Itinerary: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Ten score and 10 years ago, George Washington created the first national holiday by presidential proclamation: Thanksgiving.

Washington envisioned the holiday as a time to show thanks for the establishment of a government dedicated to the safety and happiness of its citizens. And yet, somehow, Thanksgiving has become more a celebration of our nation’s plenty. It’s not uncommon for gratitude to drown in a display of gluttony.

Certainly the United States has been blessed with magnificent resources. But it is not enough to be thankful. It is time to conserve. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Have a weekend of low consumption.

Thursday

Before you chow down, you might think about burning off a few calories with a nice walk. It’s a nice way to spend the afternoon with family--or, away from your family.

A loop through Griffith Park is particularly appropriate. Park in the Mineral Wells picnic area, off Griffith Park Drive, northwest of the Harding golf course. Near where the road splits around the picnic area, there are three trail heads. Take the middle one.

In a half-mile, you’ll pass Amir’s Garden, then in another half-mile, near Water Tank 112, look to your right. That’s Toyon Canyon. Doesn’t look much like a canyon, does it? That’s because the city used it as a dump from 1958 to 1985. About 16 million tons of trash fill that spot in the heart of the city’s largest park.

Friday

It’s hard to resist the gravitational pull of the shopping mall--but there is an antidote: resale. An odd choice for gift shopping, sure--but you never know where you might run across that perfect one-of-a-kind item. If you haven’t been thrifting lately, you also might be surprised at the look of some of the shops. The Goodwill Thrift Shop in Los Feliz (4575 Hollywood Blvd., open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.), for instance, opened last month in a new 11,000-square-foot building.

More “vintage” clothing and furniture stores are strung along Sunset Boulevard nearby: Children’s Hospital Thrift Shop (4551 Sunset Blvd.), Out of the Closet (4398 W. Sunset Blvd.), Den of Antiquities (3936 W. Sunset Blvd.), the Snivling Sibling (3902 W. Sunset Blvd.) and Eastside Mercantile (2943 W. Sunset Blvd.).

Saturday

While countless parents are at the mall buying toys for their kids to unwrap next month, your kids can be making their own toys during the “Discovery Day: Cereal Box Car” program at the Petersen Automotive Museum (6060 Wilshire Blvd. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. $7; $5, seniors and students; $4, ages 5 to 12. [323] 930-CARS). Participants should bring their own empty cereal boxes--preferably the small one-serving size. Kids can create anything from Model Ts to futuristic SUVs from 2-4 p.m. in the Discovery Center on the third floor.

Sunday

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as proven by the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History (405 Hilgard Ave., UCLA campus, Westwood. Open Wednesdays-Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; Thursdays, noon-8 p.m. Free. $5 parking. [310] 825-4361). Its exhibition “Recycled, Re-Seen: Art From the Global Scrap Heap” features about 700 objects created from the castoffs of the Industrial Age: old tires, bottle caps, soda cans, lightbulbs. Artworks are as practical as water carriers from Morocco, or as whimsical as a jacket of 7-Up cans from New York designer Isaac Mizrahi. Also, don’t miss the concurrent show, “Muffler Men, Mun~ecos and Other Welded Wonders.”