November 2022

Thanksgiving: its environmental impact

As climate change and sustainability continue to be hot topics in our everyday lives, we can look at our carbon footprint to see how we are impacting the environment around us, both individually and as a society. This week, many of us will be sitting down with family and friends to enjoy our national holiday, Thanksgiving. But amid the joy of turkey dinners and large get-togethers lies the potential for environmental impact.


As scientists, we couldn't help but consider what cooking and traveling on a larger scale could mean for our environment. It turns out that the carbon footprint of our Thanksgiving dinner is dependent upon such seemingly innocuous details as where our meal originated (were the ingredients locally grown or were they shipped in?) and how we travel to our dinner (by car? by plane?). Even the different types of stoves and ovens we use to cook our meals impact our Thanksgiving carbon footprint. 


While we certainly wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from enjoying the holiday (we certainly will enjoy it and hope you do as well!), it may be possible to celebrate and include environmental opportunities at the same time. Carnegie Mellon University researchers made that job easier through their own research on Thanksgiving's impact found at the following link. We also share tips on reducing all of our carbon footprints this Thanksgiving in our article below.

Reduce your carbon footprint this Thanksgiving

How can you help to reduce the carbon footprint of your Thanksgiving dinner? Harvard University put out five tips for a greener Thanksgiving. Check out these five tips here

Waterborne Environmental is a renowned consulting firm that has provided innovative solutions to the world’s most complex environmental problems since 1993. Our experienced, unbiased scientists and engineers work across industries to evaluate environmental, ecological, and human risks. Our work spans across industry and regulatory agencies to support the balance in the needs of a growing population with the environmental impact on our valuable natural resources.


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