5 tips to a Better Thanksgiving
It’s thanksgiving time and we all know what that means! Wait, do we? Well we used to all know what that means but this year has turned ‘happy thanksgiving’ into ‘so what now?’ thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays. As a kid it meant my cousins would come over and my parents would let us be loud and play for hours while they were in the kitchen preparing a huge feast! Kids ate together at the ‘kids table’ so manners were optional. We would try to convince the boys to eat with heir hands without getting caught. They always got caught.
This year my family isn’t having traditional thanksgiving. Of course, this leaves me thinking about what we can do differently every year at thanksgiving to make small changes to a better environment.
Many people aren’t having Thanksgiving at all this year because of COVID19 spread and risk. Its going to be hard on a lot of people who look forward to the holidays as a rare occasion to see their family. Some of us are having smaller gatherings of 6 or less to stay with in locally mandated regulations. For some its turkey-as-usual.
Whatever your 2020 thanksgiving looks like I have some tips to find your Green Roots.
5 tips to a Better Thanksgiving: Eco-Friendly Décor
1: The Table
This year decorate with a solid colour washable tablecloth. Rather than choosing a plastic single or limited use tablecloth we bought a red one that can be reused for Christmas and thanksgiving and have orange and brown accented center piece. We don’t have storage for a tablecloth for every occasion, so we found investing in one white and one red covers the holiday bases.
2: The Centerpiece
Use real gourds and pumpkins to decorate. They can be composted after and sometimes the pumpkins are edible for livestock. Classy and simple brass candlesticks can make an excellent on theme centre piece with no negative environmental impact.
3: Around the home
Yellow and orange flower arrangements that will last all month such as daisies are an easy and beautiful way to add thanksgiving colours to your home. They can go in the city or private compost when they perish. Taking my kids for walk we collected some beautiful fallen maple leaves. They will only last a couple days but could be added to an arrangement before guests arrive.
Traditional Thanksgiving Food
I know what you are thinking – don’t mess with my dinner. I totally understand. Here are just a few ideas that you can entertain.
4: Dessert
Make your pumpkin pie and whipping cream from scratch! Save on plastic packaging from the store-bought pies and aerosol cans for whipping cream and have fun adding this skill to your baking repertoire. In some cities aerosol cans can be safely recycled but not everywhere. Better to avoid the waste! I love making pumpkin pie because it is so easy! And even easier is homemade whipping cream – video below on quick and easy home made whip cream. Have an amazing thanksgiving recipe? Share it in our Facebook community page here.
Skipping Traditional Thanksgiving?
5: Donate
Thinking about ditching the thanksgiving turkey and pie all together this year? Me too. With the kids back to school I’d have to say our Covid bubble is burst and we don’t want to risk spread to someone who could become seriously ill. While I wish we could have a party with my cousins and nieces and nephews this is an amazing opportunity for me to truly give thanks and give back! Thanksgiving is expensive and the cost of turkey, pies, wine and all the fixings is now a little surplus in my budget.
Consider giving to an organization that is working to support the environment. Here are a few things to consider when picking a charity.
- Non-profit and non-governmental organization
- Past achievements align with your values
- Positive relationship with indigenous leaders or run by indigenous leaders.
Happy Thanksgiving! Check out the summary on the Quick Tips page and leave a comment below.