So it’s a week out and you haven’t shopped, planned a menu or sent invitations. Good. There’s hope for you, unlike those annoying 'plan ahead' types. Here’s your task list for a green, somewhat sustainable Thanksgiving Day.
1. Send email invitations – granted it’s too late for real paper ones sent snail mail, so your fail to plan has paid off.
2. Make your shopping list on the back of one of those useless return address envelopes you get with bills you pay online anyway. Now would be a good time to make sure you change your billing preference to paperless. Do it Today! points for you here. Super geeks have eliminated paper billing use the iPhone iHost app for Thanksgiving.
3. Know the people you invite to dinner. That will eliminate 99.9% of your Facebook friends, but this allows you to avoid serving food that won’t get eaten. So what if creamed pearl onions have been on the table since the Buccaneers' throwback uniforms were worn by Lee Roy Selmon, bag it and go with another tradition like….
4. Serve locally grown veggies. If you’re lucky enough to be a Sweetwater Organic Community Farm member, skip to number 5. If not, the market is open this Sunday from 12 to 4pm. (Or check out one of these other farmers' markets around Tampa Bay.)
5. Shop with a reusable bag. It doesn’t have to be one of those bought for that purpose, use the old beach bag (it’ll love you for the change of scenery).
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.