This Sunday around a hundred million of us will set ourselves up in front of the TV and put on our game faces for some serious Super Bowl watching. If you gave up on green the moment Green Bay was eliminated from contention, however, you’re throwing in the towel too early. Even though the Super Bowl has an environmental impact that’s almost as big as the number of fans watching, there are plenty of super easy ways to tackle your eco-impact. Here’s our playbook to getting your game watching as green as astroturf.

EAT
Most of us have a tendency to make enough Super Bowl snacks to feed an entire team–or at least a couple very hungry linebackers–and that’s not always a good thing. Sure, it’s great to have an endless spread, but are Americans really going to eat the entire 15,000 tons of chips they’ll collectively purchase? Not only is this excess bad for our bodies (which are getting dragged to work in the morning), it ain’t easy on the environment–just think about how many un-recyclable chip bags 15,000 tons of chips require. So when you’re buying Super Bowl snacks, stay realistic about how much is needed and look for locally-sourced items, which don’t have the same level of carbon emissions as imported goods that must be transported in from long distances. Also, veer toward veggies for as many of your edible offerings as possible. Meat is a surprising environmental enemy, contributing to deforestation, grassland reduction and global warming.

When it’s time to serve your spread, try and use your regular–and reusable–plates and cutlery and load them up in the dishwasher after, which is not only better for your hands, but beats out washing by hand in terms of environmental friendliness. If you’re too worried about someone fumbling your fine china, pick up 100% recycled plastic plates and cutlery (we like the colorful options from Preserve) or compostable plates made from sugar cane–both choices won’t cost much more than regular disposable varieties and offer all the same conveniences.

DRINK
All this exciting football is making Americans thirsty…about 10.5 million barrels of beer thirsty, in fact. Since it’s in such large quantity, the growing of all that barley and hops and the transporting of all those brewskies can take a real toll on the earth. For sustainable suds, buy from a local brewery and go for a keg (extra points if you opt for organic), which won’t mean bunches of bottles and cans and may save you a little money, too. Serve the foamy stuff in your everyday glasses (if you have enough of them) or, just like with food serving, offer guests recycled plastic cups or 100% biodegradable cups made from corn.

If a keg would be complete overkill, go ahead and get the 6-pack or case; just remember to recycle all the bottles and cans. Bring them to a place that offers rebates for returning them and the earnings may even help you cover your costs. Click here to read more

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Part of what holds people back from getting greener is the notion that it will mean sacrificing the things they like to have and the things they like to do;,when in reality what’s needed are modifications of the way we do things and how we buy things. So where some eco-activists might tell you flat-out not to send a no-specific-occasion card to a friend, we’re here to say that if sending a random greeting card to someone you love is something that you love to do or just something that will make their day, do it. Just do it the right way.

We like Seltzer’s simply-designed, slyly-worded cards made with thick, luxurious 100% post-consumer recycled paper and printed using vegetable-based inks, and our current favorite is the Chocolate Buddha card which features minimalist artwork of a serene Buddha meditating on the word chocolate (inside it explains that “the true meaning of life is not so hard to grasp afterall”). Yes, the card might be aimed a little more specifically at women, but it’ll please a range of people (we certainly know a few men who can really appreciate a good bar of the dark Madagascar variety). Click here to read more

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If you’re getting sick of spending your days indoors (or getting sick of trying to entertain your kids indoors), we’ve got a great–and green–activity for you to mark on the calendar. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual event that takes place for four days each February and enlists Americans all over the country in a mission to study the bird population. Translation: it will keep the kids happily occupied for an afternoon or two.

The basic idea is simple: each participants goes outside and marks down the number and type of birds they see sometime in the span of February 13-16 this year. Some GBBC groupies only make it outside for 15 minutes on one day, others manage 20 minutes each day and some spend the entire afternoon of one day with the birds. With tens of thousands of people heading out into the cold to count, it’s not about the length of time you participate but, rather, the fact that you’re taking part.

If you’ve never been big on bird watching, consider giving it another try. A 15-minute commitment is much less than the time most people spend YouTubing every week and the benefits are pretty great; the results of the GBBC give scientists a better understanding of the variations in the bird population each year–a feat that would be difficult to accomplish without the help of GBBC bird-counters throughout the U.S. Click here to read more

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When you’re trying to save money on your fashion budget–and who’s not these days?–every fashionista will give you the same advice: Accessorize to bring new life to old outfits. It’s often a lot cheaper than investing in even one article of clothing and can completely change a look. Inventive and bold accessories are the best because the focus is diverted from price factor to originality. The Recycled Plastic Messanging Cuff we’ve discovered from Uncommon Goods is exactly that kind of outfit extra.

Made from two types of recycled plastic (making it 100% recycled), the Messaging Cuff starts a basic red or black adjustable plastic cuff with perforations throughout, which we’d like even on its own for a minimalist addition to an outfit, but the real point is to make it your own with 100 attachable elements. There are 75 letters to spell out exactly what you’re trying to say, 10 numbers and 15 icons (we like the little globe). So every morning when you’re mixing and matching different areas of your outfit, you can be switching up your accessory too. Click here to read more

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