A Greener St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day: A good time and America’s #1 green holiday. The League of Conservation Voters wishes you a safe and happy celebration. For those of you who want to do more than wear green this St. Patrick’s Day, LCV offers these tips on making your holiday as green as possible:

1) Turn off the TV, shut down the computer, and head to a nearby parade. After the parade’s over, pick up a few beer cans and put them in the recycle bin. (Note: If you see people throwing away recyclables or littering, pinch them. Hard.)

2) Before you go out, make plans to take public transportation: it’s safer, greener and you’re far more likely to meet interesting people. The American Public Transportation Association makes it easy to find public transit options in your area.

3) To get in the spirit, a fake Irish accent (although somewhat offensive) is cheaper and creates less waste than a tacky plastic hat.

4) Protect yourself from pinching: put on green clothes. Don’t go shopping for a new shirt, make your own! Grab an old white t-shirt and color it green with a cheap, natural dye.

5) If you feel compelled to drink green beer, drink real “green” beer, as determined by our friends at the Sierra Club. If you’re committed to Guinness, at least drink it warm. It’s how the Irish drink it and it’ll save energy. The Greenest Dollar blog has also identified a greener way to drink wine for those who prefer it.

6) After dinner, bring your corned beef and cabbage leftovers home without styrofoam. Thanks to Enviromom for a great idea.

7) To work off the excess calories you’ve consumed today and to make a total fool of yourself. Now it’s time for Irish dancing. We can't come up with a reason that dancing is particularly "green," but we’d hate to be the only ones on the dance floor.

8) Leave the gold alone and let the rainbows be. It’s up to all of us to stop human encroachment on the natural habitat of the endangered North American Leprachaun.