MY LIL GREEN DRESS

This is a year of presidential firsts. We have our first African American President, our first Hawaii-born President, and now we’ll have our first eco friendly inauguration.

The plans to make the inauguration eco friendly have been well thought out and even include someone who will follow horses through D.C., picking up their waste and then bringing it out to farms to be used for fertilizer. We’re not sure who they hired to do that job, but we think it’s great!

They are planning a 100% organic menu that’s going to include both vegetarian and vegan selections for guests. The bar will even be serving local and organic beverages. How cool is that?

The eco friendliness will extend to lighting, decorations, and audio-visual equipment. The event will utilize LED lighting and says that they’ll be monitoring energy usage throughout the event.

They are also planning to compost flowers that are used during the event and leftover food. I was anxiously looking for information about how much waste they plan to generate, but have been unable to find anything. I think it’s be incredibly cool if they could plan a zero-waste party…but that’s pretty doubtful. I’m impressed with what they are doing, but I have a feeling they’ll still be LOTS of waste produced – which is to be expected from an event like this.

While I’m all for the concept of an eco-friendly inauguration, and eco-friendly parties in general, I think there are to major things that need to be considered.

First, I’d like to hear how much waste was produced as a result of this party vs. say, the inauguration of George W. Bush eight years ago. Getting solid numbers after the event would show how far we’ve come and how far we need to go.

Second, the transportation associated with getting all of the people who are attending an event like this is huge. With an estimated 3 – 5 million people showing up in Washington D.C., one could assume that a lot of carbon dioxide is going to be put in the air as a result of the inauguration. The event coordinators are encouraging those who are traveling to the event to purchase carbon credits to offset their carbon footprint; I’d like to see people take it once step further. I think it’d be great if celebrities attending the event got on commercial flights instead of taking private jets. I’m also hopeful that once in Washington D.C., people will choose to walk or take public transportation while getting around the city.

Overall, this is a step in the right direction. I’m glad to see the new administration taking a step in the right direction and hope that it encourages others to host eco friendly parties of their own. Come back soon to learn how you can make your own next party a bit more eco friendly.