Super Bowl? How 'bout Salad Bowl?

Let's take a minute from improving our green lifestyle to the biggest news of the day — the Super Bowl. Maybe, we'll just learn a few things.

BATTERY-POWERED
After Tom Brady's final thwarted pass fell, and the Giants got into victory formation to win Super Bowl XVII, the (what I hoped was recycled material) confetti filled University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. I couldn't help but wonder how much energy the whole production used? More importantly though, how much did it save?

Amp Energy drink ensured that at least 30 minutes of the pre-game show on FOX saved some of that energy.

The drink company set up 42 bicycles hooked up to a rotor, which ran to a generator, which in turn sent that energy to charge batteries. It then recruited 1,200 people over the course of four days to produce the energy needed. See the process here.

For a Super Bowl that would be heavily scrutinized for what it can do to become more eco-friendly, producers took a step in the right direction.

GREEN ADS
Some people only watch the game for the commercials (which should be a crime). But only a few made a statement about green living.

GMC introduced its new full-sized hybrid SUV during the broadcast. The Yukon promises to have 50 percent less miles per gallon than other vehicles in its class.

The commercial is simple in nature. A drawing of Sisyphus, the man condemned by the gods to push a boulder up a mountain for the rest of his days, works a boulder up to the top of a mountain while a narrator talks about change.

The ad's slogan is "Never Say Never," alluding to the thought that an SUV can only be a gas-guzzling machine.

Though it was hard to be distracted from one of the greatest Super Bowl upsets of all time, if we look closer, we can learn something from the producers and ad executives about what it means to be green.