Tuesday, October 21, 2008

On Green Weddings

Recently somebody in my life berated me on not having a green wedding. Some points of criticism were:
  • My caterer more than likely doesn't use organic produce
  • I didn't use recycled paper in my save the dates
  • I'm not using recycled paper in my invitations or programs
  • I don't know if my dress is made from organic materials (it probably isn't)
  • I don't really remember anything else because this is all a bunch of hot air to me
Now, don't get me wrong, I think that trying to be green is a very worthy and noble thing to aspire to. I don't do anything actively green in my life, but I do know that my way of living is the best I could make it for the environment, considering Dude and I live in a small apartment (doesn't take much to heat or cool or light), we take public transportation every day (don't own a car), recycle when possible, and buy from local vendors.

You know what makes our wedding green? The fact that 80% of our guest list don't have to fly and are taking public transportation to get there. That the hotel, chapel, and reception venue are all within walking distance of each other and we are planning to walk everywhere. That we're not doing much for decoration other than a bunch of candles on the tables (less shit to throw out).

But what really bugs me, is that this person doesn't even live a green lifestyle. It's all great and good to try to be green at your wedding, every little bit helps, but when you commute to work with two SUVs and own a huge house that needs a lot of energy to heat, your carbon footprint far exceeds mine, even if I don't use the stupid recycled paper. Also because everyone at her wedding had to fly to get there. Real green, sister.

6 comments:

Words and Steel said...

don't get me started on the eco-wedding trend. at the end of the day, it's about buying more shit that's "green"... um, if I wasn't going to buy that thing in the first place wouldn't be even more eco-friendly to not buy than purchasing something useless that is?!

StampinRachel said...

Don't forget about your dress too! I feel like that's a big one! (Also, you bought it locally and transported it yourself!) I'm all about the reduce-reuse-recycle, not the buy more just because its green!

invisiblyrose said...

@sweet t - exactly, not buying something i don't need or want is far more green than buying shit just because it's green!

@stampinrachel - good point! i forgot about that. my dress was a donated sample and i took it home in a cab!

Jessica McLeod said...

Man, that kind of crap is just another form of conspicuous consumption.

invisiblyrose said...

@jessica - exactly! hidden behind (often but not always) misguided intentions!

citizen sunshine said...

Quite frankly, green isn't about token gestures; it's about lifestyle. And I daresay your average (and thus carless and walk-to-shop) Manhattanite is about the greenest human being in this whole great nation of ours.

If your snarky friend is a fellow New Yorker, then she should encourage more people to move here. If she lives elsewhere, *especially* in Cali where even do-gooders in San Fran tend to have a car "for the weekends" or some such tripe, then tell her people who live in glass houses...

So sick of ecoier-than-thou.