It’s November, which means Thanksgiving, black friday shopping, cyber monday, traveling, and getting ready for upcoming winter months. We may not realize it, but Thanksgiving time contributes to the world's waste drastically. Every year during the holiday, $293 million in food waste is generated on that day alone. Millions of Americans go hungry on Thanksgiving, and the amount of food wasted could have fed tons of them. So how do we prevent this type of waste while giving to those in need? The most important thing to do is plan your Thanksgiving meals intricately and thoughtfully. Most families end up cooking too much on Thanksgiving, and the best way to prevent that is to prepare and plan. Think about the amount of people coming, how much everyone eats, if people are bringing food, and how much food you need to buy to satisfy everyone. If you buy non-perishable food like a can of cranberry sauce, only use one can at once, so that if you have any leftovers, it can still be donated to help people. If you have extra things like fruits and vegetables that have no use, compost the extra. Leftovers are also part of virtually everyone who hosts the holiday this year. Many people may plan on eating their leftover turkey, gravy, and stuffing, but in reality the majority of it will go to waste. This year, try giving out some leftovers to your guests, as well as being more creative with your cooking. You can make bread pudding out of extra rolls, turkey soup, or turkey pot pie. Keep in mind that what you do this Thanksgiving impacts the environment more than you think!
Another huge waste contributor this time of year is Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the most polluting shopping days in the United States. In 2020, customers spent $9 billion online shopping, an increase of 21.6% from 2019. Online shopping creates masses of waste with all that packaging. In the U.S., around 71% of the population plan to go shopping on Black Friday. To prepare for this shopping rush, businesses create a surplus of their goods to satisfy consumers, creating tons of plastic waste. This excessive production is encouraged by mass spending, which rewards business for overproduction, which needs to stop if we plan on saving our planet. Many businesses that contain extra goods after the big sales throw the extra product away. Not only are these perfectly good things someone could use, but it’s just more landfill and ocean litter that the planet doesn’t need. The most purchased Black Friday item, electronics contribute to the fastest growing waste stream of e-waste, a form of waste that comes from electronics that contain toxic chemicals like lead and mercury. Another big polluter is toys, which are often purchased on Black Friday for the holiday season. Most toys are not only made of plastic, but contain plastic packaging as well, which is extremely wasteful and increases the pollution problem. Over 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean yearly, endangering animals and killing ecosystems. So how do we stop this? Rethinking your holiday shopping is ideal. Before impulse buying yourself something just because of a huge sale, think about if you really need it. Are you really going to wear this shirt? Will your family members get bored of this toy? And always thing about the impact you’re having on the environment by purchasing certain goods. If we all adopt this mentality, then not only can we save money, but we can save the planet as well!
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