Tips for planning a green wedding
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Tabitha Richert
If Earth Day and St. Patrick's Day are the only green events in the year, we're missing the point of caring for the earth. A green wedding can show your deep commitment to your lifelong love as well as a commitment to a lifelong care for the environment. Here are four event planning tips geared especially toward green weddings.
1. Flowers
Hothouse flowers embody the use of chemicals: chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and others. Try making origami or paper flowers (bonus, because you can re-use them later) or grow your own live flowers. Paperwhite Narcissus are lovely white flowers that can grow indoors even in the winter by a process called "forcing." After the wedding, recycle by planting the bulbs in your garden. They won't bloom the next year if they've been forced, but they will the year after and for many years to come.
2. Party dishes
The sheer volume of trash a wedding can generate is disheartening. If you don't want to wash all the disposable dishes after the wedding so you can recycle them, try using biodegradable dishes and send them off for composting later. Or if you're having a very small wedding, use normal, re-usable dishes.
3. Jewelry
Conflict free diamonds, new jewelry made of recycled materials, and vintage pieces are all eco-friendly wedding ring (and engagement ring) options. Know your own style sense when considering these choices; each one makes a very different fashion statement.
4. Invitations
Some sources encourage reducing paper waste by sending out one-page invitations, but you can go several steps further if you use recycled, biodegradable paper. To encourage people to actually plant their invitations, choose the kind that has seeds embedded in it.
Using these four suggestions for a green wedding, you can reduce your environmental impact but also make a big impact on your guests' minds about how important it is to go green!
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