One of the biggest resource wasters associated with a wedding are the invitations, save-the-date and RSVP cards. You can avoid this by purchasing invitations and cards that are made from recycled paper. Look for items that can be printed using soy based ink. Alternatively, if you don’t have your heart set on paper invitations or wedding announcements you can send them out digitally.
Flowers may be a staple at most couples’ weddings, but this can become wasteful when the flowers are simply thrown away at the end of the day. If you use flowers in your centerpieces you can offer to let a few of your guests take home the flowers from the table. As far as the baskets of flowers that make up your wedding day décor, it can be a nice gesture, and an environmentally friendly one, to donate those wedding flowers to a hospital or nursing home once your wedding is over. For your own bouquet you can have the flowers preserved and keep them as a cherished memento.
Feeding everyone is a huge part of any wedding, but there is often food leftover. Sending your guests home with the leftovers can be a great way to send them a little extra thank you and will avoid food being thrown away. If you prefer, give the leftover food to a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
To combine your wedding cake and your guest favors without having any waste, consider using a tower of decorated cupcakes in place of the traditional wedding cake. Not only does this save you money on favors, a tower of cupcakes will likely cost much less than a wedding cake would. Ask the bakery you order from if your cupcakes will arrive in boxes made from recycled cardboard. If you have your heart set on a wedding cake, you can still make it eco-friendly by requesting that the cake topper be edible flowers made from sugar or fruit.
Guest favors don’t have to be wasteful and they don’t have to be wedding cupcakes if that is not something that interests you. Other eco-friendly ideas for your guest favors include candied apples, homemade treats or even your own signature soda.
Confetti is a very popular item found at most weddings, but if it’s made from plastic or foil it can be terrible for the environment. Instead, choose alternatives to confetti that are safe for the environment like birdseed or rice to have all the benefits of confetti without any of the factors that can harm Mother Earth.
To leave your wedding in style, without harming the earth, you can have your guests’ toss 100% biodegradable fake snow. It looks like real snow but will immediately dissolve the first time it rains after your wedding day. Biodegradable rice is also an item commonly tossed at eco-friendly weddings. Birdseed also works well because your guests will have fun sending you off and when everyone is gone, the birds will swoop down and have a feast.
With the rising cost of most items associated with the typical wedding, more couples are choosing eco-friendly alternatives.
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