How to REDUCE Your wedding's carbon footprint
Firstly, by means of introduction, it is not the intention of this site to make you, the special couple, feel guilty in anyway about how you choose to celebrate your special day. Instead, we hope that it provides some constructive ideas around how to make your day a little more sustainable. Even adopting just a few can make a real difference and who knows, you might just inspire a few others around you.
WEDDING INVITES
Save on paper, ink and postage by going virtual. Create a professional looking wedding invite website which you can customise with photos, anecdotes about how you first met and how you got engaged along with details about the day.
A fantastic free website to do this is www.gettingmarried.co.uk If this isn't for you, instead you could use stationary paper which is made from recycled content and can also be recycled. Also consider UV, soy, or eco-solvent ink.
Hire wedding decor
The ugly truth behind weddings is that they're very wasteful. Sky Ocean Rescue estimate that on average 20kg of single use plastic is consumed at every wedding ceremony. The culprits being plastic cups, disposable decorations, gift bags, non-biodegradable confetti, water bottles, packaging from favours. Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup reports that across a 5 year period almost 300,000 balloons were found along U.S. beaches.
Marine conservationists and biologists in the UK have called for balloon bans because once they make their way into the water, they can resemble sea life consumed by marine animals such as sea turtles, fish and sea birds. Even balloons that are marketed as being 'degradable' take a long time to break down. So, a no to balloons and to a similar effect, a no to sky lanterns. Cut back on your waste by hiring reusable wedding decor - I know just the site that could help you with that...
wedding venues
Some venues will have certain practices embedded into their business model such as waste recycling, renewable energy providers, eco-friendly cleaning products, policies on single use plastics, work with local suppliers and may even offset their emissions. Do have these conversations with the venue, if they haven't considered these principals then you as the client can influence how they do business going forward. Unleash that inner Bridezilla when it comes to making demands that have a positive impact on the environment.
TRAVEL
One of the most significant environmental impacts associated with a wedding will often be the travel to and from the location. The more local the venue is to your friends and family, the better. However should you choose to go further afield, then look at public transport options for your guests as well as car pooling options. Try to have your ceremony and reception in the same place to help reduce transport. Lastly you could choose to offset your travel emissions.
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If you're going with fresh flowers - go seasonal and local! Here's some of the season flowers on offer throughout the year:
Spring: Snow drop, bluebells, ranunculus, guelder roses, tulips, white daffodils, lilac (syringa flower).
Summer: Peonies, roses, agapanthus, larkspur, stocks, nigella, sweet peas, and sunflowers.
Autumn: Alstromeria, hydrangeas, dahlias, delphiniums, calla lilies, and snapdragons.
Winter: Heather, jasmine, pussy willow, hellebores, berried ivy, narcissus, poinsettia and anenomes.
FLOWERS
It's painful to think of the amount of fresh flowers (often a significant chunk of the wedding budget) that are either left at the venue, often ending up in the bin the following day . An alternative is to consider re-useable artificial flowers arrangements. Or a combination of both fresh and artificial. If you'd like to cover your whole venue in flowers, it is usually hugely costly to do so. Hiring artificial arrangements is a much more affordable way to do this and the benefit of this is you can often play around with the design, you can get any flower at any season and know exactly what you're going to get on the day.
wedding favours
All too often we see single use wedding favours wrapped up in pretty packaging only to be left discarded on the table and swept up with the waste at the end of the evening. Of course, the most eco-friendly wedding favour would be the no-wedding favour option. Heck, less waste and less dollar. However if you wanted to go for something that's kinder to the planet, why not make your own jam / honey? You could even package them up in re-used glass jars. All natural favours like wildflower seeds, mini plants such as cacti, succulents, and handmade organic soap are also great. Charity donations are also becoming a popular choice, you could make a display for the table which informs the guest that a charitable donation has been made on their behalf.
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BIODEGRADABLE CONFETTI
Provide for or remind guests to bring biodegradable confetti. Many venues have already banned non-biodegradable which can tend to linger and can end up in water ways. Avoid paper confetti, glitter and silk rose petals.
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Wedding dress
One way to support environmentally ethical bridal wear is to buy a vintage or pre-loved dress.
https://www.sellmywedding.co.uk/, https://www.preloved.co.uk, https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/bridal/wedding-dresses, https://www.stillwhite.com/
If you're buying a new dress, support a designer who ensures it's supply chain is ethical, no child or forced labour, fair working conditions, ethically sourced materials.
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Ethical stone wedding ring
For those who want their rings to have socially responsible origins, and to have made a positive difference to the livelihoods, working conditions and the communities of the miners, choose conflict free precious stones and Fairtrade mined metals. Being able to trace jewellery back to its source is important, so find out whether the materials used in the manufacture can be traced back to source to ensure that they have come from certified sources. Also ensure that no human rights have been violated in the production of jewellery such as child or forced labour in mines and instead have fair working conditions and wages. A great UK based company that specialises in ethical wedding rings:
https://www.ethica.diamonds/wedding-rings/
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Some jewellers offer ‘make your own wedding rings’ workshops where you can choose your design, materials and any additional personalisation. Also consider recycled metals, pre-loved or vintage.
menu
Whether you are getting a catering company in or if it's through your venue you can make it more sustainable by using local produce, fair trade and organic. This will reduce emissions associated with travel and will support local farmers. If you can't go meat free then go with less meat. The proteins beef, lamb and pork have the highest carbon footprint so avoid these if you'd like to lower your menu's emissions .You can also source local and organic wine. Supermarkets like Aldi now do some great organic white wines and prosecco. Cut costs as well as food waste and emissions by swerving the dessert and serving out your wedding cake instead.
Gift List
Offer up a wedding list to a higher purpose other than the continuing accumulation of consumer goods. You could put together an eco inspired guest list with items like organic cotton bedsheets, house plants, reclaimed furniture, bamboo tableware, carbon free BBQs, charity gifts. Ask guests to wrap gifts in recyclable wrapping paper.