Green Thanksgiving

I may be a little late on this one considering most people probably already have their plans for Thursday set in stone, but no matter -- have a green Thanksgiving!

Here's the thing about Thanksgiving: it's a giant mass of contradictions. Thanksgiving has all sorts of lovely myths surrounding its origin. I won't go into all of them here, but let's just say it wasn't all party-time for the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. Although Thanksgiving was originally religious, the day has evolved into secular American holiday. And of course you have the most basic contradiction, the name "Thanks-giving" is given to a day of almost universal gluttony.

Despite all that, we love Thanksgiving. Family, fun, good food -- you can't beat it. So how do we enjoy all the pleasures of Thanksgiving without succumbing to the wastefulness and self-indulgence?

I've pulled together a couple of good resources here for going green on Thanksgiving. My family gathering will be somewhere between 35 and 40 people, and will probably emit a carbon footprint the size of Bonnaroo 2008. How do you even get your arms around all of that? Check out a few of the links here:

12 tips for a Green Thanksgiving
How to Go Green: Thanksgiving Day
Green Thanksgiving - Eco-Friendly Tip

It's no surprise that all the usual suspects are there: eat local and organic, reduce/reuse/recycle, reduce meat consumption, compost your leftovers, etc. Really the most important and simple step might be to think about what Thanksgiving could and should mean, and take that to heart when you're planning your feast.

Happy Thanksgiving!