3 Ways to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Your Wedding

Many couples take care to be environmentally-friendly in their daily lives, but when it comes to planning your wedding, it can be hard to figure out how to scale up your everyday green routine to be practical at a large event. Here are three simple steps to get you started on the road to a more sustainable wedding:

1. REDUCE WASTE

Single-use items such as plates, bottles and balloons contribute tons of trash to landfills each year. From tableware to decor, choose reusable items whenever possible. Even if single-use items are recyclable, the environmental impact of reusable items is still generally lower because of the energy and resources used by the recycling process and the additional resources that are required to create new disposable items.

There are tons of ways to find reusable dishes, glasses, cloth napkins and silverware for your reception. Rental companies can provide consistent, matching items for a refined tablescape, or for a more eclectic look, source your own fun mix of items from thrift stores or by borrowing from friends and family.

A final note on reducing waste: be careful how you DIY. Crafting can create a lot of trash, and by gluing, glittering and spray painting items, you may eliminate the possibility of recycling those items after the wedding. Plan your projects so they can be reused or recycled when you no longer need them.
 

2. DESIGN SMART

Streamline the design of your printed materials such as save-the-dates, invitations and programs with a format that minimizes paper usage. Even better, take advantage of digital forms of communication to reduce the volume of printed materials you need to create.

Your wedding website is the ideal place to accept RSVPs instead of asking for a response by mail, and it's also a great place to share a personal letter or the story of your relationship rather than printing long-form content on your program. Email invitations have also come a long way and can be attractive and appropriate while completely eliminating the paper and postage required by printed invites.

3. LESS IS MORE

Consider the different elements of your wedding with the ultimate goal in mind—at the end of the day, what matters is that you form a new bond with your partner and have a great time! Don't feel pressured to include a lot of extras that carry more stress and expense than they're worth. 

Your love is the focus of the day, not the decorations or programs or favors. Every unnecessary item you eliminate frees up time and energy to focus on the parts of the day you really care about. Plus, you'll eliminate the resources, energy and waste associated with any elements you skip, reducing your wedding's environmental footprint.

Keep these three tips in mind and you'll be well on your way to planning a sustainable wedding.

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Julia Spangler is a sustainable events consultant that works to help organizations, event planners and individuals identify practical ways to reduce the environmental footprint of their events. She helps couples plan green weddings in Indianapolis and central Indiana. www.juliaspangler.com.

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