Thanksgiving is coming. This year, why not make sure the planet has something to give thanks for by reducing food waste, trash, and the carbon footprint of travel and Black Friday shopping? Here’s how.
Unsustainable eating
The traditional Thanksgiving meal features turkey. The US Turkey Federation and the Department of Agriculture calculate that Americans buy around 46 million turkeys for Thanksgiving each year. Raising a 20-pound (nine-kilo) turkey generates around 64 pounds (29 kg) of CO2, meaning every Thanksgiving sends nearly three billion pounds (1.3 billion kg) of CO2 into the atmosphere in turkey rearing alone, (not counting the average 760 food miles (1223km) that each bird completes, nor the necessary refrigeration). It would require 21 million tree seedlings grown over 10 years to sequester that amount of carbon.
Yet 200 million pounds (over 90 million kg) of turkey flesh are discarded every Thanksgiving, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates. In fact, in the US, food waste is the most common item sent to US landfills.
This can be avoided by carefully considering the amount of food each person will eat and tailoring food shopping and portion sizes accordingly. The NRDC offers a “guestimator” to help people work out how much food to prepare.
Go local, organic, and plant-based
If turkey is a non-negotiable, buying local and organic slashes the carbon footprint of the menu. Increasing the number of side dishes and eating plant-based alternatives such as tofu or seasonal vegetables are even better options, according to Jessica Fanzo, a professor at Columbia University’s Climate School. The good news is that, for many, part of the joy of a Thanksgiving feast is not the turkey, but the proliferation of side dishes it entails.
@kalejunkie LEFTOVER THANKSGIVING RING, run dont walk – you can fill it with anything you like! #thanksgiving #nowaste #budgetmeals #leftovers #thanksgivingleftovers ♬ original sound – Nicole K. Modic
If hosting a “potluck” where guests bring dishes along, ensure they communicate with each other to avoid duplication. Also, encouraging guests to take away leftovers (in sustainable packaging or their own dishes) helps to avoid food going in the bin, and leaves room for the host to store what remains in their own fridge too. Leftovers can also be used for other dishes, such as turkey pot pie or curry, and these can be frozen for easy, future meals.
It’s also worth noting that unopened food can be donated to food banks, and vegetable food scraps can be composted, which, compared to landfill emissions, produces less greenhouse gas.
Sustainable transport
Turkeys are not the only creatures that travel at Thanksgiving; it is also one of the busiest seasons of the year for human trips, too. For 2025, airlines have added over half a million seats to their capacity for the holiday period – the equivalent of approximately 1,500 extra jets in the air, year-on-year. We would need to recycle nearly 22 million tons of waste instead of sending it to a landfill to save that amount of CO2.
When it comes to cars, Time’s CO2 offsetting calculation is that celebrants must not eat turkey if they drive more than 72.25 miles (117km) over the holiday, as that’s the distance they say the carbon emissions of the drive overtake those of rearing the bird.
Sharing a car journey or taking public transport is a good approach to staying within a notional seasonal carbon budget. Trains are particularly low-carbon ways to travel. Using rail instead of a car for medium-length distances reduces emissions by around 80%.
Other green practices
- Avoiding the temptation of Black Friday shopping could help to reduce the 80% of Black Friday purchases that end up in landfill, according to Forbes.
- Regulating the house lights and heating with timers while away is another act of mercy for the planet.
- And choosing LEDs could cut the 66.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity it takes to run US holiday decorations. Even better, go solar, or make organic garlands.
This article barely covers the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ways to switch to a greener Thanksgiving. What are your top tips for a climate-guilt-free celebration?
