Green Options

Many of our Bayview neighbors joined us last weekend to celebrate the second anniversary of the Latona Community Garden. What used to be a smelly skanky debris-filled eyesore, is now a thriving organic community garden. The formerly blighted corner has been transformed into a warm and welcoming public space where neighbors gather, local kids play, and organic food is grown.

Several of the neighborhood kids climbing the walnut tree in the Latona Community Garden.

An increasing trend in marketing is to host a party to promote your product.  Innovative marketers use a party atmosphere to attract a crowd that might otherwise be indifferent or turned off by more traditional uses of marketing dollars, under a thinly veiled ad campaign.

Moral?  Sure, why not?  It’s a party after all, so if the people don’t want to buy your stuff, at least they still enjoy themselves, so you’re not really misleading anyone.  They hung out, caroused, socialized, networked, etc.  In other words, they got what they came for.

Effective?  Hmmm…now there is the great question.  While parties seem like an inexpensive and direct use of ad dollars, the price tag can actually get fairly out of control fairly quickly.  I’m hosting a book release party for my book on Tuesday, and the expenses keep adding up.  First there is the fee charged by the bar.  I would have thought that you’re bringing the bar a lot of customers that would normally not have walked through the door that night, and so they should be comping you a lot of free drinks, but to my surprise, that is not only not the case, it is the opposite. 

Happy Halloween! As you celebrate the holiday with your best eco-friendly costumes, don’t forget to enter the Green Halloween Costume Contest — Deadline: Midnight Tonight!

Though you may not be able to celebrate like Heidi Klum and Seal (above as Eve and the apple), who threw their yearly bash earlier this month, you can still party hard with some last minute D.I.Y environmental Halloween costumes.

Looking for something to do? At an awkward party? Did your boyfriend or girlfriend just dump you?

Or do you think you’re sophisticated because you read a bunch of books and pay attention to world news? Then test your knowledge of geography with these quick and fun online games, you nerd!

Throwing a party? Forget the paper invitations and tell your friends and family about your party electronically.

Whether it’s a weekend gathering or a big bash, invite your guests over e-mail or through e-invitation sites such as e-vite. You’ll be able to track guests responses and send auto reminders.

Still want to do it the old-fashioned way? Look for paper and envelopes with post consumer recycled content, and make a note on the invitation

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The name pesto derives from tradition of making this sauce in a mortar with a pestle. The following recipe, which I encourage you to use a food processor for, unless you have a few spare hours, proves that you absolutely don’t need cheese to make a fantastic pesto. Purchase fresh basil (or grow it yourself!), and find a nice fruity olive oil.

Advance Preparation: Pesto freezes very well. Defrost pesto at room temperature, about

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