The holiday season is upon us, and while we love the idea of sleeping in, spending time with family, and enjoying a few (or twenty) holiday cookies, the season is also ripe with waste. According to the Centers for Disease Control “Americans throw away about 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.” Yikes!! The good news is that there are a ton of great ideas and resources out there for making your holidays a little bit more green. Here are some of our favorite suggestions!
Cut Down Your Food Waste
The holidays are a time filled with abundance, which frequently means that we prepare more food than we can actually eat, and/or we eat way more than we actually need. While it’s understandable to want to indulge in the delights of the season, keep in mind that avoiding food waste will save you money and at the same time help the planet! According to Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, “up to 35% of food in high-income economies is thrown out by consumers” (2017, 43). Consider reducing the amount of food you make in the first place, but if you do have leftovers, get creative! Can you make a turkey and wild rice soup with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey? Would those potatoes be tasty on a Shepard’s Pie? Be prepared to properly store leftover food in advance too–lots of foods freeze really well, and consider how great it would be to dig that Thanksgiving meal out of the freezer come late January! In the event that you do have food waste, consider either backyard composting or organics recycling. For more tips on food preparation and preservation in order to reduce food waste, check out Save the Food.
Source Your Food Locally
We’re privileged here in Minnesota to have a lot of amazing farmer’s markets as well as local options for sourcing sustainable foods, and while you may think that the arrival of cold weather means those options are off the table, think again! Throughout the state there are Winter Farmers Markets, as well as opportunities to source directly from farmers. The food miles that our turkeys, potatoes, and cranberries travel to get to our dinner table add up, as does their carbon footprint. Locally sourced products from smaller scale farmers not only are frequently more sustainably raised/grown, but they also help to boost our local economy. Looking to skip the turkey altogether this year and opt for a more plant based diet? Thanks to Herbivorous Butcher, there are even local options for plant-based meat alternatives! For more information on where to find local turkeys, wine, veggies, and more, check out Minnesota Grown.
Rethink Your Purchases (and Green Your Black Friday!)
According to the National Retail Federation, 165.3 million US consumers are expected to shop either online or in-store over the coming Thanksgiving weekend. While we know that the deals are sometimes seemingly too good to pass up, the unfortunate reality is that our high levels of consumption are also leading to higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions. All of those televisions, iPhones, plastic toys, and clothes are embedded with materials that can be costly to our climate as well as environmentally burdensome to the communities producing them (externalized costs). Instead of buying more things that you (or your family and friends) don’t actually need, consider these alternative gift-giving ideas:
Homemade Gifts: Breads, teas, hand-sewn clothes, canned goods, and upcycled items are thoughtful and sustainable alternatives – who doesn’t enjoy a gift made with love?
Experience Gifts: Buy your family members tickets to a movie, passes to go ice skating, or even a gift certificate for a massage. Not only will they appreciate the lack of waste, you’ll also potentially be contributing to their wellness!
Buy Secondhand: While it may not be for everyone, previously loved items frequently still have a lot of life left in them and are less expensive then their newer cousins. Worried your family won’t like that it’s used? Just call it “vintage.”
Give an IOU ____________ Coupon: While things can be nice, who wouldn’t LOVE to come home to a clean house, be able to call upon a babysitter, or have help in their garden? Give the gift of your time and energy in the form of a coupon for something your friends and family will truly appreciate.
Support a Cause: Consider donating a small amount to an organization that’s meaningful to the gift recipient. Not only do you avoid producing waste, you’re supporting an awesome cause!
Buy Local: If you are going to buy something new, can you find it in a local store? You’ll be supporting the local economy while also reducing the carbon footprint of shipping directly to your house.
Wrap Smarter
The aisles of Target are filled with adorable llama and RV-print wrapping paper, and while it may be tempting to snatch up the newest and cutest ones, keep in mind that they will likely be admired for all of 15 seconds before the excited recipients open their presents. Consider saving money and cutting down waste by wrapping with items around your house. Have an old map collection that you don’t mind parting with? Maps make for awesome wrapping paper! Done with the Sunday paper? Cover your gifts with the funnies! Have some old towels or handkerchiefs on hand? Try out Furoshiki, the Japanese Art of Fabric Wrapping. Finally, if you’re a die hard ribbon user, keep in mind that cloth ribbon can be used over and over again – after the unwrapping madness is over, collect your ribbons for reuse next year!
Traveling? Buy Carbon Offsets
Flying is unfortunately a huge source of our carbon emissions both in the U.S. and worldwide, and while driving is better, if you’re using petroleum you’re still emitting greenhouse gases. One smart option might be to forego a trip altogether, but if your family is far away (as mine is), the holidays might be one of the only chances you have to see them. While carbon offsets aren’t a perfect solution, they are one way to at least account for your emissions. Interested in offsetting? Check out this article from the New York Times on How to Buy Carbon Offsets.
Whether you choose to use natural decorations instead of plastic ones (remember: plastics are nearly always petroleum based, and therefore also have a high carbon footprint!), to make your holiday meals entirely plant-based, to stay home instead of traveling, or to wrap your gifts in magazine covers, keep in mind that your actions do have a collective impact, and your family and friends will notice! After I asked for a sustainable bridal shower last year, my family chose to stop using plastic water bottles at family events and to instead buy reusable containers and cups. It may not seem like you, as one person, can make a difference, but you can! Happy Holidays to all, and may your days be merry and green!
Sustainability 