How to Throw a Green Election Day Party

Let's state this plainly: tomorrow is going to be one of the most exciting election days in history. By now, we've all soaked in the news, punditry, polls, TV ads, debates, blog posts, election maps, etc., etc. Everyone has an opinion. Basically, it's going to be one intense day. So what can we all do after voting tomorrow, besides retreating into our living rooms and nervously ticking away the hours with CNN on?

Throw an election night party, of course.

And what better way to help diffuse all that nervous energy than to gather your friends together and channel the excitement into a great green gathering at your house? Here's a quick guide to throwing a green election night party:

1. Make green, election-themed dishes—It may be a long night, so it'll be a good idea to have plenty of food on hand. A few recommendations: make Obama's famous chili recipe with organic ingredients, or serve organic deep dish pizza in honor of the Obama Biden ticket. For McCain, try something Southwestern or Tex Mex flavored, like vegetarian burritos made with lard-free Tex Mex tortillas. Moose burgers are at your own risk.


2. Serve Green Spirits—Whether it's organic wine or environmentally friendly beer, make sure the drinks you serve are green. (This will be all the more important if you're planning an election night drinking game) Sierra Nevada's solar-powered beer is a good, easy-to-find option, as is Peak Organic beer.


3. Recycle, and green your decor—Both literally and figuratively. Decorate your place with used election yard signs, pamphlets, and stickers (ask friends to bring over theirs to up the effect—and you'll be able to recycle them all more easily if everything's in the same place. And if your decorating skews towards the traditional, then you're likely already planning on breaking out the red, white and blue decorations to theme your party. How about mixing it up a bit by throwing a little green in there, in honor of each of the candidates' proposal to support renewable and clean energy technologies?


4. Play a Rousing Game of Environmental Policy Trivia—Jot down some info on both candidates energy policies and environmental policies, and make up some questions for a quick trivia game to play between battleground poll results. Some easy ones to get you started: Which candidate proposes investing 150 billion dollars in alternative energy to stimulate a new economy and create jobs? (Answer: Obama) Which candidate supports an immediate increase in nuclear development? (Answer: McCain) And, which candidate favors a Cap and Trade system for combating global warming? (Answer: both).


5. Green your guests' rides over—Make sure everyone's carpooling over (and carpooling to the polls).


6. For extreme green—Offset the energy you'll use with TV, guests arriving by car, and incessant internet poll update-checking with a small donation to the Carbonfund.org.

More on Election 2008:
Ad Campaign for Tap Water Proclaims Obama Victory
Sarah Palin 's Record On the Environment: A Closer Look

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