Community Corner

4 Tips for a Sustainable Thanksgiving

Indulge with ingenuity just like the Pilgrims and Native Americans did for the first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a holiday marked by indulgence--and rightfully so. The holiday coincides with Winter's first bite of cold and, as we've been taught since grade school, commemorates the pilgrim's first successful harvest in the New World. Though most of us likely associate the last Thursday in November with gathering around a warm, abundant dinner table--the early Thanksgivings were a celebration finally having something, anything, to eat.

As American folklore tells it, the first Thanksgiving dinner was a meal shared by the first Pilgrim settlers and indigenous Native American inhabitants--two groups generally associated in our cultural consciousness with ingenuity and sustainable living.

With that in mind, here are five tips you can use to honor the spirit of the first Thanksgiving.

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1. Check Your Inventory Before You Shop

Most of us head to the stores with a list of Thanksgiving staples in mind--canned corn, potatoes, cranberry sauce. But, the first Thanksgiving revelers ate what was already available to them. Turkey as the main course was a relationship of convenience. Who says you can't serve up that falafel mix or can of kidney beans that are hiding in the back of your cabinets?

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2. Shop in Sierra Madre

Downtown Sierra Madre offers a variety of stores that are perfect for picking up holiday treats. has fresh fruits and vegetables and meat counter that's practically unrivaled in the foothills.  offers a variety of special-order holiday pies while offers glitzy candy, treats and coffee to please any sweet tooth.  

3. Soup and Sandwiches and Casseroles

This is probably second nature for most of us--feasting on leftovers isn't just smart and sustainable, it's probably the best part of Thanksgiving. Turkey and stuffing sandwiches are the stuff dreams are made of. That leftover Turkey makes for a fine soup base, as well. Why not toss all those leftover veggies and potatoes in a casserole pan while you're at it!  

4. Compost!

Once all the meat is cleaned of the bones, the turkey carcass can be safely added to a compost pile. Be advised, though, make sure you aren't adding any actual meat scraps to your compost pile--it will stink and attract various and sundry unsavory critters. If you start a compost pile now, you'll be good to go when it comes time to start your own .


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