The EastCoaster

By: Grace Brogioli

Thanksgiving is a day filled with great joy, food, and laughter. While this is a holiday that we all enjoy, there are environmental impacts that we don’t tend to think about. The main environmental impact of this holiday is food waste. 

Food waste is relatively simple to understand; it is just food that we don’t consume and gets thrown away. During Thanksgiving, families tend to make a lot of food and a good portion of it does not get eaten. Unfortunately, about 312 million pounds of food is wasted on Thanksgiving which accounts for 600 million U.S. dollars.¹ On this day, we express our gratitude for what we have. In a way, Thanksgiving is kind of an ironic holiday—we express our thanks over a meal that ends up being wasted a few days later. 

If you still have Thanksgiving leftovers, try to reuse them, and make a new recipe. If you are not a cook, watch a YouTube video, look for a recipe on Google or Pinterest, or give leftovers away to people who may need/want the food. This is the season to give thanks, there is a lot we can do to help the environment even if it is wasting less food at Thanksgiving. 

 1. Zahra Hirji, “Thanksgiving Leftovers Are Good for Longer than You Think, Experts Say,” Gazette, November 25, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/life/food/2023/11/23/thanksgiving-dinner-leftover-food-ideas-microwaving-waste/stories/202311230126#:~:text=At%20Thanksgiving%2C%20food%20is%20the,That’s%20roughly%20%24600%20million%20worth.