Forty-nine ways to green your Superbowl party

If you're still depressed about New England losing to the 49ers and not advancing, you might not want to entertain this Sunday. Yet, if you've had time to lick your wounds and pick yourself (and your husband) up, turn your lemons into lemonade--literally.

In the spirit of the Superbowl, here are 49 ways to green your party:

1. Keep the thermostat at 65-66.
2. Pour beer from large bottles.
3. Have three blue bins set up near the game; label each carefully (plastic, paper, cans).
4. The morning of the game, powerwalk or jog rather than run the treadmill
5. Use the game as an opportunity to discuss outfitting your home with geothermal heating and cooling. Is an engineer coming to the party? Tap your friends' green brains on this.
6. Wear a sweater or sweatshirt to stay warm.
7. Serve veggies and other organic products sourced locally. Here in Hartford check out Billings Forge.
8. Talk about gardening during halftime. Why not? Maybe your friend Bette has some ideas about tomatoes you never considered. Resolve to plant fruits colored the same as the team who wins (i.e. persimmon and tomato for the '9ers or blueberries and chard for the Ravens).
9. Drink water. Pour it from your Brita-filtered pitcher. Add lemons and limes from the farmers' market for taste.
10. Recycle those pepperoni pizza boxes.
11. Ditto the bakery box for the dorky chocolate cake football cousin Marissa brought.
12. Discuss climate change while you're chowing down. Hurricane Sandy should have already convinced everyone, but if any climate deniers are in the group, gently ask why they think as they do. Without starting a brawl, turn them on to this site.
13. Talk about the commercials not only for how funny they are, but for how environmentally-friendly the sponsors are. For example, if Geico (of the adorable 'when pigs fly' campagin) runs an ad you can discuss their significant inroads in green stewardship.
14. Make it a meatless party, with only one exception* (maybe).
15. *Sliders are very popular and use up a lot less meat!
16. If you're cooking frozen pizzas, bake the biggest ones that will fit in the oven. Keep slices warm in the oven (which you've turned off, of course).
17. Serve pizza and other foods on washable plates.
18. Make your own potato chips.
19. Talk to your neighbors before the party and find out how they plan to recycle on game day. If they haven't thought of it, offer to recycle on their behalf. If they are like most people they will feel too guilty to do that and recycle products themselves! If not, you are going to the recycling center anyway so what's one more blue bin or two? Click here for more info.
20. Talk to your friends about planting a tree in the community in honor of the Newtown victims. Their families are not able to enjoy this day as you are, and a tree is a living reminder of the precious lives cut tragically short Dec. 14.
21. Hold the party in the warmest room of the house, the one retaining the most natural sunlight.
22. Rather than call out for food in boxes, have friends bring snacks potluck style.
23. Turn off the lights in rooms you're not going into -- seemingly obvious, but easy to forget when the beer's flowing and touchdowns are being scored.
24. Flush sparingly -- only when necessary (enough said).
25. Don't invite anyone you dislike to the party. Guests use stuff, which has to be recycled or tossed; and they use energy (heat, lighting, etc.) Why waste on anyone you'd prefer stayed home?
26. If someone's flying in for the game, discuss with them how to offset their carbon footprint (in a polite way).
27. Eat less. Seems obvious, but always needs to be said. Less food consumed means fewer products recycled/reused or heaven-forbid tossed as well as fewer products carted from miles away just so you could scarf down bean dip on your Fritos.
28. If it's super cold, insulate by taping some of the windows in the back to keep heat in.
29. Turn the TV off immediately after the game.
30. Don't text or e-mail during the game.
31. Don't call your mom during Halftime just to tell her your husband's friend Joey is driving you crazy. Tell Joey yourself.
32. No styrofoam or plastic bags allowed at the party. Anyone who brings it must go home and return without these non-recylables.
33. Bake your own bread for the bash. The boys will love you.
34. Watch your smaller TV and use less energy.
35. Bring the dog in for warmth. Not only will cuddling with Fido bring your temp up, his energy will issue an ambient warmth throughout the party. (Plus, dogs like leftover sliders. Just make sure they haven't been out more than two hours.)
36. Before the game, make a blanket in the colors of your favorite team - crochet, knit, sew, quilt. Now, if this is too Martha Stewart for you, you probably won't be baking bread either so just read on.
37. Play Charades rather than watch each and every commercial. Turn the TV off twice during the game. If the guys start to yell, forget I said this.
38. Recycle the newspapers you've been reading about how New England got robbed.
39. If you run out of beer during the game, walk or take a bus to the store rather than drive to Stop 'n Shop.
40. Serve jam you preserved yourself with the berries you grew or picked, on that bread you just baked.
41. Put more food on one plate.
42. Leave green living books on the coffee table. One suggestion is here.
43. Rather than buying 12 bottles of white wine, buy those ginormous sizes and you'll just have three bottles left.
44. Have access to a keg? Enough said.
45. Save your products that can be upcycled--refashioned to be used as other products. Investigate local upcyclers or think outside the pizza box yourself. Use Mason jars for school pens; use that cake box for hats.
46. Have friends carpool to the game. This is not only beneficial for the environment, but in the event someone's intoxicated a designated driver can be in charge (always important!)
47. Use your formerly discarded vegetable parts to make a soup broth. (Make sure everything's washed carefully, and double check that you know what you're doing.)
48. Talk to your friends during the commercials about where to go on your next green vacation. Pick their brains for ideas. Maybe they haven't heard of the concept, so introduce them to the bevvy of green hotels both in Connecticut and throughout New England.
49. And finally, don't overeat. Americans are notoriously wasteful, throwing out an estimated $165 billion worth of food annually. Resolve to bring any of your unused canned goods or useable items to the local food bank. Please check their rules on this.