Celebrate Thanksgiving Sustainably
2 minute read
Thanksgiving can produce a lot of food and plastic waste
Traveling to visit family and friends can produce a lot of greenhouse gas emissions
We’ve outlined some tips to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving this year
Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate what you’re grateful for, surround yourself with your loved ones, and eat great food. However, the environmental impact of Thanksgiving shouldn’t be ignored. If you don’t plan correctly, your Thanksgiving meal could produce a lot of waste. According to the NRDC, 200 million pounds of turkey is thrown away each year. That’s the equivalent of the carbon footprint of 800,000 cars driving from Los Angeles to Florida! We have provided some tips so that you can have a great holiday while staying sustainable.
Shop Sustainably
Buy local and organic ingredients if you can. You can shop at a local farmer’s market, to support local farmers and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Reduce your meat consumption if you can. Choose a smaller portion of meat and add bigger portions of veggies.
Skip produce bags at the grocery store. Instead, bring your own or don’t use any at all, just make sure to thoroughly wash your produce when you get home.
Get ingredients from bulk bins, if your store has them, to reduce plastic waste.
Try to get all of your ingredients in one trip to the store to cut down on the emissions from driving back and forth for more.
Reduce Waste
Only buy the amount of food you need, resist the urge to impulse buy all of the festive holiday treats.
Only make recipes that you know people will eat. If only one or two people eat the jello, skip it this year.
Coordinate with other guests to make sure you won’t have too much food or two of the same dish.
Freeze leftovers you can’t eat in the next few days.
If you’re tired of leftovers, research recipes that use those leftovers in a new way to mix it up.
Compost inedible things like egg shells instead of throwing them in the trash.
Use washable plates, utensils, and cups instead of paper or plastic. If washable items won’t work for you, look into compostable options.
Similarly, use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
Travel Smarter
If you can travel by bus or train, instead of car or plane, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
If you do travel, offset your emissions with Ecodrive!
Travel during off-peak times to reduce the amount of time you spend in traffic and the amount of gas you have to use. Google has analyzed the best and worst times to travel in many major US cities.
Happy Thanksgiving from Ecodrive! 🦃
