Has Tikkun Leil Shabbat taken any steps to "green" these gatherings?
We've taken a variety of steps to reduce the environmental impact of our gatherings:

• Our meeting location at the RAC is metro accessible (Red line Dupont Circle) and for many attendees, also walkable and bikeable.
• By gathering for vegetarian meals, we significantly reduce the environmental impact of our Shabbat dinners together. (Eating lower on the food chain, even once a week, is a very powerful way to reduce the energy use and carbon emissions associated with our food consumption -- and it's yummy!).
• We've taken steps to minimize waste from disposables on both potluck tables. On the vegetarian table, you'll find a colorful collection of cloth napkins we procured on Craigslist and donations from participants -- a volunteer launders them after each TLS. We use the RAC's reusable serving utensils, plates and cups, and have supplemented these with previously-loved forks, serving utensils, and other donations from participants. We wash and re-use plastic cutlery for use on the vegetarian table. The hekhsher table also sports its own set of lime-green reusables which get washed separately.
• We recycle glass, plastic and aluminum containers after TLS meals, diverting some garbage from the waste stream and conserving resources.
• That said, our exuberant potluck gatherings of more than a hundred folks continue to generate a lot more garbage than we'd like. We encourage TLS participants to bring food in reusable containers that you'll take home to minimize the trash we generate. And TLS participants can further reduce TLS' environmental "footprint" by choosing local and organic foods for your potluck offering whenever you can, and by walking or biking to TLS.

"Greening" our community's practices is an ongoing process, and your suggestions for further improvements are welcome: tikkunleilshabbat at yahoo dot com.