By Jessie Walthers, Conservation Program Manager Groundhog Day. Who doesn’t love this most random of…
Thanksgiving Conservation Tips!
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As you’re preparing for the holidays, you can also help conserve our natural resources. Here’s how…
- Buy local – When you’re shopping for the ingredients to the perfect holiday dinner, consider buying locally sourced food. Buying from local farmers and ranchers supports our community and reduces the distance that food needs to be shipped.
- Reduce packaging – Packaging can be hard to avoid, especially when you need specific items. But, you can prevent excess trash from entering the Flathead County Landfill by using reusable shopping bags and produce bags, avoiding single-use dishes and plastic silverware, and packing those restaurant leftovers in your own reusable containers.
- Ride share or carpool – Heading to a holiday party? It can reduce your ecological footprint and the dent in your wallet to carpool. So, get everyone together for one Uber or pick up friends on the way. Heading out of town? Check with friends and relatives to see if anyone else is heading the same way or consider taking the bus or train.
- Limit meat consumption – Some meats, such as beef and lamb, can be ecologically costly to produce because the animals require so much feed and substantial processing. If these meats are on your must-have Thanksgiving grocery list, check with a local butcher. You can often get the exact cut you’re looking for and reduce shipping distance through buying local. Otherwise, consider substituting a meat dish for a hearty vegetable dish to reduce both your footprint and your cholesterol. Not into veggies? Hunting season is still open through Thanksgiving weekend.
What do you do to conserve natural resources during the holidays? Let us know your ideas!