types.
Bonus: choose free samples with every order.
Cruise through the Candy Store guided by this key
Did we mention salted caramels? From Dawn’s description:
Enrobed in award winning milk chocolate & sprinkled with grey sea salt. Wrapped in festive holiday label! This simple & beautiful caramel highlights the richness of true Madagascar vanilla beans. From the first and only organic & fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US!
Size Information: Each 1.83oz/52g box contains 4 caramels.
Ingredients: Sugar**, cream (milk)*, non-GMO corn syrup*, cocoa beans**, milk powder*, butter (milk)*, cocoa butter**, grey sea salt, ground vanilla bean*. *Organic **Organic & Fair Trade
Organic info: USDA Certified Organic
Theo Salted Caramels, Organic & Fair Trade
Last but not least, the Hangover Drops from England are miraculous, according to Dawn: “These all-natural, curative candies taste like yummy fruit punch (non-alcoholic, of course!).” Ingredients: Sugar, glucose syrup, citric acid, ginseng, natural flavors: bramble, lemon, orange, raspberry, rosehip, natural color: beetroot red.
Find them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @cleancandy
Perfect timing: just when we were beginning to obsess about all the egregious waste and outright landfill tossing that happens at this time of the year, along comes Robin Freedman with her tips on Waste Management for the Holidays:
Robin Freedman
“If each of us took a few small steps to reduce the waste we produce or increase the amount of materials we recycle during the holidays, we’d save a large amount of materials, energy and landfill space. There’s tons of ways to cut back on waste at this time of the year, or in any season!”
Robin works for Waste Management, headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. It’s the largest “environmental services provider” in North America, so they know a thing or two about trash. WM looks at waste as a resource, focuses on how to turn around materials in the waste stream, and finds ingenious ways to repurpose waste – into new materials, as energy, and via conversion technologies. Here are her ideas for bringing waste management to your life, with links to Practically Green so you can watch these actions contribute to your score.
1) Composting can reduce the amount of organic waste produced in the home. Holiday meal preparation can generate a large amount of potato peels, fruit rinds, coffee grinds, other vegetable waste and eggshells, that can all be composted. A new compost bin filled with homemade treats can make a great gift for those looking to take recycling to the next level.
2) If you have a fresh tree, garland or wreaths, be sure to recycle them when the holidays are over. Check Earth911’s Christmas tree recycling center for local tree collection and recycling opportunities.
3) If getting your holiday decorations out of storage makes you ask yourself where you’ll find space to put them away in January, maybe it is time to clean out the attic or basement. Before you throw things away, consider whether an item still has a service life and is acceptable for donation to an organization such as the local Value Village or Goodwill Services.
4) Thousands of paper and plastic shopping bags end up in landfills every year. Reduce the number of bags thrown out by bringing reusable cloth bags for holiday gift shopping. Tell store clerks you don’t need a bag for small or oversized purchases.
5) When packaging gifts, consider reduced or no-waste wrapping options. Put a reusable bow on the gift; place the gift in a reusable bag such as a backpack or purse; or package small, themed gifts in a larger item – such as plates or tableware in placemats or a tablecloth or kitchen utensils in an apron or decorative dishtowel. Also, you can use last year’s wrapping as packaging material.
6) Make your own wrapping paper by using old maps, posters or pages from the newspaper or magazines. Recycled-content wrapping paper is also available. Save bags and bows to use again and be sure to recycle the newspapers or brown paper shopping bags after the gift is opened, or use it for padding when shipping gifts.
7) Consider giving no-waste gifts, such as music or sports lessons, memberships to a gym, the philharmonic or a museum, favors like babysitting or tickets to a sporting event or concert. Find out the gift recipient’s favorite charity and make a donation in his or her honor, or commit to volunteering with that organization.
With a little imagination and commitment, we can use this holiday season to create new traditions that help preserve the environment. For more information about Waste Management’s comprehensive list of recycling services, visit www.thinkgreenfromhome.com.
Truck picks up the Bagster, literally!
P.S. if you’re still looking for a very special gift for that certain someone, consider a Bagster – WM’s Dumpster in a Bag! It’s a 4’ x 2’ x 8’ collection bag, perfect for the DIY guy or gal on your list. Why’s it green? It takes the place of a metal dumpster, which has to be fetched off your premises one at a time; a truck can haul off 12 Bagsters in a single trip for proper disposal. Find out more at Bagster’s thriving Facebook page.
Searching for a way to say I love you, I really really love you?
As in, I really love you enough to stop texting and actually make you something? Even if I’m not a world-class artist?
Solution! Make a homemade card instead of buying a new one
String of lights is sewn across these cards; each light is cut from a magazine. Found on Etsy.com
Who doesn’t love receiving a homemade card? Not only do they really show someone you care, but also making cards by reusing paper and materials you already have around the house reduces the consumption of natural resources. You’ll save money, too.
Cookie cutter cards seen on MarthaStewart.com
While there are eco-friendlier greeting cards on the market, making them involves manufacturing emissions as well as the impact of transporting the cards from factories to stores—even if they’re printed with the best possible ink on 100 percent recycled-content and/or FSC-certified paper. DIY cards made from recycled scraps have a much lower footprint. By some estimates, not sending 50 cards a year (holidays plus birthdays add up!) saves five pounds of waste and 1,000 pounds of emissions.
These Holiday Santa cards at Etsy.com are made of upcycled napkins
Get creative. If you’re not, never fear, there is plenty of inspiration to be had online. The only thing to avoid is buying new materials to make your cards. That defeats the purpose!
Try taking paper you’ve only used on one side and decorating over the printed part. Use that stash of old greeting cards you might already have lying around. The recycling bin is a great source for images, letters, and photographs—from magazines, catalogs, kids’ drawings, and newspapers. Cut and paste these onto your card.
Special scissors create cute mini cards on Etsy.com
Buttons, beads, glitter, and more give any card pizzazz. Or head to the yard for leaves, flowers, and feathers.
If you’re an artist—or live with a young budding one—drawing and painting pictures and designs is always nice, especially with eco-friendly paint.
Here are a few of our Useful Links – for the full list, click to the PG action page!
Making-Handmade-Cards.com: Card Making Ideas
Treehugger.com: Does Green Greeting Cards Mean E-Greeting Cards?
Do you have a product or link to recommend? (Wink wink to @EcoKaren of EcoEtsy… ) Please do!
Guess how many Christmas trees are cut down and decorated for the season — in hotel lobbies, nursing homes, reception areas, and living rooms across the world? An estimated 25-30 million Christmas trees are sold every year in the US alone. And what happens to all these trees on December 26th? Like so many questions of eco-friendliness, the Christmas-tree one encourages thinking about the life cycle of things: For each item we use, where did it come from, how did it reach us — and what becomes of it once we’re finished? (For more on life-cycle assessment, we recommend reading Cradle to Cradle, one of our most dog-eared books ever, by architect/visionary Bill McDonough.)
Balsam Hill artificial tree
Are artificial trees greener because they’re used year after year? Or do fake trees use harmful elements in their manufacturing process?
This tree from Balsam Hill looks so real, right? Choose Aspen Estate Fir with faux wooden trunk, Colorado Mountain Spruce, or from a dozen other choices; decide height 6 – 30 feet tall, prestrung with LED twinklers. In cramped space? Consider the flatback model. Even order branch samples if you like! We can appreciate their no-shed, low-maintenance practicality on a TV set — but what’s the admire the True Needle ™ foliage, but what are they actually made of? Plastic? What type? Recycled plastic? (There’s no info on site, and the customer service number was busy when we called….)
Flatback tree saves space
Is it greenest of all to purchase a potted tree that can be planted after the holidays? Practically Green says Yes! Use a live Christmas tree. Treehugger.com’s Ask Pablo columnist tackled this conundrum:
…from a carbon emissions standpoint, a live tree cut from a tree farm (where it is replaced), and then composted was greener than a fake tree. That said, he contended that if you hike out into the woods and cut a tree yearly and do not replace it, then the fake tree is the way to go.
The greenest Christmas tree is actually a third option: a potted living tree you plant outside after the festivities. It will continuously absorb carbon long after it’s holiday decorations are removed. And it requires none of the resources used to manufacture and then ship an artificial tree. It’s also a lot better looking.
A potted tree that can happily grow for decades is ideal, but we realize this is not a practical solution for everyone.
Size: A live tree is heavier than a cut one, because of the root system, and the tree portion is likely to be smaller than you might expect. The folks at Rockefeller Center would have a terrible time finding a large-enough pot for their tree, which is 74 feet tall this year. Transporting immense trees from their native forests to their December habitat is a mindboggling carbon-footprint calculation; imagine adding a massive root ball to the equation?
Xmas tree at Rockefeller Center, a 74-foot-tall Norway spruce decorated with 5 miles of lights (30,000 LED bulbs) & will be turned into lumber for Habitat for Humanity after the holidays.
Our 2010 tree grew 8" taller in one year
Planning ahead. Planting a live tree after the holidays is one good solution, but it requires planning: you have to prepare a hole in your yard (if you live north, dig in advance of frost) or arrange to donate the live tree to a park or school nearby that wants it. Call city hall to find out.
Timing. You can’t bring a live potted evergreen indoors for more than a few days before it begins to suffer from the raised temperatures.
What to do with your cut tree after Christmas has come and gone? Some alternatives:
Mulch. Many towns and cities offer a free mulch program for spent trees, and some even pick up the trees curbside. At Dunbar Cave State Park in Tennessee, about 1,000 recycled Christmas Trees get mulched for use on hiking trails every year.
Power. Residents of Burlington, Vermont, can drop off their trees to be chipped and burned to generate electricity for area power companies.
Dunes. Other municipalities organize projects to use trees for erosion protection. We’ve heard of these efforts in Louisiana, Alabama, the New Jersey shore. The Rockefeller tree is destined to be used as lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Some 20,000 trees help create a stretch of dunes, 4-9 feet high, along the mile-long oceanfront in Bradley Beach, NJ
Habitat. The Heron Rookery at Baker’s Lake reuses Christmas Trees as nesting materials.
Illinois: Telephone poles, Christmas trees & 1,300 birds. Photo, Robert Sliwinski
Here’s a state-by-state directory of tree-recycling alternatives.
**** Season’s Greetings to one and all! ****
"G" is for GIFT!
This holiday season we’re waving our magic G wand to gently encourage more eco-friendly gift-giving. Actions like Give an eco-friendly gift, Give experiential holiday gifts, and Shop local businesses regularly help:
We all want the gifts we give to be meaningful and appreciated. Time to add eco-friendly to that mix. What’s better than giving or getting something that contributes to a healthier, greener planet for all? Whether the person you’re shopping for is a committed environmentalist or your present will be the first time they’ve had the opportunity to try something green they wouldn’t have considered on their own, it’s sure to be a conversation starter.
Vintage Pucci silk scarf, 35 x 32", on eBay @ $24.99 -- wow!
The Practically Green team has lots of ideas: how about a gift card to Whole Foods or an enamel flowered thermos from Vivaterra? If you’ve got a bare fireplace mantle or front-hall table, a pair of Crate & Barrel’s ornamental trees made of recycled tin can make a festive statement. We’d never say No to a cashmere sweater from Stewart + Brown, a pair of Levis (many of which are made using less water, or with organic cotton, and or with green commuting in mind), or faux leather booties or clutch from eco-sylista Stella McCartney….
Vivaterra flowered thermos
Stella McCartney eco-friendly pleather boot
Levi's new Commuting Jeans, suitable for bikers... women's model coming ASAP we trust!!
Stocking stuffers: Preserve’s cool returnable toothbrushes and PeopleTowels portable hand towels are staples: easy! Ladies we know love opening a naturally fragrant gift basket from Weleda.
AmaraGold bracelet of recycled precious metals
Recycled-tin tree: decoration from Crate & Barrel
Local wines, beers, and/or chocolate are always a hit.
If you’re going to give jewelry, consider something made of recycled gold and silver from AmaraGold. Or try Fab.com or Uncommon Goods — not everything is green, but you might luck out! For a serious statement, you can’t go wrong with Tiffany, Cartier, Hermes… You can be utterly certain these gifts won’t get tossed – we even save the boxes forever!
Hermes wallet and box on sale at eBay (the last time we looked!)
Clementine crayons
Clementine is a sure hit for budding artists. And for huge drawing paper? Save those big pieces that come in your packages — and for serious artists, Strathmore has good options.
We’re frankly book fanatics. If there’s a parent on your list, you can’t miss with The Family Dinner; foodie thinkers must have the new illustrated edition of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules; and creative cooks who are veering toward vegetarian will dash to the kitchen for days with books like Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty, or The Simple Art of Eating Well, and/or Kim O’Donnel’s Meat Lovers Meatless Cookbook tucked under their arm.
Speaking of gardening fanatics, please go for the ingenious wooden compost bin that Priscilla Woolworth designed (silver eco-sandals are another subject):
Valentina Wooden Outdoor Compost Bin
Novice composters will adore one of these spiffy stainless counter-top buckets — and yes we definitely recommend the accompanying plant-based biodegradable bags unless you relish slop.
Elegant Compost Bucket stays elegant with bio-bag liners
Compost liners made from biodegradable cornstarch, from Gardeners Supply
We blogged Corporate gift ideas here; and 12 Reasons to Shop Local here.
Don’t forget to wrap it all Practically Green style! Consult our Guide to Gift-Wrap that’s Eco-Friendly and Free – or go ahead: splurge on fancy paper and bows! (Join a great conversation on our Facebook page: “Where do you draw the line?” Great answers, from generous hot showers to snail-mail holiday cards and fancy Christmas wrap).
Jane Iredale cosmetic gift sets
Eco-happy nail polish from Butter London
Practically Green’s users have submitted hundreds of excellent items: consider (and rate) the recommended products on any relevant action. For example, clothing made of organic cotton or other natural materials; Buy a toy made from renewable materials; Non-stick cookware; Cosmetics.
We must sneak in the amazing beeswax candles from Big Dipper! After all, what could be greener than turning out the lights and enjoying a natural flame? (Psst: excellent customer service: the last few times we ordered from Big Dipper they included some complimentary honey-filled candies with the order.)
When you complete 9 shopping actions on Practically Green, you get the Green Shopping badge and a discount on a reusable tote from Blue Avocado: sweet! Perfect to stuff smaller gifts inside!
For more ideas, have a look at all the eco-friendly gift guides bursting onto the scene this holiday season — our very favorites are from Treehugger, Green Depot, Eco Etsy’s amazing shops, Ethical Ocean, Proxy Apparel, Treehugger, EcoFabulous. Do you have a resource to recommend?
And then… there’s a whole flank of people saying ***No to new stuff this year!!*** The now-famous Black Friday ad from Patagonia started this trend with a huge “Don’t Buy this Jacket” headline. Will they sell more Patagonia jackets than ever before? Stay tuned….
One friend supports teacher salaries in Zambia in honor of her children’s teachers; another likes to gift from her closet (granted, hers is an exceptional treasure trove); a third is committed to giving only experiential presents this year. Still another is outfitting her teenaged kids with Eton solar-powered flashlights… just in case the power goes out again. All agree that eBay and ThredUp are amazing.
We welcome your gift-giving suggestions and mantras, this season and into the New Year. Please check back on Practically Green for everyone’s recommendations and submit yours!
It was very thoughtful of the Wall Street Journal to include a big piece of wrapping paper in its gift guide this weekend.
Full page, 4-color gift wrap: delightful!
Here’s how it looked once I cut it out of the newspaper:
And after wrapping a present!
A decent ribbon helps...
This got me thinking about all the other ways to Wrap a gift using used wrapping paper, boxes, bows, ribbons.
- Snip up a discarded piece of clothing (clean, of course). I’ve found this is an extra-special surprise when the recipient used to wear the item him or herself! The example below was saved from last year – complete with one end still taped in place.
- Leaf through magazines and catalogues destined for the recycle bin or (gasp) the landfill. Our top publishers and ad agencies spend a fortune to make these glossy photos look great; why on earth not use them to wrap presents? (In photo, the two packages next to the small blue box w/ green tie.)
- If you’ve remodeled lately, or if you have an architect nearby, you’ve got access to fascinating white-and-black wrapping paper. Use a bright ribbon to tart it up. (Example below has fresh springs in the bow knot.)
- Maps and nautical charts.
- Paper shopping bags with cool designs.
- Tissue paper from your (we hope eco-friendly) dry-cleaner.
Front, L to R: hubby's shirt, nytimes.com magazine, WSJ; Rear, L to R: recycled building plans, blue box from UncommonGoods, Vanity Fair mag
How’s that for a start? (Don’t tell me you’re already done with your kris kringling!) And what are your eco-gift wrapping tips?
Why is Sending e-cards for the holidays green?
If you send out holiday cards, or if you think you really should—and if you haven’t gotten around to it yet, consider this:
Greeting cards aren’t large, but their impact is. A quote from the book Green Christmas puts this fact into perspective, “According to Hallmark, the 1.9 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the United States could fill a football field ten stories high and consume 300,000 trees.”
E-cards to the rescue! Sending an electronic card for any holiday reduces the number of trees cut down, avoids the unsafe chemicals involved in processing and printing on paper, eliminates the transportation of getting cards from printing plants to stores, and keeps unrecycled cards out of landfills. By some estimates, not sending 50 cards a year (holidays plus birthdays add up!) saves five pounds of waste and 1,000 pounds of emissions.
That factoid is from this Practically Green action:
It’s worth a total of 15 points for impact in the Energy and Water categories … one of the 542 actionable and manageable positive next steps you can take in your life starting right now today. Only 1% of Practically Green’s community has already checked it off… be part of boosting that percentage during the next few weeks!
Smilebox lets you add music and video to e-cards
Check out a bunch of other great other ideas for greening your holiday:
A peek at the Holiday Eco Actions on Practically Green
Rebecca Sama, Practically Green's Products Specialist
Our products team just added three new e-card recommendations, submitted by you the Practically Green community and vetted by to be sure they meet our Product Guidelines.
Two of the World Wildlife Fund's free animated e-cards
Choose from the pingg vault.. or upload your own designs!
From the cocodot collection
You can't go wrong with PaperlessPost, and we love the animated envelope opener....
Tailgate to heaven: grill, beer, food! There’s two months of football to go on the schedule, and SoCal Jocelyn Anne has some fantastic ideas on how to green up your tailgate festivities!
GREEN TAILGATE, by guest blogger Jocelyn Anne
Our guest blogger enjoys her tailgate in Southern California
We’re particularly excited about the opportunities for going even greener than years prior! It may mean digging a little deeper, stretching our brains, and perhaps investing a little more time than normal, but it also means bigger pay off than ever before, and I think, even more delicious samplings and drinks to be had! So here’s to the greenest tailgates yet. Whatever team colors you’re rooting for, we’re all rooting for green around here.
First Things First: The BBQ
What tailgate, really, is complete without a barbecue? So, let’s get the real answer when it comes to what’s green and what’s just not. If you have the budget for it, a hydrogen grill is about the very best because it produces zero emissions. Solar is probably a close second, but let’s face it, sun is a pre-requisite and it’s pretty time consuming (neither points good for tailgates). My fave is the corn grill: 100% efficient and burns a 100% renewable resource. Plus, no gases, creosotes, hydrocarbons or chemicals. And, bonus: it’ll never explode! But, okay: benefit of the doubt, college student without the budget for a new-fangled green grill. What you do need to know is that propane beats out charcoal. In fact, charcoal has a footprint about three times greater than propane. I’m also a very big fan of the FlameDisk by uGO. You get 40 minutes of burning per recyclable disk, and it produces 90% fewer pollutants than a charcoal grill. And, if you already have a charcoal burning grill, you can easily make it a greener bbq by replacing the charcoal with eco-friendlier briquettes.
Even Before First things First? The Beer
Let me preface, I’m not a beer drinker. But, I hear from the “crowd” that any real tail-gater gets started on the beer first. If you’re going to go green here, your very best option is to brew your own. I’ll let you research that on your own if you feel so inclined. Following brewing your own, the next best thing is to drink organic and locally brewed beer. We just so happen to live in a time when we can not only find beer made in an eco-friendly process, with locally grown organic and chemical/pesticide free hops and barley; but also, the buildings themselves are becoming more eco-friendly. Plus, for you beer drinkers, the good news is that the bigger the container, the better; in this case, we are keg approvers! Kegs eliminate glass bottles that don’t always get recycled and they can be re-used over and over. Even better, they require less energy to keep cool and can often be found locally distributed. If you need a list of green-approved bottled beers, try these: New Belgium Brewery, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Full Sail Brewing, Alaskan Brewing, and Great Lakes Brewing. (And don’t forget to submit your favorites on Practically Green!) 
Truly Most Important: The Food
This is basically why I go to tailgates. To go greener, consider ditching the burgers and dogs, at least traditionally speaking, and try some Boca burgers or Tofu dogs. Personally, I think the soy versions taste better, not to mention they should be better for you nutritionally speaking. Mix things up and do veggie shish ka bobs. Make some killer guacamole. Veggie tacos, anyone? Or, a personal favorite: vegetarian chili. Some chips and super hearty chili, and I’m set. My favorite idea of all? Shop at the local farmer’s market before the game! Nothing like some warm, freshly baked pitas to go with that local hummus!
YUM!! Rosemary-Thyme pita chips from Food52.com (photo: Sarah Shatz)
The Bottom Line
Going green at a tailgate is really actually just as easy and simple as you want it to be. Remember to go local and organic as much as possible. Forget the disposables and bring your own dishes. Recycle when you’re done and clean it up like you were never there. If you can do that, Team Green will win every time!
Note on the author:
Jocelyn is a native Montana ranch girl who recently made the move to California, where she’s found it especially important to incorporate her green roots into her new city life. She now works as a writer for Air & Water, an appliance e-retailer, where her research has greatly awakened her to just how much energy a single house drains in a day and how imperative it is to cut back and start conserving. She’s vowed to skip central heating this year and opt for small, eco-friendly infra red heaters when she needs extra warmth this winter. But, if she does have to use central, you can bet she’ll be turning it down two degrees lower than standard room temperature. And if she isn’t convincing friends to unplug appliances and use low-flow faucets, she’s probably dragging them out to the farmer’s market to teach them about real food!
SmallBizSaturday falls on November 26, and we can think of at least 12 great reasons to participate:
Shopping street in Carmel, California
1) Pump your precious bucks into the indigenous economy: the cash register rings where you throw down; and it rings throughout the entire network behind the proprietor – think about the bookkeeper, the recycling service, shop employees, employees’ babysitters, coffee shops where you go to refuel while you buzz through your gift list….
2) Get to know your local retailers: the dogged and inspired people who work hard to make their establishments better than the ones you find at the big-box mall or online.
3) Save on shipping and transport expenses — yours and the merchandise’s!
4) See, touch, feel, sniff instead of going online and clicking.
5) Avoid the stress (and time-wasting, gas-guzzling jams) of snarling crowds focused on Black Friday.
6) It’s a party! Many local outfits have chocolatey goodies, music, and other fun enticements – at least, the ones we know do…
7) Uniqueness: if it’s one-of-a-kind you crave, your chances are improved by shopping a stand-alone, one-of-a-kind shop.
8) Three gifts for them, one gift for me…. Enjoy a tasty local lunch or mani-pedi as a reward during your errands.
9) Get outside!
10) Save money: many SmallBizSaturday participants offer coupons, deals and other incentives.
11) Enjoy ancillary activities that your ingenious local retailers dream up. For example, KaightNYC is hosting a Wool and the Gang Knitting Party: “The holidays are just around the corner, what better gift to give than to knit that someone special, something special!”
See? Told you local shopkeepers are serious about having fun this season (refer to point 6 above).
12) Shopping local gives you another reason to bring your reusable shopping bags (see the fab selection from BlueAvocado) and earn Practically Green’s Green Shopper badge!
For more info, including a ZIP-directory, visit the Small Business Saturday Facebook page. And please post your stories and recommendations for Small Business Saturday!
Most of these points hold true for the other 364 days of the year: Shop local businesses regularly!
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