Standing on Ceremony - On greening your wedding

Dear Umbra,

How about some practical thoughts on "green" weddings? My daughter is planning an outdoor July wedding in Wisconsin -- any tips? The reception is going to be outdoors at our home.

Tomm G.
Waukesha, Wis.

Hi Tomm,

This week's theme is 10-foot-pole topics! Or love! They're one and the same!

Environmental issues to consider for weddings are going to be quite similar to the everyday issues: transportation, food, non-transit energy use, consumer waste. Green weddings are a potentially awkward proposition because elaborate three-day affairs have become the cultural norm. Obviously in consideration of the environment less is more, but in the modern wedding context it might be difficult for the family to feel happy or comfortable just having a simple event, which we might call the "reduce" wedding.

The wedding industry is large, and the "green products" industry is sizable, and they have an area of overlap. The trouble with a lot of "green" consumer stuff is that it is simply substitutive. Vendors exist who can sell you all the things you would like for a regular old giant wedding, only with a green pedigree: organic flowers, organic party favors, hemp gowns, registries with ecologically minded companies. My feeling is that this is somewhat better than the traditional route, and if you want to go ahead with that kind of idea, please punch "green wedding" into your search engine. You might also read my earlier columns about rings, registries, and flying all your guests to Hawaii. My big heretical notion is: the smaller wedding (see last column for heretical notion about smaller family). Either that's possible given family politics, or it is not. Consider it thoroughly. A small guest list will mean fewer resources used in every category.

Less transportation will be the big goal, but it can be achieved in a variety of ways. Since this is likely the largest impact of your backyard shindig, let's list some emissions-reducing transport schemes. For others who haven't yet chosen their location, consider one to which guests will travel the least total miles. Try to do everything possible to reduce individual car trips from airports and hotels -- provide buses, shuttles, provide incentives to use the buses and shuttles (snacks? keeping event location secret? guilt?), have the wedding at a hotel where everyone stays, have ceremony and reception in the same location. Consider purchasing green tags to make up for unavoidable carbon emissions.

In choosing the food, look for organically grown and/or locally sourced products, as you should when possible in your daily life. Find a caterer who will work with you to use the products. Here's an unpopular but environmentally sound idea: have a vegetarian menu. Hey, speaking of unpopular ideas, how about a composting toilet at the reception? Quelle scandale! But seriously, folks, what other categories do we have? Outdoors in summer is a great choice, because you won't need to heat or air-condition the space. Any paper goods such as invitations can be printed on recycled-content paper. Any festive garments can be purchased secondhand or reused -- the tradition of using a mother's gown fits in nicely with environmental ethics. There's a whole brides-against-breast-cancer gown resale project too.

Never having planned a wedding, I'm sure I'm missing some vital piece of the event, but reduce -- go smaller and use less stuff -- seems to be the key. If you've been reading Grist, you already know the major considerations for daily life with an environmental bent. Think carefully about each step of the planning, keeping your knowledge in mind, and I don't think you can go too wrong. Besides transportation, almost everything about a wedding would happen anyway, right? People at home would eat and sleep and crumple napkins anyway. So follow your common sense, and hopefully being ecologically minded won't add to the stress of planning a big event. And congratulations.

Soothingly,
Umbra

By Umbra Fisk - 28 Mar 2007 - http://www.grist.org/

Altar-native Energy - How to green your wedding

No one wants to scrimp on matters of the heart. And not a lot of lovebirds want to pass up the chance to throw a meaning-laden bash with friends, family, and bubbly that ends in a sex-crazed vacation. Who could say no to that?

But when it comes to weddings, there are greener ways to get hitched. Today, earth-friendlier versions of conventional weddings are blooming everywhere -- from "Days of Our Lives" to the pages of Modern Bride. Thanks to an increasingly robust eco-marketplace that offers everything from organic champagne to biodegradable confetti, walking down the aisle without leaving a huge carbon footprint is a piece of connubial cake. And ideas abound for alternative (i.e., non-extravaganza) ceremonies too.

All it takes is some simple planning and a bit of pruning for the guest list (do you really need to fly in your fourth cousins from Slobovia?). After that, just feel the love -- the kind that extends to your betrothed and to the ground we all walk on.

Here are a few ideas to get you started -- and we welcome those of you who have walked the eco-aisle to share your story in the comments section below.

Level One: The Baby Step

Be a skipper. As in, skip the rice tossing. It's potentially bad for birds and wildlife, and it's definitely messy. If you must provide something for guests to toss, opt for something like birdseed -- unless the event is in a wilderness area where feeding critters isn't allowed. Try skipping a few other things, too, like party favors and place cards. The industry will tell you these things are a must, but any guest who's left an event laden down with them will tell you they're a bust. If you can't bear to skip them, consider giving garden seeds as favors and writing your guests' names on stones. Don't worry, Martha would approve.

Level Two: The Next Steps

Dress reversal. Green wedding garb, like the best love affairs, shouldn't leave a trail of toxic residue behind. Buy new or nearly-new gowns at places like Encore Bridal or your local secondhand store; check out the green wedding site Portovert; or shop at Anna Cohen, a Vera Wang of the green world. And guys: keep renting those tuxes! If you could really use new threads, buy organic cotton dress shirts or hemp suits that you can wear again.

Do the local-motive. Yes, Fiji is pretty this time of year, but making your guests jet there to see you wed is guaranteed to produce a world of CO2 hurt. So get married in a central spot near the majority of your guests. And when you're buying the wedding goodies, snag them locally, to reduce the carbon costs of driving and shipping. If you can't find the shops you need, browse Co-op America's green pages to find local-organic flowers, décor, food, and drink -- including fine champagne and wine.

Bling it on. Diamonds, as we know, are a churl's best friend. Metal mining -- another nightmare -- is a No. 1 polluter in the United States, according to No Dirty Gold; a single band of gold produces 20 tons of deadly mine waste. So ring in the new: buy from the growing class of conflict-free gems, including eco-friendly diamonds and gold made with fair labor practices. Recycled jewelry glitters just as nicely.

Guide yer gifters. This is where your noblesse can really oblige. Ask people to forgo that third toaster they were about to give you and instead request gifts from a green registry like VivaTerra. Even better, encourage guests to buy carbon offsets, contribute toward an experience (skydiving lessons, here you come!), or donate to any number of cool charities via nonprofits like the I Do Foundation, which also accepts donated wedding dresses when the day's done.

Level Three: The Big Step

Say 'I Don't.' Traditional weddings doth not automatically a happy marriage make; being in love is what counts. So why not escape the headaches and pressures of party planning -- while saving major amounts of money and stress on you and the earth -- and just elope? Say your vows at city hall, vault neatly over the months of work and piles of bills, and stick the perfect landing. It's an option that bucks tradition, to be sure -- but it's just as likely to lead to a happy ending.

29 Apr 2008 - http://www.grist.org/