The Days of Overconsumption

Everyone is well acquainted with the twelve days of Christmas, in the modern era, that is being replaced by 6 days of overconsumption. The period around Thanksgiving is the busiest U.S. shopping period of the year. Thanksgiving has long been a spectacle of consumer overindulgence, but now this rampant consumerism extends well beyond Black Friday. Marketers are finding more ways to entice consumers, but they ignore the fact that we cannot sustain our current rate of consumption.

Seven Ways to Make Your Thanksgiving Greener

To help make this holiday greener a growing number of people are looking at better more ecologically sensitive alternatives. Thanksgiving takes a tremdous toll on the environment. Here are seven ways that people are enjoying the Thanksgiving Holiday while lessening their impacts on the Earth:

1) Reduce Food Waste: To help minimize waste create a detailed, organized plan to reduce waste and eliminate excess. Make what you need and no more. The Love Food Hate Waste organization, offers convenient tips for reducing food waste, they even provide a handy "Perfect portions" planner to calculate meal sizes for parties as well as everyday meals. Use leftovers by storing them safely. Make sure to compost all vegetable waste. Donate excess to food banks and shelters. To find a food bank near you, visit Feeding America's Food Bank Locator.

The Environmental Toll of Thanksgiving

The amount of waste and emissions generated during the holidays is staggering and shameful. Being conscious of the ways that we are wasteful can help us to seek more environmentally responsible solutions. Here is a brief summary of the waste and carbon emissions generated during the holdiay period.

Non-Food Waste

According to the EPA, the period from Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent in the US. That amounts to an extra 5 million tons of household waste each year. Shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons create an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills.

A Thanksgiving Infused with Environmental Gratitude

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States and people across the nation are celebrating by coming together to give thanks. Traditionally Thanksgiving is the holiday long weekend when people get together to celebrate the bounty of the fall harvest. The Thanksgiving tradition takes us back to the early days when European settlers were first making North America home. They were welcomed by Native peoples who showed them how to live in harmony with the Earth.

With our environment in crisis we need to cultivate the spirit of thankfulness that helps us to rekindle a harmonious relationship to nature. Gratitude of this kind may be difficult but it is essential if we are to find the motivation and the courage to advance ecological action.