Thanksgiving is a holiday when we give thanks by celebrating with family and friends. Coming together for a Thanksgiving feast is a way to create lasting memories, but it can create extra trash that will also be lasting if it is sent to a landfill.
With some creative planning, however, you can celebrate the spirit of gratitude and togetherness while at the same time cutting back on extra waste.
1. Planning – Reducing waste at Thanksgiving begins with careful planning. Start with your guest list. Ask your guests to kindly confirm their attendance. If you know how many people you are serving, you will be able to prepare enough food for all without going overboard.
For the meal itself, plan to cook from scratch. Food prepared by a deli, restaurant or caterer must be transported in plastic to-go containers. Party planning experts also recommend sticking to simpler recipes for this big holiday. If you are cooking complicated dishes that require many ingredients you will likely never use again, that leads to unnecessary waste.
2. Shopping – Start your holiday grocery shopping with a thoughtfully created list. Having a good list in hand is one way to resist impulse purchases of food that are over and above what you need. To avoid overpreparing for your guest count, shopping experts also recommend using an online portion calculator. These guides can help you estimate the right amount of food to prepare, how many pounds of turkey, cranberries, potatoes and other food you need for generous servings for your specific number of guests.
When you hit the store, bring your own reusable bags to avoid single use plastic bags. Better yet, buy whole foods, in bulk, if possible, to cut back on the single use plastic packaging used to sell things like prepared produce.
3. Décor – Decorate your Thanksgiving dinner with items that you won’t throw in the trash. Adorn your table with pumpkins, gourds and leaves that can go back outside or be put with yard waste. Reuse a glass jar for a bouquet of flowers or a potted mum that can be planted outside when the celebration is over.
4. Setting the Table – Probably the biggest improvement anyone can make to reduce waste at Thanksgiving is to set the table and buffet with reusable dishes, glasses, cutlery and serving pieces. Disposable single-use plastic dinnerware and serving containers are a significant source of waste. If you can’t eliminate every piece of disposable dinnerware at your house this Thanksgiving, at least try to reduce the amount from previous years to chalk up some improvement. Getting out real dishes, glasses and silverware helps the holiday feel festive. If you do not have enough reusable dishes for your guests, you can rent or borrow them or check a thrift store. Cloth napkins lend a special touch to a holiday table and can be washed and reused, not thrown away. Speaking of cloth, when it is time to clean up, use real towels, not paper towels.
5. Leftovers – Despite our best planning efforts, there will likely be food left over after your Thanksgiving feast. Planning for leftovers will help put them to best use. First, ask each guest to bring their own reusable container for leftovers. After your meal, let everyone take a helping in their container instead of a single-use box or bag. They can pop it in your refrigerator until it’s time to leave. Take whatever leftovers you think you will eat within a few days and refrigerate. Pack up the rest in your reusable containers and freeze them. They can be pulled out and consumed at your own pace.
Be creative with your leftovers! You can find many online Thanksgiving leftover recipes. Try making turkey pot pie, using mashed potatoes as your “crust,” or use cranberry sauce to top yogurt or pancakes.
Even your food scraps can be repurposed. Use your turkey carcass to make a hearty turkey stock for soup. Vegetable scraps and peelings can also be boiled for vegetarian soup stock. Whatever is left over after all of that can be composted. If you do not have your own compost pile, check for community compost with drop off locations. Some cities have compost collection. A lot of people say the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers, so let’s make sure they are not wasted!
6. Recycle – Recycle whatever can go in your recycling bins. Put a bin labeled “recycling” in your kitchen, so guests know where to put empty cans and bottles and they don’t end up in the trash can. If you do end up with recyclable plastic from food containers, rinse them and put them in the bin, too.
7. Generosity – Trying to eliminate waste can also spread Thanksgiving generosity by donating excess food. Unopened, nonperishable food can be donated to food banks or community organizations. Check the local shelters near you to see if they are accepting prepared food in good condition so that you can donate right away.
Using some of these ideas, you can find joy in new traditions that use creativity and mindfulness. Part of being thankful is not wasting. Making thoughtful choices will help celebrate the true spirit of gratitude without sending more trash to a landfill. By doing so you can make more memories and less waste.
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