Posted by Sue Landsman on May.28, 2009

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If you’re the type of person who only uses one paper towel in a restaurant to save paper or keeps the heat down low in winter to save energy, then you might want to reconsider getting married. Why? The wedding industry in North America amounts to over 50 billion dollars a year, and as a result produces a good amount of carbon dioxide gas, the main culprit in the greenhouse effect. Add to that all of the travel, fuss, paper, and gifts, and it’s enough to give an environmentally conscious girl second thoughts.

If you are concerned about minimizing the effects of your wedding on the environment there are many things you can do to ensure that your special day doesn’t take too much of a toll on the world around you. There are many consulting companies and even free web sites that will help you figure out how to tailor your plans to attain a lower carbon-footprint or at least offset the effect of what you intend to do.

Timing is Everything

If you plan to get married in Winter and live in New England, you will have to get married inside and pay to heat and light a hall. There will also be no local produce available or locally-grown anything. If you postpone your wedding to a warmer season, you have the option of locating part of your event outdoors in addition to reducing the carbon load from the indoor facilities. Conversely, if you live in Florida and decide to get married in the dead of Summer, you will need to air condition a large space.

Go Local

Find a caterer who has local contacts and can find you locally-raised, organic products. It’s best to find food that is grown without pesticides or hormones and is in season at the time of your wedding. Why not find a local organic vineyard to provide you with wine, or possibly even a site for your wedding and reception? It’s also possible to find a florist who grows his own flowers or can purchase locally grown flowers for you. If you want to be really local, you can have your wedding dress hand-made from fabric that’s traveled as little as possible and buy any paper products from paper processed at local mills.

Carbon Offsetting

Carbonfund.org, the leading climate solutions organization has partnered with the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists to offer women a novel option. Brides can donate money through members of the Association to offset the cost of cleaning and preserving their wedding gowns, including the cost of traveling to and from the cleaner. The donations support renewable energy and reforestation projects worldwide.

Carbonfund.org also has a special “wedding calculator” that helps you calculate the amount of carbon dioxide your wedding will contribute to the environment as a result of the travel and lodging of your guests. You can create your own publicly accessible web site that shows the results of the calculations and allows your guests to contribute towards the cost of your offset goal.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Traditional weddings tend to be extravagant, but you don’t need to be, especially in this economy. There’s nothing wrong with scaling back and focusing more on the small touches than the big ticket items. Many women reuse wedding dresses that ran in their family or buy consignment to save money and resources. When sending invitations, you can look for those made of recycled paper, or if you don’t mind being thoroughly untraditional, you can send evites and avoid paper altogether. The paper products for the actual wedding can be made of recycled paper also.

Many couples reduce the environmental cost of their flowers by sharing flowers with other couples engaged to be married on the same day. You can also try to use locally grown flowers or even harvest wildflowers if that is possible in your area. Needless to say, using local flowers is only possible if you plan to get married in the right season.

Green The Registry

List environmentally sound retailers on your registry, or ask guests to contribute to the environmental organization of your choice. The I Do Foundation helps you create a charity registry that’s easy to use and offers you and your guests many options.
For guests who prefer to buy gifts, there are many wonderful energy-efficient gifts available as well as gift certificates to avoid the carbon footprint of shipping multiple gifts from all over the country.

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Posted under GDM Lifestyle, Living.