Climate Ready: How to host a less wasteful Thanksgiving

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness, gratitude and feasting.

Yet Americans waste about 40% of our food every single year. And all that food ends up in landfills, creating harmful greenhouse gases.

But as people gather to give thanks this year, there are ways to help keep perfectly good food out of the trash and on the tables of those who need it most.

Every year, during Thanksgiving week, Americans throw out 200 million pounds of turkey.

"That wastes not just the turkey that ends up in the landfill but it also wastes all the resources that go into producing that turkey," said Rebecca Riley.

Riley is the Managing Director for Food and Agriculture at the non-profit environmental group, NRDC.

One out of every eight Americans faces food insecurity. Riley said it's something to think about when preparing for the holiday.

Make a Plan

"The first and most important thing to do is make a plan for your meal," Riley suggested.

The NRDC has a handy online tool called the Guestimator at savethefood.com.

"It will help you figure out what size of a turkey do I need to buy, how many side dishes, how large should they be," said Riley. "And if you plan your meal that aligns with how many guests you have it will be much easier to avoid that food waste."

Thanksgiving Leftovers

The Guestimator even helps create a plan for all those leftovers.

"Leftovers are great and leftovers are a lot of people's, including my favorite part of Thanksgiving," said Riley,. "And so it's just about making sure that you eat those leftovers."

Riley also recommends letting guests serve themselves.

"Because if people serve themselves, they're more likely to take the food that they're likely to eat," she said.

Save Food Scraps

"Food scraps are great thing to think about," said Riley. "You can throw them in your freezer for vegetable scraps and make a stock. You can also compost them."

The holidays are a fine time to start composting for the first time.

"You can absolutely try it out on Thanksgiving, if you have a drop site nearby," said Riley.

The city of Chicago alone has 20 free food scrap drop off sites.

And if saving the planet isn't enough to convince you to reduce your food waste - perhaps more money in your wallet will. (Save Money) text over video

"The average family of four wastes about $1800 a year on wasted food, food that we throw out," said Riley.

This story is part of our Climate Ready series - a collaboration between ABC News and the ABC Owned Television Stations focused on providing practical solutions to help you and your family adapt to extreme weather events and the current challenges of climate change.