The environmental impact of your Thanksgiving dinner depends on the state where you prepare the meal.
Researchers calculated the carbon footprint of a typical Thanksgiving feast—roasted turkey stuffed with sausage and apples, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie—for each state. The team based their calculations on how the meal is cooked (gas versus electric range), the specific state’s predominant power source, and how each area produces food.
They found that dinners cooked in Maine and Vermont, states that rely mostly on hydropower, emit the lowest amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is tied to climate change. States that use coal power, such as Wyoming, West Virginia, and Kentucky, have the highest carbon dioxide emissions.
