RSS
Home
You can have your Thanksgiving and green it too!
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.gif)
Thanksgiving is a time for family, good food, great wine, fun decorations and - sustainability? Yes indeed, but how can a national holiday be green and sustainable? These days, everything we do, every action we take has an impact on our environment in one way or another. Thinking about greening family holidays can be a great way to start greening our everyday lives. Below are some tips and tricks on how to green your Thanksgiving Feast Holiday.
Preparations
If you plan on sending out invitations for Thanksgiving, consider using electronic invitations as opposed to paper. Evite is a free online invitation service that could be used for example. Cutting down on the paper inivtations helps reduce the amount of trees that are felled for paper products.
In your invitations suggest carpooling to reduce the amount of transportation emissions of your guests.
Instead of buying paper or plastic decorations, consider decorating the table with organic flowers (either fresh or dried), branches and nuts that you can find on a walk around your neighborhood or potted plants such as poinsettas. Using these organic biodigradable decorations helps cut down on the amount of paper and plastic that ends up in our landfills and emmits toxic fumes during the production and disposal of the products.
.jpg)
The Meal
Try to buy the majority of the ingredients for the meal at local farmers markets. Not only are most of the products fresh but most of them are naturally organically grown and in season, which is healthier for us.
If you are unable to go to one of the local farmers markets try shopping at an organic grocery store. Look for produce that is market as "local." Buying local helps reduce the carbon footprint since the goods don't need to travel across the country via truck or plane to reach our table.
When it comes to the star of the night - the turkey - find local, organically raised, free-range birds. There is a great website that helps customers find local organic produce called Local Harvest.
The Drinks
Organic wine and beer is becoming increasingly popular. There are entire wineries dedicated to only producing organic wines. Not only are they better for the planet but, like all organic goods, they are better for our health as well, since they typically don't contain any toxins and chemicals. There are also breweries dedicated to running a sustainable business by offsetting their carbon, using renewable energy technologies and growing their hops and barley sustainably. Sierra Nevada is one example of a sustainable brewery.
Instead of serving bottled water, buy a water filter and serve filtered tap water with lime or orange slices in it. Not only does it look pretty, but it helps reduce the use of plastic bottles.
The Leftovers
Who doesn't love Thanksgiving leftovers; turkey lunch sandwiches and left-over pie. When you start the process of wrapping-up the left-overs try to avoid plastic products, such as cling-wrap, plastic bags or plastic tupperware. Instead consider using aluminum foil (if it cleaned well after it's use it is recyclable), and glass or ceramic storage containers. These can be washed and resused safely. The plastic tupperware contains toxins that can leak into the left-over food.
If you have any unused, unopened goods you haven't used, consider donating them to a local food bank .
Cleaning-up
Ah..the fun part of the feast; the clean-up. This would be a good opportunity to give green cleaning products a try. If they can get rid of the dried food rests on plates and silverware and get rid of grease from pots and pans on this day - you know they will work for everyday uses as well. There are a number of green cleanign products that can be bought in conventional stores these days - just look for any mention that the product is biodigradable and won't harm the environment or you can make your own cleaning products, such as environmentally-friendly dishwashing detergent and toilet bowl cleaner.
If greening your Thanksgiving this year doesn't work out exactly as planned or some items that are essential are not available in organic format - don't despair. Christmas is just around the corner and will give you a second chance to try out greening your holidays.
Happy gooble-gobble Thanksgiving!
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
The dishwasher is a favorite household item, for years helping families do exactly what it's name proclaims: wash dishes. But what if the dishwasher …
We have all heard that recycling pays off in terms of non-monetary rewards, i.e. knowing you are contributing to a cleaner planet, doing your part to …
