Our Ten Thanksgiving Tips are sure to make this your coolest and greenest Thanksgiving ever!
1. Order a free-range, organic turkey from a local farm. Not only could you meet your turkey before it winds up on your plate (if you want) but you’ll be ensuring it wasn’t fed hormones or synthetic feed grown with pesticides and fertilizers. Keeping it local will also cut down on your food miles and help foster a relationship with local farmers. (check out the Eat Well Guide or Local Harvest to find a farm!)
2. Buy local produce from a farmers market. Seasonal favorites this time of the year will vary by region but most of us can expect to see squashes, potatoes and other root crops, greens, cranberries, pomegranates, persimmons and, of course, pumpkins.
3. Look for organic products, especially for those items that may not available locally. Some family recipes may call for specialty ingredients that may be difficult to find. Luckily, even conventional grocery stores are stocking hundreds of organic products these days so you can find pesticide-free food just about anywhere.
4. Go on, try the Tofurky…or not. The U.N. notes that animal production is responsible for almost 20% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing vegetarian foods can cut your FoodPrint significantly. But, having a vegetarian Thanksgiving doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go for the processed soy. Try one of the delicious vegetarian recipes from Dan Barber or Nora Pouillon.
5. Raise a glass to organic and local beverages. Research published in the upcoming edition of the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment shows that organic wines have almost half the carbon footprint of conventional wines. Visit some vineyards in your area before Thanksgiving or ask your local distributor if they stock local or organic wine and beer.
6. Boycott throw-aways. A house full of people on Thanksgiving may have you considering throw-away plates, utensils and napkins. Resist the urge! All of that waste will wind up in a landfill where it will produce methane, a greenhouse gas. Save energy and water on the dishes by loading a dishwasher completely full, using environmentally-friendly dish soap and running the dishwasher during non-peak electricity times.
7. Cater to your sweet tooth and the earth with traditional deserts. Forget the out-of-the-box additive-laden desserts and stick to the real seasonal favorites—pecan and pumpkin pie. With pumpkins grown throughout the United States and pecans available locally (in southern regions especially), these two fall desserts are traditional for a reason. Try making your own with fresh local ingredients and buying some organic ice cream or whipped cream to top it off.
8. Perk up your guests by serving organic and fair trade coffee, tea and cocoa when the post-Thanksgiving food coma sets in. While coffee is not widely grown in the
9. Stuff the fake stuffing, use bread instead! Stuffing may not have been served at the first Thanksgiving but it has certainly become an American favorite during the holiday season. These days, boxed stuffing seems to look more like cardboard than food. With tons of packaging, preservatives and additives, skipping the boxed stuffing is a great way to cool down your feast. Stuffing is a creative way to use up leftovers like vegetables and fruits from your fridge, and will be especially flavorful made with a loaf of bread from the local bakery.
10. Pack it up right. Taking the time to plan a green Thanksgiving can go downhill fast if you pack all of your leftovers into Ziploc bags and aluminum foil. Instead, place your leftovers in Tupperware containers or other reusable and washable containers. Whenever possible, keep them right in the dish or pot you cooked them in and put a lid on it. You’ll keep waste out of the landfills and cut down on your own cost of packaging.
11. Ok- one more- recycle that grease! If by chance you have a lot of leftover grease from your festivities or find yourself with a lot of used cooking oil on your hands, see if you can recycle it in your community. Initiatives are popping up all over the country to turn used cooking oil and grease into biodiesel. If your lucky enough to live in the San Francisco area then check out the San Francisco Greasecycle!
