Green Living Tips 12.01.08

Tips to Green Your Dinner Party!

Here are some of the top suggestions from www.treehugger.com.

Encourage Your Guests to Travel Green - In the Evite you send out, be sure to indicate clearly how to get to the dinner party via public transportation. Is there a bus nearby? A light rail? Or you can encourage guests to carpool to reduce their footprints.

Decorate With an Eco-Conscious - Party store decorations are often paper and plastic and usually only last the night of your party.  Filling vases with hints of the season like pinecones, lemons or leaves is a great way to add a bit of green to the dinner table.

Buy Seasonal and Local Produce - If the farmers' market season is still going on when your party shopping happens, this is the ideal spot to buy local food. Local produce is not only good for your health, its good for the Earth too: the shorter distance it travels to get to your plate the more it keeps carbon out of the air.

Sip Green Drinks - When you're planning what drinks to serve at your dinner party, try avoid buying those that come in cans and bottles. If you do get drinks in these, be sure to clearly mark a place where guests can recycle.

Use the Right Tableware - If you can, avoid the usual paper cups, plates, napkins and plastic utensils. If you are stuck on these for your party, look for unbleached or biodegradable products. If you can forgo these you will save a nice pile of trash from making its way into the landfill. Instead, use dishwasher safe china and glasses you already have around the house.