As fall rolls around again, we start to reminisce about all we are grateful for in the form of Thanksgiving. While this is a precious time for spending with loved ones, the event often burdens our environment more than usual. While consumers have become increasingly conscious of their impact on our ecosystem, there are a few things we can all do together to make this holiday season just a little more sustainable.
Reuse Your Items
If you’ve not done so, ensure you swap out all your disposable items for ones you can reuse. For example, this includes your napkins, glasses, dinnerware, and roasting pan. Whatever you do, just avoid those pesky plastic knives and forks! By investing in good quality materials, you should be able to keep resources out of landfill sites and reduce the demand for increased production.
Recycle
Before you buy anything for this event, ensure you can recycle all the packaging enclosing each item. Look out for the recycle symbol and research which types of materials your local services will collect. If you have plastic packaging which your local recycling service won’t accept, attempt to take it to one that will. Furthermore, ensure you rinse all packaging before recycling it, including plastics, glass, and aluminum.
Cut Down on The Meat
When you think of Thanksgiving, you might automatically think of a huge roast turkey. However, the truth is that the meat industry contributes eye-watering amounts of methane gas to our environment, the scarcity of our natural resources, and climate change. So, consider cutting back on the meat or even swapping it out with a vegetarian option like squash. Or, simply add more side dishes and opt for a smaller turkey this holiday season.
Plan Your Cooking Times
You can coordinate your cooking in advance, ensuring that you can put multiple dishes in the oven at once to minimize the time the oven spends on. Also, use the stove’s lowest temperatures to reduce the energy you need. This can help you avoid unwanted overcooking.
Choose Organic Options
When buying your Thanksgiving ingredients, try to choose organic options. These often taste better and ensure that specific environmental standards have been met in the production process.
Check Out Your Fridge And Freezer Space Before Buying Your Food
You must make sure you have enough room for all your Thanksgiving food to preserve it as best as possible. By clearing out your storage spaces, you can find what you want to use quickly and prevent any food from being forgotten about if they are hidden at the back of the fridge.
Key Takeaways
- You can take plenty of action this holiday to minimize your environmental impact. Even by just taking on one or two of these tips, you can make a significant difference.
- Secondly, businesses may be able to benefit from encouraging people to have eco-friendly Thanksgivings. By selling organic food and reusable products, companies can profit from increasing numbers of eco-friendly consumers.
- Finally, it’s obvious that the concerning environmental problems that arise at Thanksgiving cannot be neglected. With vast amounts of waste and pollution being created, we need to consider our personal effects on our planet today.
