Are you planning for National Night Out in your neighborhood? Thinking about ways your event can be more environmentally friendly this year? Look no further! RethinkRecycling.com can help you go green at your neighborhood's National Night Out event.

GreenGatherings is a new section on RethinkRecycling.com that includes several resources that can help make your next event green, including a toolkit packet on Going Green for National Night Out.

Some easy ways you can go green at National Night Out this year include:

• Provide recycling bins for cans, bottles, and other recyclables that may be produced at your event.

• Put out containers for food waste recycling. This is a great option if you have curbside pick-up of food waste, such as banana peels and coffee grounds, and non-recyclable paper, such as paper towels and pizza boxes. If you do not have this option, ask ahead of time for neighborhood volunteers who are willing to compost food waste from your event in their backyard compost bins.

• Only serve beverages in reusable or recyclable containers.

• Encourage attendees to use local food for potluck items, such as from a farmer's market or even their own backyard garden. If food for your event is being provided by an outside source, talk to them about how they can incorporate local food into the menu and reduce wasteful packaging.

• Use decorations that can be reused in future years, and limit or don't use balloons. If you are printing banners or other signs, make sure they are recycled at the end of the day.

• Provide condiments in bulk instead of individually wrapped servings. For example, provide bottles of ketchup instead of individual packets.

To learn more about how to go green at National Night Out and other events, visit www.RethinkRecycling.com/events.  You can also share other good green event ideas here, or submit your event for a case study (see the "My Event" sign in the right side bar of the events page above)!