4 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day at Your Bar

Earth Day is right around the corner, will your bar be packed for the holiday? With the increased emphasis that America is placing on planet stewardship, you can bet that your regular drinking crowd will be just as interested in saving the Earth as they are in trying the new springtime draft beers and cocktails. Here are four ideas to make sure your bar is the coolest place to be while helping to ward off Global Warming.

1. Make the Greenest Day a “Greenery” Day

Earth Day may be the greenest day of the year, but you can make your bar greener. Offer specials to your patrons for wearing green outfits, or clothing that depicts the Earth. You’ll have a vibrant and exciting bar for the night, and your guests will be more than happy to give those bright green pants a second night out at the bar this year.

Another option to pack your bar is to offer a planting party for guests who bring in small terra cotta pots, or modified alcohol bottles that have the tops cut off. Your customers who bring in a planting pot can get a discount on their drinks, and can also have access to soil and small flowers on the patio (if you’ve got one), or back stoop (for those of you without a patio). When your customers plant things and decorate your bar, they are literally “greening” your bar, and making the world a more beautiful place—plus, they’ll hang around and have a few more drinks to celebrate a planting job well done.

2. Reduce Your Energy Footprint with Pitcher Specials

On Earth Day, you can offer pitcher specials to guests who want to save the Earth. Because pitchers and glasses are reusable, they are less harmful to the Earth than buying bottled beers… and if you’re offering pitchers, your guests have to bring a crowd.

Nothing says green like going paperless, so switching to digital wine menus from Uncorkd could also be a great idea this Earth Day (wink, nudge).

3. Support Earth’s Plants by Eating Them

It’s a fact that the Earth is delicious. No, I’m not talking about soil and I’m not talking about the earthworms in the soil, I’m talking about all the wonderful plants we can munch on while drinking a beer. To make it fun, you can name your menu specials after green movements or noted eco-warriors. If I saw the Greenpeace Gazpacho or the José Bové Veggie Burger, I’d have to order them. If you want to keep the campy vibe, a Swampy Sangria would be a great drink for upselling your environmentally active customers.

As a bonus, you can create a contest for the most “green” Bloody Mary, and the person with the most green toppings in their drink wins.

4. Make a Day of It

Like all holidays, Earth Day is not only a day for partying, it is also a day to celebrate the communities that we live in. Try making Earth Day a day of community building by inviting local activists to give talks or to get your patrons involved in lasting change; not only will your bar be filled with thoughtful, environmentally-conscious folks, you’ll also rest easy knowing that this year, you changed the world.

No matter what you decide to do for Earth Day, make sure that you celebrate the holiday by trying to consume less power, throw away less trash, and by making a pledge to yourself, your bar, your customers, and the Earth, to waste less and to take a more active hand in saving this beautiful planet we live on. After all, what other planets have barley, hops, grapes, yeast, or juniper berries?

Photo licensed by Luz Adriana Villa