{"id":14794,"date":"2012-08-24T08:04:38","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T14:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=14794"},"modified":"2012-08-24T08:04:38","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T14:04:38","slug":"beer-pong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/beer-pong\/","title":{"rendered":"Just for Fun: Cut the Waste from Your Beer Pong Games"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Editor’s note:<\/strong> While we’re not opposed to anyone having a good time, we should note that beer pong is a game for adults aged 21 or older, and that drinking in excess carries risks.<\/em><\/p>\n Beer pong – isn’t that a game played by fraternity boys? Not exactly a prime audience for green living advice. Stereotypes be damned: young people of all stripes are more eco-conscious these days. And, who knows: there may be a handful of more typical treehugging types that enjoy a rollicking game of beer pong. Either way, it’s a game that could be much less wasteful… even zero waste (well, except for spilled beer – there’s no helping that). Here are five tips for cutting bpong’s most wasteful elements without eliminating any of the fun.<\/p>\n 1. Don\u2019t use disposable cups:<\/strong> We are all familiar with the red plastic cups that have become a beer pong tradition. Despite their inexplicable popularity, disposable cups are a huge waste of resources<\/a>, not to mention money. Consider tracking down some cheap reusable beer pong cups<\/a>, or even those free cups that are sometimes given away at ball games, grand openings, or similar big events.<\/p>\n 2. Get a keg:<\/strong> Even though it is a small step, buying beer in kegs rather than cans or bottles reduces waste. Beer kegs and beer keg taps<\/a> can be reused hundreds of times. By comparison, the best a can or bottle can do is be recycled, which is sadly more of a possibility than a probability.<\/p>\n 3. Consider using locally-sourced,or even homebrewed, beer:<\/strong> Although a microbrewed beer is likely to be more expensive than the more commonly consumed domestic lagers, a micro brew keg will not travel quite as far to reach your bpong bash. Making this small investment is a more responsible choice if you are at all interested in reducing your carbon footprint. Further (and so obvious that it almost goes without saying), a local beer is going to be tastier than the alternative. Your guests will be glad that you went for the better-tasting beer, no matter what their stance on greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n If you are interested in taking the idea of “local” a step further, think homebrew! No beer travels a shorter distance than the one you brew in your own kitchen. With the popularity of home-brewing on the rise, more and more homes are investing in beer brewing systems. Rather than going through the hassle of bottling, you can combine steps 2 and 3, and buy your own beer kegs for at home kegging!<\/p>\n 4. Build your own beer pong table:<\/strong> Rather than buying a new table for playing beer pong, try creating your own! If you can get your hands on a full sized piece of plywood, you are already halfway there. Any time you can avoid buying a new product, you avoid wasting both the resources used to manufacture it and the resources used to transport it.<\/p>\n 5. Keep track of your balls!<\/strong> Rather than buying new ping pong balls every time you want to throw together a beer pong party, keep track of the ones you have! Grab a large jar and label it “bpong balls.” This will encourage your guests to put used balls back after using them, thereby reducing the number of lost or stepped on balls.<\/p>\n Got other tips for greening up your beer pong or other drinking games? Share them with us in the comments.<\/p>\n Richard Warren is a freelance writer living in San Diego, CA. He is interested in both green living and homebrewing.<\/em><\/p>\n Image credit:<\/strong>\u00a0alexvalentine at flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Enjoy the occasional game of beer pong on the weekends? You can eliminate much of the waste associated with the game without sacrificing any of the fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":14796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[72,5979,5980,5981,5982,5983,48],"yoast_head":"\n