How Green can St. Patrick’s Day Be??
By Kia Martinson-Wenzel
You won’t need the help of wee little leprechauns to make your St. Patrick’s Day celebration green in all sense of the word. Just a little clever planning and effort will lead to a successful green event.
First off, comes the invitations to your green party. Online sites like www.evite.com and www.zoji.com allow to send and keep track of your guest list. Do something clever and have everyone bring a green article of clothing that can be donated to the Salvation Army. This is a great way to get a head start on spring cleaning and to help out others.
Visit your local nursery and purchase a full sheet of clovers in mini biodegradable planters. Fill one of your trays at home with them and place them in the middle of your party table as the centerpiece. Best thing is, that at the end of the party, let your friends take some home with them to plant. So with one stop you have taken care of your centerpiece and favors.
Serve www.Steaz.com sparkling green tea soda. Their use of the best tea leaves and organic sugar cane gives the product an amazing taste. Now there are more flavors than just green tea to try. Local Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joes and other health stores do carry them. Finding a great organic beer is getting easier for all of your beer lovers. In Portland Maine, Peak Organic Beer brews three different types of beer. All of their barley and hops are grown without toxics or pesticides. www.Peakbrewing.com Serve these all in your biodegradable plastic cups. The Fabrikal cups are made agricultural crops, like potatoes and corn. They are reusable but the amazing thing is that they can be placed in your compost pile and they will biodegrade. Order them at www.greenearthofficesupply.stores.yahoo.net
Start your party off with a chilled cantaloupe melon soup. This can be made in a day or two before the party. Serve them in shot glasses as a starter or a passed appetizer. For added cuteness place them in the clover tray and give the centerpiece an extra duty. A simple Kiwi and green grape salad is a refreshing treat. While it can be hard to locate great food that is green in color, just remember to keep it green in the other sense.
If there is going to be children at the party, have them all bring two old coffee cans and have them make their own Lime ice cream. This is a great way to show them how to recycle a common household item and it is fun. http://crafts.kaboose.com/coffee-can-ice-cream.html
Last of all, for all the parents who send in treats for the St. Patty’s Day parties at school, this year send in a packet of seeds for each child. Have your own child pick out their favorite green veggies and give peas, cucumbers and lettuce packets. We can all hope the children will be interested in growing and making their yard a little greener this spring.
Great suggestions for a fabulous "green" party and best of all, you can use them all year long. Thanks! I'll definitely keep them in mind the next time we're gonna celebrate.
Posted by: Sarah Paquette | March 18, 2008 at 10:03 AM