Have a Green Thanksgiving
Tara Paterson
November 20, 2008
There´s a lot of talk these days about going green when celebrating the holidays, but what exactly does that mean? And if you choose to go green, does that mean you can´t enjoy the same things you´ve always been accustomed to? The simple answer is no. If you think back to colonial days when the first Thanksgiving celebration took place, their feast would have been considered "green" by today´s standards. So let´s take a look at what you can do to have a green Thanksgiving of your own!
1.) Buy a fresh, natural turkey preferably from a local distributor. What you want to look for in a natural turkey is that they were raised without the use of chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics and were grain fed and are free range. Buying local also eliminates the use of gas in the transport.
2.) Prepare your foods from scratch using local produce. Don´t go for the quick fix of a prepared meal; even a pie. Use local produce (preferably organic) to fix your potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies and desserts. By making all of your own Thanksgiving fixins´ you can enjoy a holiday tradition of preparing food with your family. You will also experience the wonderful aromas the food will fill your house with.
3.) Make sure when shopping you take lots of canvas/reusable shopping bags with you to avoid accumulating plastic bags. If you do have to use plastic bags, please remember to recycle them!
4.) Use china and real glassware, not those pesky plastic cups. It´s much easier to serve beverages or punch in plastic cups to eliminate having to wash glasses, but plastic is a threat to both your health and the environment. Make this year the year you begin to go "plastic-free." Also, serve dessert on real plates, not plastic throw aways for the same reason!
5.) Use cloth napkins instead of paper. Try to make this Thanksgiving a zero waste day by eliminating any throw aways. Cloth napkins can easily be washed and will add an elegance to your holiday dining table.
Send us your green holiday suggestions and win a chance to be selected to receive a stainless steel water bottle! Visit- http://cynergreen.com/wp/
By Tara Paterson, ACPI™ Certified Parent Coach, co-author of Raising Intuitive Children (New Page Books, spring ´09)
1.) Buy a fresh, natural turkey preferably from a local distributor. What you want to look for in a natural turkey is that they were raised without the use of chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics and were grain fed and are free range. Buying local also eliminates the use of gas in the transport.
2.) Prepare your foods from scratch using local produce. Don´t go for the quick fix of a prepared meal; even a pie. Use local produce (preferably organic) to fix your potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies and desserts. By making all of your own Thanksgiving fixins´ you can enjoy a holiday tradition of preparing food with your family. You will also experience the wonderful aromas the food will fill your house with.
3.) Make sure when shopping you take lots of canvas/reusable shopping bags with you to avoid accumulating plastic bags. If you do have to use plastic bags, please remember to recycle them!
4.) Use china and real glassware, not those pesky plastic cups. It´s much easier to serve beverages or punch in plastic cups to eliminate having to wash glasses, but plastic is a threat to both your health and the environment. Make this year the year you begin to go "plastic-free." Also, serve dessert on real plates, not plastic throw aways for the same reason!
5.) Use cloth napkins instead of paper. Try to make this Thanksgiving a zero waste day by eliminating any throw aways. Cloth napkins can easily be washed and will add an elegance to your holiday dining table.
Send us your green holiday suggestions and win a chance to be selected to receive a stainless steel water bottle! Visit- http://cynergreen.com/wp/
By Tara Paterson, ACPI™ Certified Parent Coach, co-author of Raising Intuitive Children (New Page Books, spring ´09)