A SUSTAINABILE WEDDING = CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION

Your wedding will create waste, even if you opt to elope in the mountains. By taking actions toward preserving the environment and creating a healthy and safe economy, your event can be less harmful to our Earth. Here are three ways your wedding will impact climate change.

Waste

Think about:

• Floral. Can you do with less or with-out, opt for local, avoid floral foam?

• Food. What happens when guests are not members of the clean plate club?

• Paper. Printed items before the wedding (save the dates and invites), during the wedding (programs, signage, escort/place cards…) and after (thank you cards and your wedding prints). Check out: Paper Culture

• Garbage, recycling and compost - how do your venue, catering and bartending companies sort it out?

• Unwanted gifts + wrapping paper. Could you go minimalist in your registry?

READ: How We’re Planning a (Nearly) Zero-Waste Wedding from Unsustainable Magazine.

Animal agriculture

Think about:

• Greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods.

• Animal agriculture accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation sector. That’s all cars and flights combined.

• The animal agriculture sector is the largest source of methane emissions in the United States. Pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane is 25 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.

WATCH: Eating Our Way to Extinction narrated by Kate Winslet

READ: Why is animal agriculture bad for the environment? from SURGE

TRAVEL + Energy Usage

Think about:

• Where can you get married that will be easily accessible for your guests?

• Who has to travel to get to your wedding and how can you decrease the amount of solo travelers?

• When are you getting married and how might that impact the electricity used to keep guests comfortable, or does your venue utilize solar power?

• Why can’t you make choices that are pretty, make you happy and are sustainable?

LEARN ABOUT: Tourism’s carbon footprint

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: Amy’s Cupcake Shoppe, PAIKKA, Jessica Knighton Photography, Luum Collective, Chowgirls Catering, J. Olson Photography

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