J and I went to a eco-friendly wedding workshop last weekend at our venue. I did laugh at the flower lady who continued to say, “echo-friendly” the entire time. Props to the educational center for helping to educate their brides and grooms about how they can lessen their carbon footprint and still have a nice wedding.
Now, I think on the whole that I’m pretty eco-friendly. I take public transportation. We recycle (although there maybe some plastic cups that, after a party, just get thrown away) We donate and shop at Goodwill. Maybe not everything we own is made from recycled resources or local, but we try!
So, I was excited to learn more about how we could make our special day better for the environment. Here are some thing we learned.
- On average, a single wedding can generate 400-650 lbs of trash.
What’s thrown away?
- Paper: placecards, programs
- Decorations: Candles, flower arrangements, streamers, balloons
- Food: leftover dinner, cake
- Tableware: plates, cups, forks, tableware
- Flowers from weddings can come as far as Europe and South America, the two largest producers of flowers.
So, with so much that’s thrown away, it was neat to hear some of the things that many locations will help you do!
- Find local food pantries (some are 24 hours) and arrange for your caterer or someone to drop off your extra food
- Find local trade schools or hospice houses to donate your flowers to. They will rearrange the blooms (some florists need it for class) and will then donate them to good causes.
- Make favors that are edible or that will be used by your guests (no tacky plastic trinkets).
- Try to go local or recycle whenever you can!
It was helpful to hear these things and tips. And, like I said, I don’t think we can totally be the most eco-friendly ever, I think we came away a little more conscientious about the impact our wedding will have.
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