A Green Holiday Season

I don’t want to panic you or anything, but have you looked at the calendar recently? The Holidays (capital H, here) are racing up on us and along with them, the dinners, the parties, the last minute and impromptu get-togethers.

I’m going to do something a little bit different today, and I’m not going to write about the food. Gasp!

Look, you’re going to be doing a lot of cooking and cleaning up – no getting around it. Admit it, there are going to be some times when you just can’t stand the prospect of loading and unloading the dishwasher one more time or looking at yet another sinkful of dirty dishes, and you’re going to do “disposable”. I don’t blame you – I’ll absolutely do the same. I’m going to ask you – for just half a minute – to think about the impact on the environment of all the discarded plastic cups, the plates, the utensils. Nothing like a side of guilt with your turkey and dressing, right?

One of my usual shortcuts is to line my cookie sheets and brownie pans with aluminum foil to help cut down on cleanup. Well, looky what I found in the wrap and foil aisle of my regular grocery store:

All I can say is, it’s about freaking time! Finally! It’s just like regular Reynolds Wrap, but it’s made from 100% recycled aluminum. This is the kind of forward corporate thinking I’d like to encourage, so this is the foil I’m going to use to line my pans and tent my turkey this year. It even costs a few cents less at my store than the regular Reynolds Wrap. By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, Reynolds has changed their packaging to use less materials – the amount of product inside is the same, but the packaging is smaller. Yay, Reynolds!

When it comes to disposable plates, there are a number of options at the store. Here’s the “Plain Jane” version:

Admittedly, you might like something sturdier for your dinner – especially if folks are eating off their laps. All that gravy and cranberry sauce is bound to get a little sloppy, right?

In that case, you might choose the popular Chinet brand. Chinet’s now made from recycled materials and is fully biodegradable and compostable in either your home composter/compost pile, or in a community composting program (check to see if your community has one). I actually just toss ’em in my composter and they break down just like newspaper and tree branches. And not just the white ones – all of ’em!

Let’s not forget the beverages! Solo is now selling a line of plastic cups called “bare“. The bare line is made with 20% recycled plastic and is 100% recyclable in your regular household recycling. Another “finally!” is due here.

There are several other eco-friendly choices available online and in party specialty stores: disposable utensils made from cornstarch and sugar cane, higher-end disposable serveware made from bamboo and palm and sugar cane fibers, too. There are even compostable plastic cups! Many of these products aren’t new, but they are becoming more easily available, both at the party stores and at your local grocery. These are just a few of the items I noticed while wheeling my cart down the paper aisle.

It’s not a great revelation that our health – and that of future generations – depends on the environment. You take the time to care about and ask where your food comes from, so this Holiday Season, please take a moment to think about what you’re putting your food on. No one family can do everything, but every little bit helps!

By the way, I am not being sponsored or in anyway compensated to show you these products. Except maybe with a little karma, I hope. 🙂