Whether you are headed home for a long thanksgiving break, or expecting a household full of people, Thanksgiving can be a stressful and cumbersome holiday. If your Thanksgiving is like mine, full of family and friends, it is a great time to get together and be thankful. Instead of your Thanksgiving being a burden full of chores and errands this year let it be fun and merry. Like most holiday’s one way that you can avoid all the last minute errands and grocery trips, is to plan ahead.
One way to have an eco-friendly Thanksgiving is to shop wisely for your turkey. This doesn’t mean you have to serve tofurkey at dinner, but there are ways to enjoy thanksgiving eating a turkey that is healthy for you and the environment.
The key to this is to go local. It is simple in that the fewer miles between farm and plate, the less energy must be expended on transportation. You may have not heard of a local turkey farm but there are plenty of small farms that are willing to match your thanksgiving turkey. Visit this site to find a turkey farm in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/organic-turkey.jsp
Another way to practice an eco-friendly Thanksgiving is stay close to home. The holidays are known for having packed airports so instead of traveling this year start a new tradition with family and friends who live close to you. If you have to travel try getting there by train. It is far better for the environment than air travel or your personnel vehicle.
Other Thanksgiving tips:
– Buy food items that use the least amount of packaging and
– look for items that contain recycled post-consumer content.
– Make sure you review your food list multiple times before going to the store to reduce the number of times you drive there.
– Bring reusable bags to the store with you.
– Instead of using plastic forks and paper plates, use your flatware for dinner which is better for the environment.
– On thanksgiving turn down the heat, because all the cooking you do will heat the house, anticipate the oven warmth.
– Suggest carpooling to your friends who are going to the same place and live close-by.
– For leftovers use reusable containers.
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