The ART in FIRE

Planning Your Dream Wedding with Shades of Green

by Betsy Mc Govern-Garcia

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.  –Native American Proverb

Most young girls dream of their fairytale wedding, with gorgeous flowers, flowing champagne and white everywhere.  I recently had the opportunity to plan my “dream wedding”, and was married April 25, 2009.  I decided to marry Joe for many reasons, one of which is the fact that he understands and appreciates my consciousness of the earth and our impact on the environment (even though he makes jokes about me hugging trees when no one is looking).  So naturally, when we got engaged, we wanted to put together an event where our family and friends could celebrate and have fun, while minimizing our impact on the environment.

Planning a “green” wedding is no easy task.  We wanted to plan a day that was not only about us and our love, but that also reflected our values, our beliefs and how thankful we are for our families, friends, and our earth.  When you consider all of waste associated with the dinner and drinks, special decorations and flowers, and the travel of guests and vendors, weddings tip the scales of waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
When planning a “green” wedding and trying to minimize the impacts of our special day, we tried to incorporate (the best we could) the following concepts.  I tried to remember that not everything could be done perfect and some things just wouldn’t be feasible, but that by being conscious of the environment when making our choices, we were at least moving in the right direction.    We were hoping for, and ended up having, a truly memorable wedding, with shades of green.
REDUCE PRINTING AND PAPER.
The day we got engaged, I was so excited, I wanted to tell the world.  Most people announce their engagement and wedding date with a save the date card or magnet.  This is a great way to spread the word about a wedding, but it usually ends up creating unnecessary waste.  Instead of sending a save the date card, we set-up a wedding website early in the planning process, which listed the date of our wedding and special details.  Wedding websites like www.theknot.com and www.weddingchannel.com offer free wedding websites.  We decided to use a service that charges a fee, in order to avoid the advertisements and banners posted on free sites.  For a small fee, $29.99/year, we set up a site at www.weddingtracker.com.  Instead of sending “Save the Date” cards, we send a link to our website and e-mail announcing the date.  For relatives and friends without e-mail, a simple phone call announcing the date adds a personal touch while avoiding unnecessary printing and paper.  When it came to the actual invitation, we simplified the amount of paper by not including the extra envelope inside the mailing envelope, and we did not include maps to all the locations.  Instead, two weeks prior to the wedding, I sent PDF maps to the rehearsal dinner, hotel and wedding site.  This way, guests could print only the maps they need, and you aren’t sending them to all recipients.

When you do print invitations, explore recycled paper options.  There are websites that offer 100% recycled paper invitations, such as www.earthlyaffair.com.  Unfortunately for us, the 100% recycled paper invitations were not in our budget, so we opted to purchase our own recycled paper (www.paperandmore.com “recycled cardstock”).  My uncle designed the invitations, and I took them to Staples for printing.  By recycling your ink cartridges, you get a credit that can be used for printing.    According to the Environmental Paper Network in an October 2007 report, “Compared to using virgin wood, paper made with 100% recycled content uses 44% less energy, produces 38% less greenhouse gas emissions, 41% less particulate emissions, 50% less wastewater, 49% less solid waste and — of course — 100% less wood.”   We did have a hard time formatting the invitations and printing invitations that looked “professional”, so be careful with “do-it-yourself” projects, and find a professional to design and print if possible.

CONSIDER THE FLOWERS AND DECORATIONS.
Many brides have a vision of their dream wedding that includes tons of flowers and beautiful decorations.  I did not want any flowers initially, but my husband did, so we compromised, and were able to find an area nursery that could provide all locally-grown flowers.  Purchasing the flowers locally reduces the demand for shipping, trucking and imported flowers.  By choosing flowers that are in-season, you will also save money and utilize flowers that are readily available locally.  Another option for eco-friendly centerpieces are organically grown flowers, which minimize the pesticide/chemical impacts on the land.
Another way to reduce waste in regards to decorating is to utilize party planning rental companies.  Focus on materials that can be rented and are reusable.  For example, renting vases, candle holders, etc. that can be reused minimizes waste from decorating.
MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF DRIVING YOUR GUESTS NEED TO DO.
We opted to have the ceremony and reception in the same location, in order to minimize the amount of driving our guests would need to do.  Consider the location of the ceremony/reception to the hotel, and book accommodations that are close to the event site.  Guest travel can also be minimized by offering a van or shuttle services.  This provides the opportunity for guests to relax, leave their keys behind, and shuttle to/from the event (while reducing total vehicle miles traveled and the associated impacts on the environment).  Also, be certain to include public transportation options, such as arrival by bus, train, etc.  In Tulare County, offer guests that are traveling by air solutions from the Fresno airport, such as a shuttle from the airport (Classic Status offers one-way service for 3-people for approximately $80 between Fresno and Visalia).

UTILIZE PARTY FAVORS THAT BENEFIT THE EARTH.
One way to incorporate sustainability into your wedding is to choose a wedding favor that reflects your values and benefits the earth.  At www.arborday.org you can purchase small trees that can be used as a centerpiece, and then taken home by guests to be planted.  Other options include paper favors that contain seeds and can be planted to grow wildflowers (www.greenfieldpaper.com or www.botanicalpaperworks.com).  We elected to have a photo booth at our wedding, which is not entirely “green”, but offered a fun activity for our guests, and took the place of a wedding “favor”.  We also gave our out-of-town guests a reusable cloth bag, with our favorite quote and wedding date on front, to offer a reusable gift and token of our special day. Overall, we wanted something that could be used by our guests, was a memory of our day, and would not end up in the trash immediately after the wedding.
OFFSETTING THE IMPACT WITH CARBON OFFSETS OR CHARITABLE GIVING.
When all else fails and you have exhausted every effort to host a sustainable affair, you can always opt for carbon offsets or a donation to a charitable cause.  Carbon offset programs like Terrapass, Native Energy and MyClimate, offer a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions, the principal cause of global warming.  Terrapass also offers a “Wedding Carbon Footprint Calculator” which will calculate the emissions resulting from your wedding (www.terrapass.com/wedding/).  According to Terrapass, there are hundreds of different types of carbon reduction projects. For example, a wind farm generates clean energy, which reduces carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants. In order to finance its operations, a wind farm can sell these reductions in the form of carbon offsets.  You can even combine the party favor and carbon offsets into one by purchasing “Climate Change Chocolate” from TerraPass.  This tasty sustainable treat offers 3.5 ounces of chocolate, 133 lbs of verified TerraPass carbon offsets (individuals average daily carbon impact on the planet), and 15 tips for reducing your carbon footprint on the wrapper.
If you aren’t completely sold on the validity of carbon offsets, try selecting a cause close to your heart.  Services like the “I Do Foundation” work with stores to automatically give a percentage of the purchases from the registry to your charitable organization.  For example, Target will give 5% of all purchases off the registry to your charitable organization, just by registering through the “I Do Foundation”.  This is a great way to give back to your community as a result of your wedding.

“My husband and I tried to implement as many of these items as possible, but some of them we discovered after the wedding. Try to incorporate as many of the green concepts that are feasible, and accept that being green isn’t a perfect science, but rather a work in progress.”

There are many ways to have a green wedding, and minimize the impacts of your special day on the environment.  Remember to have fun and plan an event that reflects the individual qualities of each of you.  Guests won’t remember the color of the napkins or the number of flowers, but they will remember the individual details that reflect your character and your partnership.  In the words of William Ruckelshaus, “Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites.”