8 Ways to Green Your Night Out
This story is part of Earth911’s “Green Eight” series, where we showcase eight ways to green your life in various areas.
Saturday night’s alright, especially when it comes to going out on the town. But how do you keep your environmental footprint low while you’re dancing up a storm? Here are eight suggestions:
1. Create Your Own Scent
Perfumes and colognes smell nice, but they also contain some of the same toxic chemicals that exist in cigarette smoke. These ingredients can have harmful effects on your skin and respiratory system, as well as pollute the air around you when sprayed.
One alternative is to create your own fragrance. Mixing oils of your favorite scents will produce a natural smell, although it will probably have a shorter shelf-life than your store-bought fragrance. Keep a small bottle nearby, in case things really get hot on the dance floor.
If you wish to dispose of leftover perfume or cologne, find a household hazardous waste collection location in your area using Earth911.
2. Pick a Popular Area
What night out is complete without checking out multiple locales? You may find one place with good music, one with drink specials and yet another with billiards and darts. Look for an area of town that has multiple fun attractions, so you can park once and bar-hop without your car. This will cut carbon emissions and create less wear on your car parts.
3. GPS for Success
Trying new places puts some adventure in your night, but there’s also the hassle of finding these locations. Investing in a global positioning system (GPS) will cut down on cell phones with GPS capabilities.
4. Evaluate Your Drink Footprint
A 2005 study by the Beverage Packaging Environmental Council found that 18 percent of glass bottles used are consumed at bars or restaurants. Who knows if these drink containers are being recycled? It may seem trivial to consider the environmental impact of your drink order, but consider the following:
- Getting beer on tap reduces the need for a can or bottle, and the pint can be washed and reused.
- Mixed drinks require less energy to make than blended ones.
- Organic beers and wines are produced without pesticides and other chemicals that harm the environment.
5. Choose to Reuse
Another great way to green your drinks is by reusing drink accessories. When you get a refill, ask the waiter or bartender to use the same glass so there’ll be one less to wash. You can also keep the same coaster or napkin for multiple drinks and reduce waste.
6. Dance For Your Power
Ask around to see if any nightclubs in your area have a piezoelectric dance floor. These floors feature energy capturing blocks below the surface that generate a current while you dance, providing enough energy for a majority of the entire club’s electricity. You’re more likely to find them in major cities, so if nothing else, you can check one out while on vacation.
7. Get Digits Electronically
Little black books are so 1995. If you plan on collecting phone numbers during your night out, input them directly into a cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA). You’ll cut down on the use of both paper and ink, which is made from petroleum.
8. Drink Water . . . and Recycle the Bottles
Drinking water at the end of your night out can help reduce feeling sluggish the next day. But we only recycle about 13 percent of our water bottles. If you decide to store water in the car for your drive home, make sure those water bottles end up in a recycling bin. Use Earth911 to find out where to recycle water bottles near you.
