How To: Go Green At Your Wedding

These days everyone is all about going green. From your new hybrid car to your compost in the backyard, finding ways to be environmentally conscious in everyday life seems to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. The hospitality industry, too, is on the “go green” bandwagon, constantly searching for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of numerous parties, events and weddings that take place annually. An article featured on thegreenbrideguide.com reads that among the 2.5 million weddings that will occur this year in the United States, 62 tons of Carbon Dioxide and about 400-600 pounds of waste will be generated. To put that into perspective, consider the average American family who generates 100 pounds of trash per week. This means that at minimum, a wedding produces a month’s worth of trash from a single American family in just one day! Fortunately, there are many choices you can make when planning your wedding that will help you to reduce the amount of waste that your wedding produces.

• One of the simplest ways to do this is in the creation of your wedding menu. Hint: you do not need to hire a 100% organic caterer in order to make this dream a reality. Start by requesting that your menu be designed using local, seasonal ingredients. By choosing local, in-season ingredients, you’re already reducing your carbon foot print as well as supporting the local economy. Wherever you can, ask that organic ingredients be used. These simple steps will all be influential in creating  a more ecologically friendly wedding day.

• Wedding leftovers contribute in a massive way to the waste generated by weddings. While your leftovers will be likely thrown away, request that they be composted instead in an effort to eliminate trash.

• Speaking of trash…RECYCLE! This is perhaps the single easiest thing you can do to go green at your wedding. If you have any plastic cups, plates or silverware- even glass bottles from the bar, beer cans or plastic juice bottles, set up different recycling bins beside trash cans and label them accordingly. Recycling takes almost no extra effort but is extremely successful in reducing waste.

• Finally, consider your glassware, flatware and utensils. If you can, avoid all plastic, cardboard and styrofoam. Instead, try and rent these items to avoid waste. Added benefits to rentals include making your wedding look slightly more formal without breaking your budget.