How Green Can Thanksgiving Really Be?

by Alex Russell

Leading up to Thanksgiving this year, all the best websites have a flood of information on how to green your celebration. So often, green living seems like it’s not only more expensive but grounded in deprivation. Fortunately this isn’t necessarily so. With that in mind I’ve gathered some of the best ideas I could find on the Web, at least a couple of which will probably hold through Christmas.

First, square away your green basics. The consensus about how to green your holiday seems to surround the basics of everyday eco-friendly living. Think about the waste a Thanksgiving meal can create. Gloria Campos from About My Planet recommends cooking less to minimize frige waste, and considering biodegradable dishes to save on labor after the meal.

Colleen Vanderlinden from Planet Green writes that the most important thing to do around the whole holiday season is to just relax. She recommends taking the extra time to think about cooking foods you really love rather than a spread that takes all the time and fun out of the day. She also suggests focusing on spending time with the people we care about rather than fulfilling all the “requirements” of a happy holiday tradition. This all seems obvious, but it’s easy to get caught up in what needs to be done rather than what everybody would really enjoy.

Every website I’ve come across recommends either tanking the turkey all together for a vegan option, or going with the more expensive Heritage turkey rather than the broad-breasted white turkeys of the Butterball variety. There’s good reason, too, if you have the time and will to see just how they're raised. If you’ve heeded the calls to go with the Heritage organic turkeys, raised in wide-open spaces and treated humanely, you probably also paid ten times as much for it. Then again, how realistic is it that a 15-pound turkey should really sell for less than $6?

Heritage turkeys no matter where you buy them will cost a lot more than that. There’s good reason, too. The turkey I’ve got roasting in my oven was raised by George and Elko Vojkovich at Skagit River Ranch. They pasture all their animals, feed them well and treat them as living creatures. This also means a 15-pound turkey, if you order one early enough in the year or get lucky at market day, will cost over $80. For peace of mind, and the fortune to be able to afford such a luxury bird, the cost might be justified.