Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Stay green for St. Patrick's Day

Irish Soda BreadThis is a repost from last year, but I thought I'd post it again in case anyone is looking to green up their holiday, and I don't mean in a colorful way...

Traditionally, people all over the U.S. like to have a green St. Patty's Day. But, in contrast to the tradition, which must be the result of someone's fervent love of the shades of shamrock, I'm wishing you all an environmentally green holiday.

So, how do you go about greening up St. Patty's Day?

1. Go ahead and eat green food. Just make sure it is naturally green. Try to add in spinach, peas, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green onions, kiwis and avocados (whatever has the least carbon imprint for you area).

2. I don't advocate adding green food coloring to anything, no matter how much you want to have it fit the "theme". If you must color it, make sure you choose a product that is "natural", using vegetable and plant extracts only.

3. Choose an organic or natural corned beef. This may be hard to come by, depending on where you live, but check with your local natural foods market or a Whole Foods. The search is definitely worth it.

4. Make sure your spuds are green. No, not the green potatoes with toxins. But those grown sustainably with no chemicals. Your liver will thank you.

5. Make your own Irish Soda Bread. It's pretty damn simple and oooooh, so much better than what you can buy in the stores. Unless you live in Brooklyn. Don't forget to make your own butter.

6. Get your head on straight and buy organic cabbage. Even if you believe the argument that eating organic cabbage isn't as important as choosing organic for the dirty dozen, it's the agricultural practices and their problems that you need to consider, not just how contaminated the food is with pesticides.

7. Speaking of head, don't forget the beer. I have to admit I'm not a big beer fan, but I do like me some Guinness. Look for a local brewery who does an organic beer.

8. Make sure you don't use disposable dishes, glassware, silverware or napkins. If you don't have enough, ask your guests to bring some to the party.

9. Try a St. Patty's Day fun run or walk if there's one in your area and it's not too late to enter. How is this green? Well, maybe the extra exercise will inspire you to eat less for dinner. The result is you'll have more leftovers to reduce your food impact later in the week. Also, you'll not only burn off a little of the excess corned beef if you do go overboard, but you'll be just a tad healthier for it.

10. Enjoy the time you have with friends and family, enjoying great food and company. What could be more green friendly than that?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm making these.
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/shamrock-boutonnieres

let me send you one.
zap me at aceyamapola@hotmail

Moonwaves said...

Happy Paddy's Day! Funny how I never celebrated this (well, once I'd left the church I thought it would be hyprocritical to and I'm not a big drinker either) but now that I'm not living at home anymore I have my tricolour and some brack ready to bring in to work tomorrow. And am dragging some people off to one of the Irish pubs for lunch as well.

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

I made Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day. Heck, I might even wear my Scotch-Irish bloomers http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2009/03/10-ways-i-greened-my-home-for-st.html.

Whaddaya say Crunchy? Want me to make you a pair of the ultimate granny pannies?