The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 700 million pounds of turkey were purchased prior to Thanksgiving, and 35 percent of it will end up in a landfill, according to a report done by the Food Tank, a nonprofit dedicated to educating people about sustainable eating.

The good news is that the thrown out meat can be composted.

Here in Connecticut, about 40 percent of the solid waste thrown out every year is compostable organic material, according to state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the agency that has been tasked with coming up with a management plan that will reduce municipal solid waste production in the state by 60 percent in the next eight years.