Happy holidays! Plus how to throw an eco-holiday party

So my friend Traci and I (right, at Akasha) threw a holiday party on Saturday -- and tried to make it as green as possible. Or more accurately, I baked a gingerbread house and Traci basically took care of the rest of it -- but I'm writing a how-to anyways:

1. Create a green centerpiece for the party -- in my case, the eco-gingerbread house dubbed gingerApartment -- with mostly organic and/or fair trade ingredients.

2. Get organic wine and juice (mixers) and chocolate at my fave grocery store, Co-opportunity, which I technically own a piece of.

3. Catch a cab running on CNG (the gingerApartment was too fragile for the bus or bike) -- thanks to Eurotaxi -- to Traci's in Culver City.

4. Sip organic wine and nibble on appetizers with Traci and Greg in their eco-friendly home (including a permeable driveway!) while waiting for guests to arrive.

5. Party. Things that went really well:

Real flatware and plates. Banishing those crappy red plastic cups and disposable forks not only helped minimize waste but also had the side effect of making the party look more classy.
Vegan eggnog. Even the nonvegan peeps seemed to love the stuff -- though no one knew whether to mix it with rum or brandy. One person did an eggnog-Kahlua combo and seemed to like it....
Organic fair trade chocolate. Always a crowd-pleaser.

Things that went less well:

Not having napkins. I think this was more of an oversight than an overzealous effort to green the party. Next time, I must find a way to either amass reusable cloth napkins or just settle for 100% post-consumer paper napkins.
Not having toothpicks. A guest brought veggie meatballs -- which were v. tasty, but we quickly ran out of forks and people resorted to picking them up with their fingers -- a problem when combined with the no napkin issue. Reusable or bamboo toothpicks may be in order for next year.
Picture-taking. My camera -- albeit powered by rechargeable batteries -- really sucks at its job (example below); I've decided to upgrade in the new year.

6. Carpool home with friends, with a brief stop at Hal's Bar and Grill -- for one last glass of wine.

Yesterday I threw a much smaller, more low-key orphans' xmas party (not necessarily for real orphans, but for those away from family) -- with Five Hills Blue organic wine, organic cookies made from the leftover gingerbread dough, and the like. Yes, I had 100% post-consumer unbleached recycled napkins this time. :)

Hope you had a merry xmas, if you celebrate it. How did you green your celebrations?

Photos by Siel