November 22, 2020

5 Ways to Reduce Food Waste During Thanksgiving

It’s the start of the holiday season! The food, lights, and cheer make this the most wonderful time of year. But all the festivities also bring a lot of waste. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Americans throw out an estimated 25 percent more trash than the rest of the year. During Thanksgiving alone, about 200 million pounds of turkey, 400 million pounds of mashed potatoes, and 300 million pounds of stuffing will be thrown away. Consider some of these 5 ways to reduce food waste during Thanksgiving.

Plan Ahead

You know that I’m a big fan of a good plan and Thanksgiving is no exception. To get everything out at the same time is a well orchestrated dance. So, why not do a little extra planning to make sure there aren’t loads of leftovers? Ask yourself these questions.

How many people are you serving?
How many dishes are you making?
Realistically, how many days are you willing to eat these leftovers?

Send Leftovers Home

If you’re safely gathering with a few members of your family or friends, ask them to bring a to-go container and send them home with some leftovers. At all my family gatherings, the last thing we did before leaving was partitioning leftovers for people to take home. The best way to make sure leftovers are eaten is to divide them up and make sure everyone eats some.

Reinvent Leftovers

If you’re not a fan of leftovers, then reinvent them! One of my favorite things to do is to make mini turkey sandwiches when we visit my sister-in-law. She makes these delicious parker house rolls. I spread some of the delicious cheeseball my mother-in-law makes with some cranberry sauce and turkey. It’s so yummy. I think I enjoy these mini sandwiches more than Thanksgiving meal itself!

Here are some other leftover ideas:

Donate Extras

If you miscalculated, bought extra, or had a guest cancel, donate those extra cans of pumpkin or extra bag of potatoes to your local food shelter. You know that can of pumpkin won’t get used before next year, so might as well donate it to someone who will use it!

Compost

You’ve done the breakfast hash and leftover enchiladas and there’s still too much leftover. It’s ok. Make sure you compost any leftovers you can’t eat. When food goes to the dump, it gets compressed where it degrades in an airless environment. When food degrades in an airless environment, it releases methane which is many times worse than carbon dioxide in terms of green house gases. So, please, please, please, compost!