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What is a "Green Wedding"?
A "Green Wedding" is when a couple decides to decrease the environmental impact of their event by working with eco-friendly certified green wedding providers - or by helping non-green providers make greener choices.
Green Weddings may also be referred to as "Sustainable Weddings", or "Organic Weddings".
Green Wedding Providers SM is here to help you learn how to "green" your special event.
We provide you with information, tips and alternatives you can use to reduce waste, lower the environmental impact, and green your wedding.
One way to make things easier is to hire wedding providers that are already certified as being "green".
These are businesses that have proven that they already reduce waste, recycle, compost, reduce their carbon footprint, and offer eco-friendly alternatives.
We realize it's easier to be green in some parts of country than others because there are different laws governing recycling, waste management and frankly, in attitude.
But when you start to talk to wedding providers and even guests about what you want to accomplish, they start to think differently about being green.
By expressing yourself, you make eco-friendly choices seem possible and help get the word out about sustainable alternatives.
Whenever possible, try to use local resources for your wedding. When you choose nearby providers you will save on transportation costs and also help support your local economy.
Below are some of the common myths that surround holding a “green” ceremony and reception:
MYTH 1: Green weddings are more expensive
Buying locally grown food and flowers, using recycled and reusable materials, and incorporating things you and your friends already own into your wedding can actually save you money.
MYTH 2: Every aspect of our wedding has to be green
Every green choice you make, makes a difference to the environment - no matter how small the change is.
If you can't find a green alternative for an aspect of your wedding, it's not the end of the world.
"Going green" does not mean you have to sacrifice your ideal wedding day.
It means you've made the decision to look into better more eco-friendly options.
Make as many eco-friendly choices as you can, but don't beat yourself up over your final choices.
You need to enjoy your wedding.
If you have your heart set on a certain dress, a certain type of food, or even flowers grown in another climate, don't feel bad about it.
If you make at least one green choice, the environment is healthier for it than if you didn't make that choice.
Do whatever you can knowing that each choice makes a difference.
MYTH 3: If a business calls itself "green" or eco-friendly, it must be so
It is called "Greenwashing" when a business tries to make you think it is greener than it really is.
Just because you see "eco-friendly" or "green" in an advertisement, doesn't make them a better choice.
Read carefully and think of the whole environmental system before choosing.
Here is one example of "Greenwashing":
Want to save water and still have the perfect lawn?
There is a connercial on TV that advertises that their plastic artifical grass is "green" and helpful to the environment by reducing the amount of water consumed.
They use green lettering, the term "eco-friendly" and other subtle things in the advertisement to make you think they are a green choice.
They are really not green at all! Their plastic grass not only takes a lot of oil and energy to produce, but is wasteful to dispose of.
It increases the build up of carbon dioxide in the environment.
Real plants convert carbon dioxide to oxygen and reduce the build up of carbon.
We need that to live.
Remember, the terms "eco-friendly" and "green" are not regulated.
Businesses can use them freely without making any changes to their business practices.
Here at Green Wedding Providers, we screen all companies in our directory to help you find the most reliable green providers out there.
(You can read more about our certification criteria in other sections of our site.)
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