Getting married is a very special occasion. You’re thinking about how you want the day to look and how to make everything perfect and it’s the ideal occasion to showcase the things you most care about. With the problems we have with the world today, many people are looking for ways to cut their carbon footprint and reduce waste. So if you want to make sure that your wedding doesn’t leave behind more plastic spoons than happy photos, here’s how to pull it off.
Go Further Than the Ceremony
Having a sustainable wedding isn’t just about serving organic food and using metal utensils. It starts with you, but your guests can also be included. Within your invitations (which should definitely be e-invites, or at least printed on recycled paper), tell your guests not to wrap their gifts in new wrapping paper and not to give you products that are inherently wasteful or not eco-friendly. When you are picking out your outfits, make sure that they are sustainably made and if you really want to be efficient, get outfits that you can wear again and again after the wedding. For the bouquet (and all the other flowers, for that matter), you want to make sure that they are raised organically, without pesticides that can harm insects and bees.
Find the Right Place
If you find a good venue, but you have to independently organize all of the food, cutlery, decoration and all the parts that are important for you to make a difference. Along with that, if you are ordering catering, they will often bring plastic, disposable cutlery that doesn’t work with the theme you’re going with. Not to mention that there are some things that you can’t change and control, such as where the venue gets their energy from, whether they recycle and how they deal with all other important environmental parts. You can find restaurants in Eastern Suburbs that are very environmentally aware and that can take care of everything you need in one go. Look for places that have their own eco-friendly food suppliers, don’t use plastic, one-time pieces and take care of the waste in a responsible way.
Compose a Registry
Even if you put it in the invitations, you still can’t expect all of your guests to know which products are eco-friendly and responsibly sourced, so it’s a better idea to do the legwork yourself and compile a registry of gifts that are completely ethical and match what you’d like to get. On the other hand, if you really want to make a statement and do good for your wedding, instead of a gift, allow everyone to contribute to a donation to your favorite charity that is working to keep the world safe. Yes, it’s unconventional and you’re not really getting anything for yourself – well, except for a world for your kids to grow up in.
Don’t Invade Nature
You might think that the best way to show how much you love and care about nature and ecology is to host your wedding outdoors surrounded by nature, like in a forest or on a beach. However, going into the wilderness will cause a lot more damage than bring attention. Even if you pick up every little piece after yourselves, for the duration of the wedding, you will be disturbing the wildlife with noise, lights, and your general presence. If you really care about nature and the animals within it, you’ll stay out of their house and perhaps visit them for your honeymoon.
Throwing a conscious, ecological, ethical wedding isn’t a walk in the park, but this is one day that all eyes will be on you and if you care – this is the time to send a message.
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