Monday, March 24, 2008

Your wedding has big feet

-Set up invitation Web site? check.
-Limit the number of guests flying or driving into town? check.
-Make sure your wedding favors weren’t made with child slavery? check.
-Truck in special organic champagne? Let’s think about that one.

Even though organic champagne and sparkling wine is made without synthetic fungicides, herbicides or fertilizers, locally purchasing the bubbly stuff might actually be better for the environment. That’s because buying locally means you’re not trucking or flying in a product from who-knows-where. One of your main goals in planning a green wedding should be to keep the event's carbon footprint low, and reducing the number of miles travelled is a great way to do so.

But, if you’re near a good organic vineyard, you should definitely serve organic wine and/or sparkling wine at your reception. Diamond Organics is located in Moss Landing, Calif., about 100 miles south of San Francisco, so if you’re nearby, you could consider purchasing from them. My research has revealed that these organic items aren’t actually much more expensive than non-organic. Treehugger.com road-tested several different champagnes and sparkling wines.

The same deal goes for food. Many cities have wide selections of organic foods and you can just ask your caterer to use organic products or use an organic caterer. But, if you live in a small city, don’t truck in organic food just because it’s organic without comparing the environmental impacts of miles travelled vs. using inorganic food.

Wedding planner Candace Flores pointed out to me that having a green wedding is about trade-offs. You can spend less on organic food (and use regular inorganic products) if it means you’ll be able to rent out a venue that recycles. Think about the amount of cardboard, aluminum and glass that your wedding will produce and if it’s a lot, choose the recycling venue. But, if you’re doing a lot to minimize waste and having a smaller event, go with the organic food.

Of course, there are other ways to minimize your wedding’s carbon footprint besides serving organic food and recycling, like having a smaller wedding or using recycled paper. Some brides are buying carbon offsets from sites like Terrapass.org and Atmosfair to have a big wedding but still contribute to the environment. Before buying these offsets, which work by helping stop companies from polluting, check out this article by the New York Times about what you should know before buying.

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