Eco Invitation Primer

As I begin to write my guest post, let me thank Mandy from GoGreenInStyle.com! This site is amazing and I’m so glad to have found another Atlanta-based eco-blogger. To introduce myself, my name is Jennifer Stambolsky and I own and operate the eco-friendly invitation boutique, EarthlyAffair.com. Our job is to create wedding invitations in the most earth friendly way possible.

Choosing eco-friendly wedding stationary doesn’t have to be a daunting task. In fact, when armed with the right information, it’s actually quite simple. Just keep these four “P’s” in mind: Paper, Printing, Place, and Practices. 

We’ll start with the first “P”: Paper: As opposed to just “100% recycled,” seek out invitations printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper. This paper is created from consumer products, usually retrieved from curbside recycling, and ensures there are no new trees used in making the paper. There are also other eco-friendly options, such as FSC certified paper, which guarantees the fibers in the paper come from responsibly maintained forests, and tree free papers, such as bamboo and hemp. 

Printing: There are four common types of printing for wedding invitations: offset printing, letterpress printing, thermography (raised printing), and digital and inkjet printing. Without getting into a long diatribe about each, each one has their pros and cons. Talk to your invitation provider or browse through their website about what environmentally friendly methods they implement first. You may have a local print shop who offers to print your invites for a great price, but perhaps they don’t recycle scraps (you’d be surprised how many don’t). While Crane & Co. uses offset and thermographic printing, but they work hard to minimize their carbon footprint by investing in pollution prevention strategies and tree free paper.

Place: This refers to the location of your invitation provider. The less traveling you have to do, the better. And the less traveling your invitations have to do to get to you, the better. This minimizes pollution resulting from transportation. Seek out online invitation providers that purchase carbon offsets for shipping or explore local invitation artists or designers. This is something we at EarthlyAffair.com do for every single shipment. 

Practice: Last, but not least, this “P” refers to practices. What eco-friendly business practices, if any, has your invitation provider implemented? Most online providers will put something on their website, but for others you might have to do a little more digging. Some of the things you might look for are in-office recycling, keeping documents in electronic format to save paper, and installing energy efficient equipment and light bulbs.

 

 

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Thanks, Jennifer!  For the marketing minded people out there you now have a new list of the four P’s.  Let us know what you’ve encountered with your green printing projects.  And don’t miss Jennifer’s Blog over at EarthlyAffair.com.

Green Wedding Shower Check List

A green wedding can be much more than simply the ceremony and reception.  As we’ve worked through our planning our family and friends have been eager to try their hand at infusing sustainability into showers and parties.  (The Matron-of-honor shared her expereince last month here on Go Green In Style.)

We’ve captured our checklist here to help you as you organize your thinking.  Let us know what other questions or suggestions you have!

 

Category	Checklist	Resources
Invitations	•Paperless  invitations- online invitation    •If paper, recycled content paper and soy ink   •Non-traditional: Seed paper, handmade, hemp	•Evite.com or Pingg.com    •Greenprinter.com   •Botanicalpaperworks.com
Food	•Green menu- Some or all of the menu is composed of local, organic, in season ingredients    •Choose a caterer who specializes in sustainable catering   •Minimize meat and dairy	•WorldCommunityCookbook.org    •GA Options: GeorgiaOrganics.org
Beverages	•Non-alcoholic:  organic teas, soft drinks •Wine: Choose organic, biodynamic, or local wine  •Beer: Choose organic or local beer   •Liquor: Several organic vodkas are on the market	•Choice Teas, Knudsen    •Bonterra, Frey   •Wolavers, Stone Mill   •360 Vodka, Square One
Supplies	•Eliminate paper and plastic products. Use china, silverware, linens    •If using disposables, go for compostable products	•Worldcentric.com
Themes	•Organic cooking demonstration    •Botanical garden  or museum	•GA: Cooks Warehouse
Décor	•Flowers: Choose in season and domestically grown, consider plants or flowers that can be planted    •Minimize decorations that will be disposed	•Waldenour.com
Favors	•Avoid excess packaging and highly packaged goods    •Carbon offsets or donations to the brides favorite charity	•Terrapass.com
Location	•Choose a restaurant has gone green- sustainable menu, green building, and other green practices    •Choose a museum or historic venue   •Locate near alternative transit options	•GA Options: GeorgiaOrganics.org
Travel	•Encourage guests to carpool    •Offer guests to option to buy carbon offsets	•Evite offers option to list    •Terrapass.com
Waste disposal	•Recycle    •Compost food and paper waste	•Earth911.com    •Composting101.com