From having dozens of friends and family fly in from all over the country to purchasing products and items that have to be shipped great distances – weddings can have a pretty significant impact on the environment. Here are a few ways to reduce your impact but still enjoy the wedding of your dreams!
1. Have your invitations and save the date cards printed on recycled paper. Or alternatively, send electronic version of these cards via email.
2. Trim your guest list to reduce the environmental impact of travel. Travel creates the biggest negative environmental impact for weddings, and reducing the number of people attending can erase a big portion of your carbon footprint.
3. To save on local travel you can also have your wedding and reception in the same place. This reduced travel between venues – and will probably save you money as well!
4. Have an afternoon wedding outdoors. You wont have to deal with the impact of heating or cooling massive venue, thus reducing electrical use.
5. Give your guests something recycled or reusable as wedding favors.
6. Use local flowers that are in season. This saves on transportation of flowers from other regions – even other countries.
7. Use potted plants as centerpieces. You can plant these flowers after your wedding, or give them away to your guests.
8. Choose a caterer who uses local ingredients. This saves on food transportation.
9. Hire a photographer who offers digital proofing. Printing hundreds of proofs can have a significant impact on the environment. You could also forgo prints and an album entirely and simply purchase the rights to your digital images.
10. Finally, because its almost impossible to have a totally green wedding, – you can purchase carbon credits to offset your impact. Carbonfund.org has a great impact calculator. Just enter your info, calculate your impact, and purchase enough carbon credits to offset it.
Thanks to Lem Lynch Photography for the images.
Do you have any tips or suggestions to reduce the environmental impact of your wedding? Feel free to leave a comment!