This time of year is all about gathering with loved ones and expressing gratitude. And in the U.S., gratitude is best expressed in the form of food. Thanksgiving is the embodiment of this tradition, and this time of year is full of more friends, family, and food than most people know what to do with.
Even the most well-intentioned holidays can lead to excess, and this excess likely goes against your sustainability goals. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal while keeping it green and eco-friendly. The following are some of the many ways to throw a sustainable Thanksgiving dinner.
Buy organic meat and produce. Whenever possible, purchase locally-grown organic produce for your delicious Thanksgiving dishes. As for the meat, grass-fed is generally best. This may be tough if you’re committed to turkey, but there are lots of sustainable meats to choose from. Beef from grass-fed cows has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamins A and E. As for the turkey, opt for a free-range bird.
Use reusable plates and utensils. While paper plates and plastic utensils offer convenience, these items are a significant source of waste. Instead, serve food on reusable or ceramic plates. Whoever didn’t help with the cooking can clean them. Easy, right?
Decorate with natural materials. Store-bought Thanksgiving decorations tend to adorn the table for one day before landing in the garbage. This year, try decorating with natural materials instead. One of the best decorating tricks is to choose three colors for the event theme and then use them for all of the decor items. The oranges, browns, and greens found in nature are perfect for your entire Thanksgiving color scheme and centerpieces.
Cook outdoors. In a recent study, the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association found that 60% of grillers cook outside throughout the entire year. This can be a great way to cook more sustainability, as long as you stay away from gas-powered grills. Instead, try cooking over a fire or woodstove. Food tends to taste better when it was cooked outdoors, so your taste buds and the environment will win.
Compost any cooking scraps. The simple act of cooking is one of the most significant sources of Thanksgiving waste. When cooking a big meal, food scraps pile up. Instead of throwing them in the garbage, compost them instead. If you don’t already compost at home, contact your local compost companies about pickup and dropoff services.
Remember to say thanks. Gratitude does not produce any waste. Take the time this year to pull the focus off of material items and onto the act of giving thanks and cherishing the people you love.
“If distance or circumstances prevent you from spending Thanksgiving with some of the people you love, call, email, or write them a letter (on recycled paper) to tell them why they mean so much to you and how they make your world a better place,” Larry West writes in ThoughtCo.
By spreading the love to both your dear ones and the planet, you will have a wonderfully nourishing Thanksgiving Day.
Climate change isn’t just impacting polar bears and weather patterns. It’s creeping into therapists’ offices, restless nights, and an overwhelming sense of anxiety many people feel when looking towards the future. The link between climate patterns and mental health is undeniable and is exacerbated by excessive natural disasters and oppressive climate change news stories permeating the headlines.
Perhaps one of the more challenging components of climate change on mental health is its insidious impact. Some face trauma from natural disasters, floods, fires and hurricanes. Others bear a less acute but lingering concern about the world’s future in ten or twenty years. Both are completely normal reactions to an incredibly abnormal and scary situation.
How Much Is Too Much Information?
Climate change-related mental health concerns are driven by too much information. Social media posts about destruction, documentaries on melting ice caps, public service announcements about carbon footprints create a continued sense of unfavorable information. Yet the human condition wasn’t created to constantly digest information about happenings halfway across the world.
People feel as though climate change is too big of a problem. Even those who do their best to cut back on pollution still feel as though their efforts aren’t enough. The gap between good intentions and what’s needed to move the dial leaves many feeling helpless. Yet helplessness serves as a known precursor to anxiety and depression.
And here’s where it gets complicated: concern for the environment is a fantastic quality to possess; however, when people become so worried about the world around them that they cannot function it’s a problem. People avoid scheduling events for the future, feel guilty when enjoying life too much, or panic when considering procreating in an uncertain world.
Therapists in Denver who specialize in women’s anxiety and self-worth are particularly seeing how environmental concerns compound existing confidence issues. When women already struggle with self-doubt, adding climate guilt and helplessness can significantly impact their sense of personal agency and worth.
When Climate Change Impacts Something More Than Your Calendar
People most impacted by climate-related circumstances experience immediate challenges that impact their mental well-being, too. PTSD, anxiety, and depression are common where massive storms, flooding, fires occur – once the destruction is done. However, continued stress about clean up, insurance claims, and potential recurrence urges people’s mental health to continue to decline long after repairs are made.
This makes sense inside the disaster zones. However, people who are otherwise stabilized report rising levels of anxiety amidst hurricane season, wildfire season, unexpected rains, and excessive coverage about “normal” climate change beyond their control.
Heat waves, in particular, increase domestic violence, psychiatric emergency room visits and aggression. The higher the heat, the more aggressive people feel. Therefore, while discomfort is an unrealistic expectation in the name of climate change (since we shouldn’t be comfortable), it’s reflective of how our moods shift with temperature. And as temperatures continue to rise – in more ways than one – they affect everyone.
When Guilt Keeps People Stuck
Even guilt is a mental health issue surrounding climate change. Guilt that comes from driving to work, purchasing prepackaged food items or taking vacations boomerangs back to mental health concerns. Unfortunately, guilt perpetuates paralysis or perfectionism – but doesn’t support sustainable change.
But guilt doesn’t help anyone change for the better. Instead, it causes people to feel bad about feeling bad; try to do all that can be done for the environment; realize perfection isn’t possible; continue to feel bad for what’s been messed up. This cycle is compounded by social media where people compare their environmental failures compared to others’ environmental successes.
The world can support less consuming news consumption or constant comparison; however, it can’t quell realities out of people’s hands for giant negative news stories making people more stressed about life than general expectations would allow for.
Finding A Healthy Middle Ground Without Losing Sight
The goal is not to stop caring about climate concerns – this isn’t feasible or helpful – but rather to limit how much care can induce overwhelming anxiety that undermines mental health and world efforts.
Setting boundaries for consuming climate change-related information reduces how much negative health trends transform people’s minds about the situation. This isn’t to say to not pay attention; instead, limit when and how climate-related news is absorbed (and from what sources) so people don’t focus on it 24/7.
Taking action where possible – even minimal action – helps more than people realize. Studies show those who employ climate conscientious behavior have better mental health than those who only worry without acting upon that worry. The caveat? Only take suggestions that one can realistically accomplish so actions aren’t out of reach.
Community engagement provides caring relationships and environmental benefits. Making plans with others in need of sustainability efforts helps combat isolation that’s all too common among stressed persons with climate change concerns. Collective action provides subjugation against justified frictional thought patterns telling us it won’t make a difference.
Building Resilience For An Uncertain Future
Coping skills for climate anxiety work similarly to other anxieties. Working towards what can be controlled instead of global catastrophes empowers people who have felt hopeless due to such psychological waste.
Focusing on the household level or homegrown advocacy or charitable support helps realize big decisions don’t mean one needs to personally solve the matter themselves.
Furthermore, building present-minded awareness counters climate worries that derail people’s minds from ten years down the road into worst-case scenarios. While planning ahead is good for catastrophes that can be avoided (packing an emergency bag), spending time really worrying about what life will be like then creates distress without helping what’s going on today.
Professionals help those most impacted by how climate change concerns infiltrate daily life. Those with climate-change-based anxiety respond well to therapy approaches from other anxiety problems – with simultaneous benefits since they directly address what’s been creating anxiety responses since inception.
Climate change creates legitimate concern that deserves careful thought and implementation; however, allowing environmental fears to undermine psychological well-being doesn’t help anyone – or communities – or the world at large. Learning how to care while supporting one’s mental health fosters opportunities for long-term care.
If someone on your gift list lives for trails, paddles, peaks and packing the RV for spontaneous getaways (ahem, that might be you or my husband Jayson) then I’ve found a holiday winner. The Sawyer × Cnoc Squeeze Water Filtration System (2 L bladder version) is exactly the kind of gear that says “I see your adventure-lust and I support it.”
Why it works: light, rugged, travel-ready, and built to keep the water flowing when you’re off the beaten path. Because let’s be real, when you’re hiking in the Blue Ridge, or camping near a quiet lake, or road-tripping south in your RV, you don’t want to worry about whether that stream is drinkable. With this system, you’re covered.
🌿 Why I’m Totally Into It
Here are the reasons I’d love to get this (and you might too):
The system features a 0.1 micron absolute hollow-fiber membrane filter that removes 99.99999% of bacteria (like E. coli, salmonella) and 99.9999% of protozoa (like giardia, cryptosporidium). It even filters out 100% of microplastics.
Built with a durable TPU 2-liter bladder with a wide mouth for fast filling, so when you’re dipping into a creek or using a campsite spigot, it’s easy.
Lightweight, packable, no bulky pump or heavy parts, meaning less gear-stress and more actual adventure time. Reviewers call it “light and durable” and a top choice for backpacking.
Perfect for traveling, RV trips, paddleboard trips, weekend hikes out of Banner Elk, winter getaways to Florida. One piece of gear that covers hydration anywhere.
A gift that’s thoughtful, not just a “thing,” but a readiness-essence accessory: for safety, for joy, for being outdoors without compromise.
🎁 Gift-Giving Scenarios
Here are some real-life ways to frame this as a holiday gift:
For the Hiker
“Pack your backpack, strap on the boots, and know your water game is as strong as your trails.” The Sawyer × Cnoc system says: you’re ready for roots, rocks, and remote water sources.
For the RV Traveler
They’ve got the camper, the cooler, the outdoor chairs, now give them the gear that makes a creek stop feel like home. Imagine Jayson pulling our RV beside a riverside rest stop, filling the bladder, filtering fresh water, beach chairs out, pure freedom.
For the Family Adventure Crew
The gift isn’t just for one person, it’s for all the little “oops” moments: forgetting a bottle, scrambling to buy water, realizing the spigot tastes weird. This system sidesteps all that.
Pack it in the backpack cooler alongside your favorite backpack cooler (hello Titan by Arctic Zone), and you’ve got an all-in one adventure kit.
🛠️ How I’d Use It in Our Life
On a Banner Elk hike: Fill at a stream, filter, then sip while we sit overlooking the ridgeline.
On a paddleboard day: Fill at the shore, filter, stow the bladder in the dry bag, row out knowing hydration is settled.
Road-trip stop: A rest area with a questionable water fountain? No problem, use the bladder, filter, refill bottles in the RV.
Winter escape to Florida: Whether it’s a hike through dunes or a river paddle, this gear stays in the RV just in case.
✅ Why It’s a Smart Buy (and a Smart Gift)
Durability + longevity: Built to last, not just for one season of adventure.
Versatility: Trail, water, wheels, anywhere.
Thought fulness: Shows you care about their experience, about their safety, about their kind of fun.
Eco-friendly angle: Fewer single-use bottles, less waste, more being present outside.
The “cool gear” factor: It’s not a gimmick, it performs.
Make sure it’s the full kit (filter + bladder) so the recipient doesn’t have “just a bag” and then has to buy the filter separately.
🎄 Final Holiday Wrap Up
If you’re looking for a gift that’s outdoor-ready, practically-useful, and inspired by adventure, this one’s a winner. It says “let’s go somewhere,” “let’s explore,” “let’s not worry about the water.”
And that’s exactly the vibe you want when you’re living close to the mountains, hitting picnic hikes, RVing south for the winter, the gear should fade into the background while the adventure stays front and center.
So tie a bow (eco-friendly ribbon, maybe a pine sprig) around this one, drop in a note: “Here’s to streams, sunsets, and clean sips on your next big trek.” I guarantee the adventurer in your life will smile.
Are you a cheese lover like me? Because if there’s one thing I take seriously, besides hot cocoa season and holiday playlists, it’s cheese. Brie, cheddar, gouda, chèvre… I love them all. But nothing breaks my heart faster than opening the fridge and finding a sad, moldy wedge hiding in the corner of the drawer.
We’ve all been there. You buy a gorgeous piece of cheese for a charcuterie board, wrap the leftover in plastic wrap “just for a few days,” and next thing you know, it’s dry, slimy, or covered in fuzzy green spots.
So why does that happen? It’s simple: cheese hates plastic. Conventional plastic wrap suffocates it. Because it’s non-porous, moisture gets trapped inside, creating condensation that leads to mold, weird smells, and a serious flavor downgrade.
Enter my new kitchen obsession and favorite holiday find: Formaticum, the ultimate cheese storage solution that will make every cheese lover smile (and every fridge a little happier).
🌿 Why Formaticum Is a Game-Changer
Formaticum was founded by true cheese experts who wanted to help us store cheese the right way, the way cheesemongers and professional affineurs do. Their bags and papers are specially designed to let cheese breathe, keeping the moisture balanced and preventing mold, dryness, and waste.
Think of it as the difference between storing your cheese in a plastic bag (ugh) versus giving it its own little eco-friendly cheese cave (yes, please).
Even better? These bags make a fantastic holiday gift for the foodie or adventurer in your life, the friend who brings the cheese board to every gathering or the traveler who picks up wheels of cheese from every farmers market they visit.
🎁 My Favorite Formaticum Picks for Holiday Gifting
🧀 Classic Cheese Storage Bags ($17.50 / 15 count)
Made in France and designed just for cheese lovers, these are the perfect intro set. They’re reusable (until butterfat stains show through) and make storing leftovers effortless. I’m planning to wrap a set up with a wedge of brie and a small honey jar for the perfect hostess gift.
🌎 Zero Cheese Storage Bags ($19.50 / 10 count)
These are for the eco-conscious cheese aficionado (hi, that’s me). They’re compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable—made from white greaseproof paper and brown vegetable-waxed paper to create the perfect breathable micro-climate. Ideal for aged cheeses and charcuterie.
These sturdy, reusable bags keep cheese fresh and flavorful longer. They’re made from calcium carbonate and polyethylene, so they’re fully recyclable while still letting cheese breathe. I love that they feel like a small step toward less plastic waste in the kitchen.
🧺 A Gift That Keeps On Giving (Literally)
Cheese consumption skyrockets during the holidays, wine nights, grazing boards, after-dinner bites, so why not make sure every wedge stays as perfect as the day you bought it?
Pair a pack of Formaticum bags with a few specialty cheeses, a small wooden knife, and maybe even a jar of fig jam or olives. Tie it all together in a reusable basket, and you’ve got a thoughtful, eco-friendly gift that any host or food lover will adore.
It’s elegant, practical, sustainable, and deliciously different from another bottle of wine (though let’s be honest, you can totally include that too).
🥂 For the Love of Cheese (and the Planet)
Formaticum is more than just a product, it’s a way to honor the cheesemaker’s craft, savor every slice, and reduce waste. Plus, with their professional-grade wax-coated paper, Italian cheese knives, and other accessories, you can easily build a beautiful cheese care kit for the foodie in your life.
So this holiday season, skip the gimmicky kitchen gadgets and gift something that brings pure joy to the cheese board. Because with Formaticum, every bite tastes just as the cheesemaker intended, rich, flavorful, and full of life.
It’s no secret that many people who celebrate Halloween do so by getting together with friends and getting into the spirit of the spooky season. For many of those who celebrate, creating a unique costume that showcases your individuality is the biggest appeal of the holiday altogether. But instead of heading to the nearest chain store to spend money on an overpriced costume made of cheap and wasteful materials, consider taking some extra measures to ensure sustainability while maintaining creativity makes all the difference in your costume’s environmental impact. Here are just a few ways to keep Mother Nature in mind while preparing your Halloween costume.
Skip The Synthetics One eco-friendly rule of thumb when shopping for Halloween costumes at big box stores is to look at the labels and do your best to avoid synthetic and toxic materials.
“Halloween costumes are supposed to be fun-scary, not scary-scary. Yet, store-bought costumes are often made up of nonrecyclable petro-chemical based plastic and synthetic fibers,” writes Laura Bailey on Wilderness.org. “Those Halloween costumes can include one of the scariest plastics — polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a soft plastic and known carcinogen that releases harmful toxins in its creation and breakdown.”
Instead, look for costumes with natural materials and fabrics if you’re shopping at a big box store. Better yet, you should consider looking into small businesses that may specialize in eco-friendly products. There are currently around 27.9 million small businesses in the United States, and many shoppers may be surprised at the number of eco-friendly products both small and large businesses are now incorporating into their inventory. Don’t hesitate to take up your inquiry with a store employee, as well.
Consider A DIY Project If you consider yourself to be the crafty type, you can easily purchase some organic or otherwise eco-friendly materials and create your own costume. Sales of organic non-food products in the U.S. were up 8.8% in 2016, meaning there are more options than ever as far as styles, colors, and materials. If you have the resources, you can make a DIY version of any costume you find in a big box store, and you may even spend less doing it!
Incorporate Recyclable Elements Finally, whether you buy your costume from a store or make it yourself, try to incorporate some reusable or recyclable materials. About 60% of the U.S. population, or about 148 million people, have access to a plastics recycling program. Similarly, if you have any young kids who may be participating in trick or treating festivities, be conscious about the bag or container they’re using to stash their sweet treats.
“Avoid the ubiquitous bright orange plastic jack-o-lanterns that have no chance at ever breaking down in a landfill. Instead use reusable shopping bags, canvas totes or the ole pillowcase trick. A funky thriftshop handbag can add a fun twist to a green Halloween costume as well,” writes Bailey.
Ultimately, it doesn’t take much to make a few small changes toward sustainability. By keeping an eye out for reusable and organic materials, you and your family can enjoy all the traditional festivities of Halloween while doing your part to preserve the Earth’s resources.
