Sustainable Celebrations - Our Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving

Guest Blogger:

Aalok Bhatt

My name is Aalok Bhatt and I am an Eco Ambassador for the Environment in Action program in Millburn, NJ. As part of my duty to spread eco awareness in my community, this year, I hosted an eco-friendly Thanksgiving feast at my place. My family took a series of steps in order to achieve this goal. To begin with, we decided to do away with the convenience of using disposable plates and cutlery as these generate a lot of waste that pollutes our environment. Instead, we decided to use our own plates and steel cutlery, and borrowed some additional plates, bowls and glasses from the Bartan Bank, a community bank of crockery, cutlery & glasses set up with the contribution of a few like minded members of our community. These items can be borrowed by anyone who is hosting a party, by booking in advance and ensuring an eco friendly experience for all!

Our family informed all of the guests that it was going to be an eco friendly party and we asked them to not bring any desserts or gifts with plastic packaging. All those who attended were very cooperative, as people came with plants and homemade appetizers for the party. Our Thanksgiving dinner generated virtually no waste this year, as compared to previous years. We also went to great lengths to make sure that the produce that was used for making all the dishes had a low carbon footprint, in terms of packaging. For dessert, homemade bite sized truffles were served. We also bought cheesecake from our local Trader Joes and it came in a cardboard packaging, and not plastic. This cheesecake was cut up into small pieces and served on a platter along with the truffles. This not only cut down on food waste but also on plates and bowls used for serving dessert. Small steps like these can help clean our planet as all of the plastic that was ever made still exists in one form or another, polluting our oceans and destroying our ecosystem. It only took our family a small amount of effort and commitment to take these steps, and even our guests did their part. I am confident that if everyone takes steps like these, then we will curb our plastic waste significantly, and live on a clean and happy planet.