From Guest Blogger Devin Morrissey: Four Considerations When Planning a Green Wedding
If you’ve tried to plan a wedding within the past few years, you’ve likely noticed a trend: The cost of weddings has soared. Yet an unfortunate reality is that each ceremony comes with an increased environmental cost as well. How can you avoid this outcome during the planning stages of the event?
If you’re not sure where to start, have no fear. Whether you plan to walk down the aisle for the first time or are looking to bring light to your marriage through an encore wedding, there are eco-friendly options for those looking to avoid doing any environmental harm on their special day. Here are four important considerations to keep in mind when planning your green wedding:
Choosing a Venue to Reduce Environmental Impact
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, one of the biggest contributors to environmental pollution for a wedding is the choice of venue. When seeking out a venue, look for one outdoors that emphasizes natural beauty rather than large, costly venues. While it may seem negligible, the cost of providing air conditioning, lighting, and other accommodations can add up to an unwieldy carbon footprint. Consider supporting nonprofit organizations by having your wedding at a local park or zoo — preferably within a reasonable range of your guests; this keeps the money you spend in your community and supports organizations preserving the local ecology.
If you want to hold a truly sustainability-focused wedding, it’s important to keep the scale of the event small. For this reason, you should consider aiming for a smaller venue. An intimate celebration with a close-knit group of friends and families is wiser than inviting hundreds of guests. An excessive number of guests leads to extra miles driven, goods consumed, and pollution generated.
Choosing Eco-Friendly Alternatives
Announcements, invitations, save-the-dates, thank-you cards, menus, place cards, programs — traditional weddings are paper-intensive affairs. While there is a certain charm to adhering to these traditions, an overreliance on paper products can contribute to a pretty substantial footprint and financial cost. FashionBeans lifestyle author Scott Bender states that paper-related costs add up to over $750 on average, and that’s before you even calculate postage.
How can you lighten the load, both on the environment and your wallet? Choose eco-friendly alternatives. When possible, use digital alternatives to paper products. An announcement or invitation email may not be the traditional route, but it is clearly a superior alternative in terms of sustainability. If you still want to go with paper, it’s optimal to find a stationer that offers recycled products and sustainable inks.
Your Wedding Can Support Eco-Activism
Always be on the lookout for ways your event can support local businesses and advocacy groups that focus on sustainability. When creating your wedding registry, for instance, be sure to request locally created items made of organic and/or reusable materials. Natural products have a substantially lower cost to the environment than mass-produced ones, and giving conscientious businesses some business is a great way to support ethical local businesses. The same rule applies to wedding favors: just keep sustainability in mind.
Alternatively, you can opt to forego having a registry and ask invitees to donate or otherwise pledge to support either eco-activist groups in your area or major organizations such as the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife Fund, or the National Wildlife Federation. Whether directly or indirectly, your wedding can support eco-activism.
Starting Your New Life on the Right Foot
Marriage often signals a major shift in your living circumstances, so it’s important to quickly establish routines that support an environmentally conscious lifestyle. Some examples include:
- Reduce, reuse, recycle. This one should be a no-brainer. Take advantage of local recycling programs and make these practices a foundational habit for your growing family.
- Turn off electronics when they are not in use. Energy conservation is essential to managing your carbon footprint; seemingly innocuous energy vampires like televisions, cable TV boxes, and unneeded lights can contribute to a lot of waste.
- Don’t waste food; plan ahead of time. According to moving and storage experts at Life Storage, it’s best to “use recipes that require the same main ingredients that you can vary slightly for a new meal.” Try to eat less meat, as meat production has a severe negative environmental impact. They also advise that recycled leftovers should be used as well. This can help when it comes to planning and can limit food waste.
- Switch to renewable energy. Take this time to transfer your energy to energy-efficient, environmentally friendly alternatives. A great example of this is supplementing your energy needs with solar panels.
These are just a few of the ways you can make the happiest day of your life a bit greener. For other tips on having a sustainable wedding, continue reading at 2GreenEnergy.
