How to be an Eco Friendly Wedding Guest
Going green during wedding season.
Weddings are a blast–filled with dancing, great food, close friends, and unfortunately, lots and lots of waste. Accommodating so many people on a budget usually equals single-use everything, food waste, plastic drink cups, and decoration garbage. If you’re attending a wedding, but want to be friendlier to the planet, here are our tips to get you started:
Your Outfit: The fashion industry is one of the largest producers of waste. Not only is the production of new clothing wasteful, but our consumption–we buy and toss clothing without batting an eyelash. “One Truckload of Clothing Is Wasted Per Second”
When picking out your next dancing outfit and shoes,
rewear something you already have,
purchase from a thrift store,
borrow from a friend,
buy from Poshmark,
or rent from Rent the Runway.
Drinks: If you’re lucky, your next wedding will use glass or reusable cups for water and alcohol, but many set out waterbottles and single-use plastic cups. To combat the throw-away drinkware, bring your own travel mug (Coffee travel mugs work great! Having a lid means you don’t have to worry about spilling on the dance floor.)
If you forget your own, use the same cup all night instead of going back for a new one each time.
Food: There’s typically lots of waste around food at an event. Unless you’re attending a formal dinner, single-use plates, silverware, napkins, and food are tossed into the garbage. To lessen your waste, bring your silverware set and only take what you can eat. We get it though–you’ve attended a long wedding ceremony and your eyes may be bigger than your stomach. Do the best you can :)
Gifts: Waste with gift giving = cards, wrapping paper, tissue paper, and bows. To make gift giving a little greener, give money towards a honeymoon/experience or skip the wrapping of your gift that will likely get thrown away within minutes of opening anyways.
Have any other tips and tricks? We’d love to hear them!
