Green Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has evolved from being a time to focus on all that we’ve been given into a day to indulge in abundant excess at its very max. With the average American consuming 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving day—more than double the USDA average recommended daily intake—this is not a time when most go minimal. And who can resist the plates of tempting treats and the sleepy turkey-induced stupor that follows? But all that excess has an impact on the environment; whether it’s the travel to meet up with friends or relatives, the quantities of food or the clean-up, there’s plenty of room to get greener at Thanksgiving.

This year, why not take a cue from early Pilgrims who actually celebrated the fact that they could get by on what little they had (during their first winter in America, in fact, almost half the pilgrims died) and celebrated Thanksgiving in those early days not as a celebration of a bountiful harvest but calling for a day of Thanksgiving when a bad crop turned out to still be enough or a boat of supplies thought to be lost at sea arrived. To adjust your Thanksgiving celebration for greener purposes you don’t have to get stingy with the day, just make smart choices.

Top 5 Green Tips

1. Stay Close (and Travel Light)

One of the great things about Thanksgiving, for most, is the chance to meet up with family and friends for a few hours of feasting. Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest areas of environmental impact from the holiday. If your family is very spread out and several members will be flying to converge at one house the carbon footprint is especially large. Even a long drive can take a serious toll and with gas prices still high the environment might not be the only thing feeling strained.

While all that travel may not be green, it’s hard to cut out your family or friends and few people choose to spend Thanksgiving with just those they live with, which is understandable. You can, however, try and limit the amount of travel by having a couple different groups meet up based on their proximity to each other; if this means you won’t see a few people on November 27, consider whether you’ll see them at Christmas the month after, and, if so, whether you feel okay about waiting until then. For the travel that does take place try to carpool and investigate public transit options (as long as you’re not bringing several food dishes, the train can be a great choice). If circumstances force you to fly, look into purchasing some carbon offsets to lessen the eco-damage that the trip may cause. And if you’re flying into a place where you’ll be renting a car, try to rent a fuel-efficient vehicle and see if the company you’re renting with has any kind of environmentally-conscious programs, like the Carbon Offset Program at Enterprise Rent-A-Car where you can add $1.25 to your rental to fund carbon offsetting programs and they’ll match the donation.

2. Leave No Long-Term Leftovers

After the hours of prepping and all that eating comes a tradition that is both eco-conscious and eco-catastrophe: The packaging and dispersing of leftovers for all attendants. While this is certainly better than wasting food and every green guy and girl can behind using up all you can from what you have, the packaging options themselves aren’t usually in-line with environmental ideas. Out of the kitchen go a steady stream of plastic wrap, aluminum foil, Tupperware and Ziploc bags; most items destined to be used for the week that follows and subsequently trashed.

The solution for this dilemma is simple enough thanks to a myriad of more earth-friendly options. First, try to take plastic wrap out of the equation entirely; it’s most often made from petroleum and usually contains PVC, which is linked to some pretty harmful consequences and biodegradable versions tend to be hard to find for purchase. The same is often true with Ziploc bags, though there’s more likelihood of someone rinsing and reusing them. Aluminum foil is a good choice instead and is now available in 100% recycled varieties.

The best choice for leftovers, though not always a viable one, is to send people out with glass or ceramic storage containers that you own, which they can return after. Try to do this with all your local Thanksgiving attendees and save the other options for people you won’t see again (at least for quite awhile).

3. Try Some Turn-Offs

Two of the biggest Thanksgiving traditions often mean having the television television on all day. The Macy’s Day Parade carries over to football games for those not on cooking duty in the kitchen, and there are often movies for the kids on other TVs. That electrical consumption, along with running the oven and popping in and out of the fridge for ingredients, can really add up when you multiply it by the millions of people participating all over the country.

If you enjoy watching the Parade, try attending an actual parade in your hometown—the excitement of a live event will be much more entertaining for the kids and spending time with your fellow community members fits right in with what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about. If you’ve got die-hard football fans, however, they may not be too keen on the idea of giving up the games. See if you can talk them into a limited amount of viewing and make sure you use one TV for the group instead of several in different rooms, especially if you own big screen TVs (which are real energy eaters). After everyone finishes eating, offer up board games or card games for people to play and serve dessert in the living room so that you can turn off lights and/or heaters in other rooms (don’t forget the kitchen).

4. Ditch the Dish Gloves

As inevitable as overeating, a load of post-dinner clean-up is just one of those things that come along with Thanksgiving. Instead of spending your time deliberating who gets stuck with dish duty (though tradition dictates that those who do not cook must clean), look for ways to get greener with your kitchen cleaning. One of the best options is to make use of your dishwasher. A study from the University of Bonn in Germany found that dishwashing machines use half the energy and one sixth the water than that expended during manual dishwashing—plus less soap. For extra efficiency don’t rinse the dishes first (most dishwashers can get everything clean without the help) and opt to air dry the dishes instead of heat drying them. Since there may be a mound of dishes on this particular day, you may have to do a couple loads; fill the first to the brim, practice patience and let the rest get washed in a second (and even third) full load. The benefits of your automatic dishwashing can also be increased by investing in an energy-efficient dishwasher and using natural, biodegradable dishwashing detergent.

If you’re planning on skipping clean-up completely by using disposable plates and utensils—which is not the best environmental choice, but sometimes a necessary one—go for recycled plastic, renewable bamboo or biodegradable varieties.

5. Stay Seasonal and Shop Local

Since the biggest part of Thanksgiving is, arguably, the food, getting greener with your menu choices can make a very positive impact on the level of your eco-consciousness. The total carbon emissions of food products that travel the world to get to your table can be astronomical and, on a more selfish note, often means settling for food that is not as ripe or flavorful as one would like. By shopping locally you can eliminate some of that travel time and involve fresh, seasonal goodies in your eating. A great place to do your Thanksgiving-dinner shopping is a local farmer’s market, where you can buy offerings directly from farmers and acquire great fall foods (try doing lots of root vegetable side dishes).

When it comes to that table center-of-attention--the turkey--consider buying an organic free-range bird. Americans cook and eat more than 45 million turkeys on Thanksgiving, a sixth of the total number of turkeys sold each year, and the conditions on turkey farms can be downright grotesque. So while we won’t ask you to switch to Tofurky—unless you’re willing—it is worth it to invest a little extra in more humane farming.

Green Thanksgiving

Top 5 Green Tips

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Top 5 Green Tips

1. Stay Close (and Travel Light)

2. Leave No Long-Term Leftovers

3. Try Some Turn-Offs

4. Ditch the Dish Gloves

5. Stay Seasonal and Shop Local

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