Tips for a Green Thanksgiving Dinner and Holiday Season

There is no better time to practice eco-friendly living than during the holidays. The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons can be so filled with gluttony and selfishness that consciously dialing back and making an effort to have a green holiday season can make a huge impact. Here are ten tips for celebrating an eco-friendly Thanksgiving.

Send Out E-Mail Invitations to Your Meal

By sending out e-mail invitations to your Thanksgiving dinner, you not only save money on postage, but you will also conserve paper, energy used for fuel in postal vehicles, and time spent addressing and sealing individual envelopes. Postal mail carries quiet the carbon footprint, reduce it by utilizing e-invites.

Buy Your Vegetables Locally

Almost all Thanksgiving meals are going to feature a substantial amount of vegetables. Pick up your vegetables at a local farmer's market to reduce the carbon footprint of your meal as well as pump money into your local economy.

Buy an Organic Turkey

If you cannot buy a local turkey, then look for an organic turkey. Organically raised animals are treated better in captivity and will dine on natural substances instead of being force fed for the holiday season.

Avoid Exotic Foods

Exotic foods (by exotic, think foods that come from distant shores) travel long distances and consume a vast amount of energy to get to dinner tables in non-indigenous locations. For a truly eco-friendly Thanksgiving, avoid foods that had to travel over a hundred miles to your door.

Serve Your Food on Time

Schedule a dinner time when you plan your party and stick to it. Do not waste valuable energy and spoil the quality of your meal by waiting for the proverbial guest who is always 30 minutes late. It is better to have one or two guests have to microwave their Turkey than 10 or 20.

The Perfect Dessert

For a tasty after dinner treat, serve up some organic popcorn or popcorn balls made with organic popping corn. There are few things more authentic to Thanksgiving than the natural bounty of the land present in this food.

An Alternate Dessert

Thanksgiving carries the image of a cornucopia stuffed with fruits and vegetables. Make your desserts plain variations of these fruits. Buy local apples and make a homemade apple pie for dessert instead of consuming store bought goodies.

Take Up a Collection

After dinner consider taking up a "collection" to buy back the carbon footprint of the Thanksgiving Dinner through the purchase of a carbon offset.

Send Out "Turkey" Bags

Give each guest a "turkey" bag of food to carry home with them. Disposing of perfectly edible food is a grievous waste and not at all eco-friendly. By sending guests home with leftover food, you will be reducing their energy consumption for an additional day or two, and you will be getting the best return on the energy already used to produce a good meal.

Compost Any Additional Leftovers

If you served an organically pleasing Thanksgiving Dinner, compost the components that could not be sent home as leftovers and use them in a garden or in your flowerbeds.