Go from Prom Queen to Prom Green. Here are six ways to make the big dance environmentally-friendly.

Dress for eco success

Chances are you’ll spend $200+ on a gown that you’ll only wear once before suffocating in plastic where it will remain in the back of your closet until it becomes hideously out of date and thus rendered unwearable.

Here, some options: Check out the dresses by Passenger Pigeon, an eco-friendly clothing lines that uses organic fabrics like bamboo and hemp, so the material is biodegradable! (That means it won’t sit festering in a landfill for hundreds of years until it finally decomposes!) The natural fabrics let skin breathe so dancing up a storm will be no sweat! (For Passenger Pigeon Dresses click here.

If you’d rather wear a more traditional dress, why don’t you and your friends from other schools have a swap (bff’s almost always covet each other’s style anyway!).

What to do the day after? Consider donating it to a teen who can’t afford to purchase her own dress via The Corsage Project, Fairy Godmothers Inc., The Glass Slipper Project, or The Princess Project.

Borrow the blooms

Attention prom committee members: Discussing going local with your centerpiece flowers, then talk to the nearby greenhouse or nursery about renting plants. Really! It saves energy because you’re not getting flowers that were shipped from some far off place and then preserved in greenhouses. If you decide to buy, ask the principal if you can plant them afterward to brighten up your school. Finally, consider finding an organic grower in your area. Pesticide-free flowers are healthier for the environment and the people who handle them and they smell better!

Travel with your posse

You’re all going to the same place, so why not share the ride? You’ll save big on emissions and carbons, not to mention on gas, chaueffeur tips, and the price of renting individual limos. If you’re bent on going solo in a limo with your date, consider this: Those boat-sized autos are so pre-millenium – why not do what the eco-chic stars do for the Oscars and arrive in a hybrid?

Provide a delicious AND healthy dinner

Rally to get food options that are good for your taste buds and the planet. Opt for organic and, if possible, local produce. That way, you’ll know the crops were treated with care -- and so were the workers who harvested it.

Go paperless

Keep the price of prom tickets down by doing away with unnecessary printing costs. Instead of the prom invites, go the tree-saving approach by using a service like evite.com.

Make prom matter

If you do any or all of the above, you’ll save a bundle, so why not consider giving a portion of your prom proceeds to a charity or non-profit organization? If your prom has a theme – say A Day at the Beach – write a cheque to a clean oceans charity like the Surfrider Foundation.