Green Options » party

Marketing Your Green Product by Sponsoring a Party–Does It Work, or Is It Just For Fun?

Scott Cooney — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:18:20 +0000

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.

Celebrate Halloween in Style

Kelly Dunleavy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:32:10 +0000

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.

Quick and Fun Online Games for Geography Nerds

Levi Novey — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 05:57:31 +0000

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!

Daily Tip: Green Invitations

Amy Stodghill — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:23:14 +0000

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 itself encouraging your guests to recycle the invite, or to save it as a keepsake reminder of the event.

More on planning your green party from GO:

Seven-Star: Giving a Whole New Meaning to "Green
Party"

Lighter Footstep: 5 Ways to Fire Up an Eco-Friendly Tailgate Party

How to Host Your Own Green Event or Party

Weekend Grub: A Labor-Free Labor Day Dish — Pesto Pasta Toss

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:14:37 +0000

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 20 minutes. To reinvigorate frozen or refrigerated pesto, add a drizzle of olive oil and stir.

Ingredients - Pesto
3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
6+ tablespoons pine nuts
2-4 cloves garlic
1-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Ingredients - Pasta and Veggies
1 pound penne pasta (or any pasta of your choice)
Bunch of chopped spinach, raw or blanched
Fresh, seasonal tomatoes, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped

Directions
Combine the basil, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor, and blend until the ingredients are finely chopped, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add salt, to taste.

Add the oil slowly and a little at a time, and process until smooth and creamy. (You don’t need a lot of oil – just add enough to smooth it out a little, but very little is needed.)

Prepare your favorite pasta according to the package directions (penne works great!). Drain. Toss the pasta with the pesto and remaining ingredients.

Serving suggestions and variations:

Toss the pesto with roasted vegetables.
Use walnuts instead of pine nuts.
Add ¼ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and rinsed.
Replace half of the basil with parsley.
Add a squeeze of lemon while you’re grinding all the ingredients together.
Make a pesto pizza, spreading a layer of pesto on your dough and adding some fresh tomatoes and minced fresh herbs.
Use as a cracker spread. Add non-dairy cream cheese and use as a spread for bread and crackers.
Prepare it as a dip for chips or raw veggies. Just add it to non-dairy sour cream (Tofutti or Wildwood brands are great.)
Make garlic pesto bread. Spread pesto on bread and bake like you would garlic bread.
Grill it. Coat polenta squares, vegetables, or tofu with pesto and grill.
If you’re not using it immediately, you can store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or place in ice cube trays (or a regular container), cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store in the freezer (for no longer than one month for the best flavor).
To make extra, for every cup of loosely packed basil leaves, add the following to the above recipe: 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 1 clove garlic (or to taste), ¼ teaspoon salt (or to taste), and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
For an oil-free version, eliminate the oil and replace it with 1-2 tablespoons light miso. Add a little water to thin it out a little.