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Hosts have green choices for Thanksgiving gathering
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008
We usually associate Thanksgiving with brown, gold and orange, the hues of fall. But maybe the holiday's color should be green.
After all, Thanksgiving celebrates the bounty of the earth. Why not show our gratitude by demonstrating we care about our planet?
We've gathered some ideas for making your holiday a little more environmentally conscious. Mother Earth will thank you.
There are a number of arguments for eating food that's produced near you, local-food proponents say. It tastes better and is better for you, because it's had more time to ripen on the plant. And buying local products supports your area's economy.
Food that's distributed to grocery stores travels 1,500 miles on average, said Diane Hatz, founder and director of The Sustainable Table, a New York organization that promotes local food. While there's a debate over whether economies of scale outweigh any fossil-fuel savings, there are other benefits of buying locally, said Hatz and Beth Knorr, market manager for the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, an organization that lobbies for local farmers and farmland. Besides taste and nutrition, buying locally helps farms stay in business and allows buyers to get to know the farmer and find out how the food is produced, Knorr said.
But you don't have to commit to a local-only Thanksgiving to make a difference. Just incorporating one or two local foods helps, Knorr and Hatz said.
''I actually think Thanksgiving is a great time to introduce it (the local-food concept),'' Knorr said. Plenty of produce is still available this time of year, she said — especially potatoes, a Thanksgiving staple.
Be sure to tell your guests they're eating food from a nearby farm, Hatz urged. That just might spark their interest in buying locally, too.
Where can you find local food? For produce, try the conservancy's farmers market from 9 a.m. to noon today at Happy Days Lodge, 500 W. Streetsboro Road (state Route 303), just east of Peninsula. In addition, Krieger's Health Foods Market in Cuyahoga Falls and Mustard Seed Market & Cafe in Bath Township both carry a good selection of local produce, Knorr said.
A local source for turkeys is Goatfeathers Point Farm, 4570 Akron-Peninsula Road, Boston Township (330-657-2726). The farm sells pasture-raised birds that have not been given antibiotics or growth hormones, owner Cindy Smith said. Prices are $5 or $7 a pound, depending on the breed.
Set a green table
In Grandma's day, serving Thanksgiving dinner on real dinnerware was a matter of hospitality. Now it's a matter of environmentalism.
But what if you don't have enough real plates and flatware to accommodate a crowd? You can shop thrift stores (remember, mixing and matching is in style) or rent what you need.
Here's the good news: Using real tableware shouldn't sentence you to hours of cleanup at the sink. As long as your dinnerware is dishwasher-safe, it's actually more environmentally sensitive to run the dishwasher than to wash by hand. An average automatic dishwasher uses 3.5 gallons of water, compared with 15 to 16 gallons for the typical hand-washer, according to the book Clean Home, Green Home by Kimberly Delaney.
Save even more water by scraping the dishes rather than rinsing them, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, and wash full loads.
If you do wash your dishes by hand, fill a basin with water for rinsing instead of letting the water run constantly.
Consider investing in a cloth tablecloth and napkins, too. If you're ambitious, you can even make your own using fabrics such as organic cotton.
That's all well and good, but what if you're feeding a crowd and can't bear to part with the convenience of disposable dinnerware? At least opt for paper plates over plastic, or choose biodegradable plastic dinnerware such as Eco-Products (http://www.ecoproducts.com). It's made from corn-based polymer or sugarcane pulp.
Decorate naturally
The makings for eco-friendly Thanksgiving decorations are as close as your own backyard.
Gather branches with berries or leaves attached, and just lay them down the length of your table, floral designer Cathy Morrison of Twigs in Bath Township recommended. Intersperse fruits, vegetables, seed pods, pine cones or any other interesting things you find, she said. (Grapes in different sizes and colors look great with clementines and artichokes, she said.)
Adding candles makes your arrangement more formal, Morrison said. She suggested using the battery-operated kind, which won't pose a fire hazard with all the dried materials.
Grasses, branches or other natural materials such as wheat can also be set upright in a vase for drama. Becky Hermann, inspiration specialist for Hudson-based Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, suggests grouping clear vases filled with materials and tucking branches from your yard around them, perhaps adding squashes or gourds as accents.
For added color, Morrison recommended filling the vases partway with cranberries before you add the branches. The berries also help hold the branches upright, she said.
Squash and pumpkins are classic autumn decorations, but Morrison suggested doing more than just arranging them on the table. Carve out a hole big enough for a candle, and use the fruit as a candleholder, she said. Or hollow them out and drill holes into the skin to create luminaries.
Another simple suggestion from Hermann: Use scissors or paper punches to create designs in a piece of recycled paper, wrap the paper around a clear container and secure it with a ribbon. When you put a candle inside, the paper will create a soft glow.
You might even make an eco-friendly table runner to put under your creation using felt made from recycled soda bottles, which Jo-Ann sells, Hermann said. You can even wash the runner, as long as any embellishments you use are washable, too.
More ideas
• If your holiday plans include travel, improve your gas mileage by ensuring your tires are properly inflated and obeying the speed limit, the Alliance to Save Energy recommends. Gas mileage decreases rapidly above 60 mph, the alliance says, so you can boost your mileage as much as 23 percent just by keeping your speed in check.
If you have time, get a tuneup before you travel, if it's needed. Make sure your air filters are clean, and if your oxygen sensor is faulty, replace it. All add up to better mileage.
• Dust the light bulbs in your chandelier before company comes. Dust can diminish the amount of light emitted by up to 25 percent, according to Clean Home, Green Home.
• Turn off home office and entertainment equipment you won't be using for the day, and if possible, unplug it. Turn off lights in unused rooms, too.
• Body heat and cooking help warm a house, so if you're expecting a crowd, you may be able to lower the thermostat a few degrees without sacrificing comfort.
• Before Thanksgiving, figure out some dishes you can make after the holiday using the inevitable leftovers. You're much less likely to waste food — and you're less likely to tire of turkey sandwiches — if you have a plan.
Mary Beth Breckenridge is the Beacon Journal home writer. She can be reached at 330-996-3756, or at mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com via e-mail.
We usually associate Thanksgiving with brown, gold and orange, the hues of fall. But maybe the holiday's color should be green.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Orrville, Oh
Posted 03:01 PM, 11/22/2008
We the government successfully elected officials that appoint EPA Bureaucrats. To enable Nazi businesses stockholders and investors to move American businesses into enterprise zones on green space in America, Mexico, China, etc. for property tax abatement, tax incentives, tax credit, tax exemption and nonunion parasites willing to work for fewer wages than they can afford life. To enable Nazi stockholders and investors (money marketers) to market more stock dividends (money) quarterly in the wholesale and retail price of American automobiles, kill Human Beings that need food and water for life, and Honor American soldiers on Normandy Beach!
