Preparing for an Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it so I have put together some ideas and links to blog posts to help you prepare for an eco-friendly Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday for gathering with the family and eating some delicious food. It’s also a time when we should be aware of our environmental impact. 

There are can be so much waste involved with our Thanksgiving meals but we can reduce that waste and have an eco-friendly Thanksgiving. 

I asked some of my favorite bloggers for their tips for an eco-friendly Thanksgiving and they didn’t disappoint. Check out all these great tips and try adding some into your Thanksgiving holiday.

Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving Tips

Stay Organized

Want to stay organized this year? Check out my Thanksgiving planner. It’s printable so only print what you need. And no shipping makes it even greener.

Be sure to also use recycled paper when printing. Several sheets can be used year after year. 

Choose the Right Turkey

Turning Back the Clock has a very interesting post about heritage turkeys and why you should have one this year. It will really help you understand why they are worth the extra money.

Crowd Cow offers pasture-raised turkeys from small farms. You can even learn about the farm it will come from. And now’s the perfect time to become a Crowd Cow member! New Members Get $100 of Free Meat + Free Shipping. Hurry up, the offer ends soon.

You can also skip the meat and have a vegetarian Thanksgiving meal. You can also keep the turkey but just add a few vegetarian dishes.

Eat Real Food

Choosing food made without artificial ingredients is often better for you and can mean less packaging which is better for the environment.

The Lazy Budget Chef has a recipe for lactose-free cream of mushroom soup. Perfect for those in your family that can’t have dairy and also a great way to avoid BPA and all the gross ingredients found in the canned soup. This is great for making green bean casserole.

Another Thanksgiving menu item that is normally full of nasty ingredients and BPA is cranberry sauce. It’s one of those foods a few people make from scratch anymore so you think it’s hard, but it’s so easy. It’s the easiest dish I make each year. Be sure to check out my cranberry sauce recipe.

My mom has even more great Thanksgiving recipes over on her blog Life with Dee. Be sure to check them all out, including my favorite mashed potatoes.

Don’t waste all of those Thanksgiving leftovers. Check out these 50 recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers.

If you need some help Whole Foods Thanksgiving dishes can help! They often have some great prepared items that are made using good ingredients and are delicious.

Have a Zero-Waste Party

Are you having a Thanksgiving party? Check out the great recycled invitations from Paper Culture. They have several different options to choose from and they are shipped quickly so there is still time to order.

You can also skip the paper altogether and use e-invites or simply email your guests. It depends on how formal you like to be for which option will work the best for you.

And be sure to head over to Green Oklahoma for tips on having a zero-waste party, including using real dishes, cloth napkins, and more.

And last but not least, Moms Clean Air Force wants to remind us to be thankful for the EPA for helping to give us clean air and shares some tips we all can use to help keep the air clean this Thanksgiving.

Be sure to sign up for my free Thanksgiving e-course below for more tips to help you have a great Thanksgiving.