Thanksgiving Green Guide: Tips for a Sustainable Holiday

Every year on the last Thursday of November, the USA celebrates Thanksgiving Day – a big holiday that has become a tradition gathering with family and close friends. It is important to make this holiday not only memorable for people, but also beneficial for the environment – eating organic food, choosing the right decor and lighting, not using refined petroleum products, and reducing CO2 emissions. This article provides some sustainable tips onthanksgiving green celebration.

The History of Thanksgiving and Its Green Evolution

Thanksgiving Day has its roots in a long time ago when people finished the harvest season and celebrated it with gratitude for the work done and its results. This holiday has become one of the most beloved holidays in America because of the feeling of unity and the opportunity to gather at one table and share happiness and joy with loved ones. In the rush to prepare and find the most festive attributes and decorations, people sometimes make impulsive and unnecessary purchases, cook dishes in excess, and do not analyze the results of such parties. Therefore, the remains of dishes, one-day dishes, or plastic decorations end up in landfills, the size of which is constantly growing every year. We suggest more details about following the philosophy of a sustainable lifestyle and finding some sustainable holiday tips to organize a memorable eco-friendly modern Thanksgiving Day.

Choosing Sustainable Dishes and Ingredients

Carefully plan your holiday menu – what dishes to prepare this year. Avoid leftovers – a few basic dishes cooked from organic products grown on local farms will be enough. Of course, the main attribute of Thanksgiving is a baked turkey, but have you ever thought about how many resources are spent on growing one turkey and how much uneaten food is thrown away every year? According to NRDC, it is about 200 million pounds of meat.

To make a sustainable thanksgiving celebration try to find alternative, simpler home-cooked recipes from a plant-based diet with new flavor combinations. You can always find plant-based turkey and roast meat in the supermarket. Agree on the menu with all the guests so that everyone can try the dish to their taste and be satisfied. Offer to bring reusable containers with you to take away leftovers.

Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving Decorations

Think about your home and holiday table decor in advance. Search Pinterest for DIY ideas using only natural materials, avoiding toxic, non-ecological petroleum products. Go for a walk in the woods or fields to gather branches, leaves, cones, nuts, acorns, or chestnuts. Buy a few different flowers and dead plants from your local florist – combined with the branches, they will perfectly complement your holiday table or interior.

Eco-Conscious Lighting Choices

In the modern world, searching and choosing holiday lights has become an integral part of party preparations. But it is a rather energy-intensive accessory. Only residents of the United States consume 66.3 billion kilowatt-hours for holiday lighting. To estimate this amount of electricity, you can imagine that it is enough to connect 14 million refrigerators. Impressive, isn’t it?

Therefore, a sustainable thanksgiving holiday requires choosing energy-saving LED garlands with solar-powered lighting regulated using timers. This way, you won’t waste extra money and kilowatt-hours on excessive lighting, which is a conscious and ecological choice.

Speaking of candles, avoid paraffin-based, as their combustion products pollute the air with carcinogens and are dangerous to health. Buy wax, soy, and coconut candles – environmentally friendly products that will perfume the room with a delicate sweet scent.

Skip Black Friday for a Greener Holiday

Every year, marketers, using psychological techniques, skillfully force us to buy mountains of goods on sale. However, estimates indicate that three-quarters of such impulsive purchases become unnecessary and are thrown into the trash, increasing the problem of global pollution. But how can you avoid such a scenario?

First of all, understand that showing emotions to express the importance of the person you want to congratulate on the holiday is not equal to a mandatory gift. Global sales are based on behavioral economics, which studies the impact of psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional influences on our financial wallet, and money spending on purchasing goods or services.

Evaluate beforehand if purchasing goods aligns with your financial plans and needs, considering the product’s quality and the pricing policy throughout the year. Also, consider buying seasonal items out of season.Create a list of people you want to congratulate, and plan a shopping list including long-life items, that will be useful for the user and are made of the most environmentally friendly materials. Use your creativity and craft a hand-made postcard or a set of goodies selected from local production. A great alternative to congratulations would be intangible things such as a gift certificate to the spa, gym, guest room, or other activities.

So, the secret of how to celebrate thanksgiving respectfully is a rational approach, a shopping list created in advance during “Black Friday,” and conscious consumption.

Waste Management for a Green Thanksgiving

It is important to reduce the amount of waste – both food and household items. Make sure you have reusable plates, glasses, and cutlery. Refuse to use dishes and napkins made of paper or plastic. The harm from one cycle of washing dishes in the dishwasher is much less than the harm from garbage, which easily burns in a landfill and decomposes into microplastics over a long period, polluting large areas of soil, groundwater, water bodies, and the atmosphere. Be sure to sort your garbage or take it to recycling centers.

Don’t waste anything unnecessary – your time, energy, resources, and your budget. Consume only what is necessary, and the result will be only pleasant emotions and time spent with family, with a feeling of gratitude and remembrance.

Conclusions

A sustainable lifestyle results in sustainable surroundings. Modern life requires eco-friendly ideas not only in everyday routine living but also on special days such as traditional celebrations. We shared with you our ideas on how to organize the best thanksgiving greenholiday. Be thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more!