Green Holiday Entertaining -- and a Recipe for Vegan Latkes

When you throw a dinner or party for the holidays -- whether for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year's -- you use a lot more of the earth's resources than you do in day-to-day life. How can you reduce the ecological footprint of your feast without compromising on hospitality? Follow the game plan in Holiday Entertaining for a Small Planet, the December issue of This Green Life.

One of many recommendations is reducing the amount of animal products you serve -- not just meat, but dairy and eggs. If you celebrate Hanukkah, try this recipe for vegan latkes (potato pancakes):



Here's a printable version of the whole article:



Please share your own green holiday tips and recipes.

Holiday shopping at non-profits

If you're looking for a way to keep the economy pumped up this holiday season without giving in to commercialization, why not look for meaningful gifts at non-profit organizations? End-of-year giving is as important to them as end-of-year shopping is to retail businesses -- and they're suffering just as much, with consequences for jobs, the environment, services for the needy and quality of life for us all.

What makes these gifts successful as gifts is matching up the work of the organization to the interests of the gift recipient.

For instance, I have nature-lovers in my circle, so one of the things I've done in the past is plant daffodils in Central Park in their honor. This year, I'm switching over to plant rainforest trees in Costa Rica through NRDC's rainforest restoration campaign. In both cases, the organizations send certificates in acknowledgment that are suitable for printing and framing.

For my daughter, a poetry-lover, I like to support the Academy of American Poets, whose wonderful website she frequents. A couple of years ago, I got her a gift membership, which came with a poetry t-shirt. This Hanukkah, I'm thinking I may adopt a poet for her. But I'm waffling -- it might be better to buy a book of poems, babydoll poetry t-shirt, necklace or other item from the group's poetry store. (Sophie, if you're reading this, please provide guidance!)

Also worth noting -- you generally get a tax deduction on these gifts, so you come out with a little something extra for yourself.

A different approach to holiday giving

In our family we celebrate Hanukkah with very little gift-giving except to the kids. We've even cut way back on their gifts in recent years -- to things they'll love but can also really use.

Gift-giving at Hanukkah parties is more difficult to control. At our annual celebration with my brother's family, we have tried limiting presents to $15 or under. More recently, we tried limiting them to books. Though I'm crazy about books, that still involved quite a bit of spending -- of money and natural resources.

This year, I have a new idea (which I have yet to suggest to my brother -- so I don't know whether or not it will fly): a freecycle style exchange.

If you don't know what freecycle is, it's a grassroots movement consisting of local groups that use the internet to exchange stuff for free.

Anyway, my idea is for everyone at the party to bring one or two nice things in good condition that he or she has no use for any more. We'll lay them all out on a table and let everyone choose something new. The things won't literally be new, of course, but they'll be new to the people who bring them home and, I hope, appreciated just as much.

Organic Thanksgiving: what you get for your money

I just came across a less-than-shocking exposé on the "true" cost of an organic Thanksgiving dinner in Smart Money, revealing that you could pay 75% more for your organic feast. The slant of the piece (in a column called "Rip-offs") is that conventional and organic food are essentially the same -- just different lifestyle choices. Therefore, they can be compared on the basis of price alone.

But conventional and organic products are not equivalent.

Read more on
why organic food is worth it.

Take turkeys -- the item where there is the biggest price difference in absolute dollars. Nowadays, most turkeys, whether conventional or organic, tend to carry the microbe Campylobacter, which causes campylobacteriosis and can lead to serious medical problems in people with weakened immune systems. (The organic turkey is even slightly more likely to carry it.) So, if you eat a turkey of either kind, you are probably going to be exposed -- not necessarily at a level that will lead to the disease, but maybe. Campylobacteriosis is very common in the U.S. though usually undiagnosed -- except in those serious cases.

So far, the conventional and organic turkey look pretty similar (and none too good).

But here's where things get interesting. The microbe in the conventional turkey is far more likely to be antibiotic-resistant than the one in the organic turkey. Why? Well, probably because the conventional turkey is fed a regular diet of antibiotics, while the organic turkey gets none. When bacteria are overexposed to antibiotics, they develop defenses against them.

So, if you need antibiotics for campylobacteriosis that you get from eating a conventional turkey, you just may find they don't work.

And that's one reason why conventional and organic turkeys are actually different beasts. My bet is that further research will turn up more.