5 Tips to Incorporate the Three Rs in Your Festivities

When planning your Thanksgiving events this year, remember the three R’s:  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Making a few small changes and planning ahead can make a big difference in how much waste is produced per family. Then, we can all lay on the couch – or play a game – and know we did our part in creating a green Thanksgiving!

Check out these five tips to incorporate the three R’s in your Thanksgiving:

  1. Decorate – bring the outside in. The luster of fall is inspired by the changing leaves and landscape. Bring those colors inside. Forget the petroleum-based plastic and synthetic decorations and adorn your table with natural and homemade festive decor. Fill items with pine cones, acorns and colorful leaves. Use compostable items in your centerpiece or food you can cook later, like squash. It’s beautiful and delicious.

  2. Use the fancy dinnerware. Since so much effort goes in to cooking, many people opt for paper plates and products on Thanksgiving to help with clean up. Disposable dishes and plastic utensils create massive amounts of waste, and some aren’t even recyclable. If reusable won’t work, choose disposable plates, cups, napkins and utensils made from 100 percent post-consumer waste recycled paper, sugarcane and corn—they are compostable, too.

  3. Travel smart. If you must travel over the river and through the woods, make good choices. Try and carpool if you are headed to a family member’s house or a friend. According to Use Less Stuff, if each family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by 1 gallon (about 20 miles), we would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 million tons. Invite nearby friends and family and neighbors to your house for Thanksgiving dinner and encourage them to do the same.

  4. Shop local. Buying locally grown food is good for your table, your health and the environment. In addition, locally grown food requires less fuel to reach store shelves, and contributes more to your local economy, supporting local farmers as well as local merchants. Plus, it’s fresh and often times, tastes better.

  5. Turn off the TV. Try playing some football instead of watching it. Football not your game? Bring cards, board games or tell some stories. Take advantage of the time together with friends and family while decreasing your energy usage.

Let us know how you plan to reuse, reduce and recycle this Thanksgiving season.