Green Living by Janet Marchant: Turn What's Left of Your Thanksgiving Feast Green!

I love Thanksgiving, because it's one of our greenest holidays. There are always plenty of leftovers to recycle, and we all know how good recycling is for the environment! In my family, we make sure to go that extra mile by starting out with food that reduces harm to the planet. That's why the centerpiece of our annual feast is not the traditional but environmentally unfriendly turkey, but rather the biggest ol' hunk o' corn-fed beef that we can manage to choke down. You see, cows give off large quantities of methane gas, which contributes significantly to global warming, so it's important to reduce the number of cows on the planet. Since they reproduce so rapidly, it's important to eat them quickly so that we don't find ourselves up to our necks in cows, choking to death on methane.

Once Thanksgiving is over, many people are tempted to save their leftovers for sandwiches, but that is a huge mistake. The green thing to do is recycle your leftovers, because the more stuff you recycle, the better it is for the planet! In fact, we make sure to cook at least three or four times more food than we can eat, just to increase the amount we have to recycle.

Of course, you can recycle any uneaten beef and other foods in your green bin, but that's just for starters. Biodiesel is all the rage these days, so why not improve your gas mileage by adding some leftover gravy to your car's tank? Then, take that old macaroni salad and help the kids design their own crafts projects with it. When the mayonnaise dressing gets tacky enough, it will act as a glue to keep the macaroni pieces on the paper or stuck to each other. Also, you can quickly make an attractive set of coasters by shellacking slices of cooked yam, and you'll be that much better prepared for next year's entertaining.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. I'd love to hear your inspirations for creative Thanksgiving recycling, too. Tips on what to do with a spare side of beef would be especially helpful. If you send some, I'll be giving my thanks to you!