Roses are Red, Valentines are Green…

Looking for inspiration for a green Valentine’s Day?  We have just what the cupid ordered.  Exploring one or more of these sustainable options with your sweetheart not only provides a romantic way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but also gives both of you a great experience to share.

1. Use locally ingredients- Go to local farmers markets and try the 100-mile diet concept. Studies show that most food in America travels more than 1,500 miles from the farm to table.  Eating locally cuts down on petroleum demand, supports our local agriculture economy, and provides consumers with a higher quality product. Plus, you can experiment with foods in season to create exciting new menus. Georgia Organics offers a rich set of resources.
2. Make smart seafood choices - Use the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Guide. Buying the right seafood is a complex web of decisions. The Seafood Watch guide does all the work for the consumer. This pocket-sized guide decodes which seafood are the right choice based on health issues and environmental impacts. Download one from their website or pick one up at the Georgia Aquarium.
3. Reconnect with American heritage - Buy heritage poultry, beef, and pork. Industrial agriculture relies on a small number of breeds of livestock, threatening the nation’s food security.  Heritage livestock promotes genetic diversity and has a unique and special flavor to spice up your next family meal.  Free range and organic meat is also a great alternative.  Whole Foods, Atlanta’s Star Provisions, and farmers markets are great places for these finds. Visit Heritage Foods USA for more information about heritage meats.
4. Piece de resistance- Finish with a rainforest-certified and fair trade chocolate dessert. Rainforest certified and fair trade chocolate is a rich, decadent dark chocolate. It is produced with methods that protect the rainforest and the farmers. K Chocolat in Atlanta’s Inman Park will provide your perfect finishing touch www.kchocolat.com.
5. Spice up your outfit- Buy vintage and environmentally sound clothes and lingerie. Buying vintage is recycling, period. Environmentally-sound clothes and lingerie use recycled fabrics, organic cotton, bamboo, and over-run fabrics.  Atlanta has great vintage stores and a number of boutiques that carry eco-couture, including Evolve Boutique in Emory Village and Eco-Bella in Virginia Highlands. Also check out [online retailers]
6. Uncork your passion- Choose biodynamic or organic wine.  Biodynamic and organic wines are grown and produced without the use of synthetic chemicals and with care and preservation of the surrounding land and watershed.  Looks for these wines at Sherlock’s Wine Merchant, Whole Foods, or your local wine shop. Brands to look out for include Yorkville Cellars, Fetzer’s Bonterra line, Benzinger, Frog’s Leap, Opus One, and Domaine Begude.  For more information about biodynamics check out the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association.
7. Set the mood- Select domestically grown flowers or consider clipping some greenery from right in your back yard.  Magnolia and American holly offer lovely, vibrant color and elegance in the Valentine season. Opt for soy or beeswax candles over the traditional synthetic variety.  Synthetic means petroleum based! 

 

Portions reprinted from previous publication in Atlanta Intown by Polly Sattler and Mandy Schmitt.

Step by Step Guide to Greening a Traditional Registry

 

Looking to give your registry a green hue?  Great decision!  Here are the steps we developed from our experiance greening our registry.

1.       Take stock of what you need. Books like The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day or stores like Williams Sonoma offer a great checklist of a typical registry.  We were able to go through the list and decide what we did and didn’t need.

2.       Evaluate your options.  We are dedicated to not only going for the green option but also to supporting small, local businesses. We investigated our local retail options and online resources.  We included traditional retail outlets in our survey and were pleasantly surprised to find many are now offering green product lines.

3.       Set and order your priorities:  Style, price, durability, usability, level of green, and sourcing were all important to us but we were not aligned on the order of priority.  Mandy set green above all others while Sean brought the more practical issues like durability and usability. For example, Mandy fell in love with a recycled glass artisan dish set for their everyday wear. It didn’t make the registry because it was not microwaveable.  We found another recycled glass set through Vivaterra that was.

4.       Test your products before committing to them:   Many of the green products are only available online.  It was important to us to ensure that the products lived up to their marketing.  For example, we bought samples of several styles of bath towels before committing to one. We wanted to see what held its color and we enjoyed the most. Similarly, we bought a couple samples of our everyday wear to test it out.

5.       Register at multiple places:  We were not able to find a way to aggregate our registry in one place. 

6.       Explain to your guests what you’re doing and why you are doing it:  The registry is a wonderful way for your guests to take part in your adventure.  You can expose them to fun, new resources that they will hopefully use beyond your wedding.  Consider taking time to explain to your guests why you chose the products and retailers. 

7.       Reduce and recycle the packaging material: 

a.       Reduce:  We eliminated wasteful shipping by arranging to have our local retailers hold our gifts so that we could pick up them up at one time. This also allowed us to cut out packaging materials. 

b.      Recycle:  We recycled the cardboard and other paper packing materials with our regular recycling.  We returned the packing peanuts to our local UPS store.

c.       Compost:  Tissue paper and wax coated paper are great additives to your compost pile. 

Sustainable Registry Guide

The registry is a tough yet critical component to greening your wedding. You are voting with your pocketbook and asking your guests to do the same.  By giving your guests green registry options you are involving them in your adventure.  Additionally, you and your guests will be exposed to fun, new resources that hopefully will be used beyond your wedding.  

Reminder to the bride:  People will always give you a gift even if you go the charity route or ask for no gifts. By creating a green registry you are empowering your gifts to fulfill your wishes.

Suggestion to the guest:  Stick to the registry. Chances are that the couple has gone to great lengths to put together their registry.  If you find something green not on the list or from one of their preferred retailers, reach out to the couple before you make the purchase. There’s nothing worse than a green gift that is not used!

Green Product Features to Consider

Not sure what to look for in green products?  Afraid you’ll fall victim to green washing?  Here are a few key product aspects to look out for.

•          Bamboo:  Bamboo is alternative to cotton because it fast growing plant that does not require intense amounts of water and chemicals like cotton.  It has come under criticism because increase bamboo demand is causing increased deforestation in parts of the world like China.  For more information about bamboo, click here.
•          Carbon Neutral:   Scientists believe that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic sources are the culprits behind global warming (aka climate change).  Individuals, businesses, and governments are taking action to reducing their greenhouse emissions and becoming “carbon neutral”.  Carbon neutral means that a business or individual has taken action to not emit additional greenhouse gases in their operation.  Neutrality is achieved through a variety of steps including reducing electricity use, sourcing locally, and purchasing carbon offsets.  For more about climate change or reducing greenhouse gas emissions, visit Conservation International.
•          End Run or Scrap Material:  Sometimes factories will have scrap material after production. (Think left over scraps of dough when cutting out cookies.) Like reclaimed material, artists will use the scraps to create a new product.  A fun example is Vivaterra’s Flip Flop Door Mat.
•          Fair Trade:  According to the International Fair Trade Association, “fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South.” Click here to learn more about fair trade.
•          Green Business:  Business like Eco Bella and Viva Terra are green through the product lines they offer and the way in which they operate their business. For instance, Eco Bella’s owners carefully research all vendors and products to ensure they are green before carrying them. They also live by example. Not only was the store a green renovation but the store has also been certified to be Carbon Neutral.
•          Local Business:  Small businesses are the backbone of a strong local economy. Collectively, they employ the largest number of people in our country. More importantly, local businesses keep the wealth in your community. For more about the value of supporting local economies, visit the EF Schumacher Society.
•          Low VOC or No VOC: VOC stand for Volatile Organic Compounds. VOC’s are the beloved new car scent and the annoying smell of wet paint.  Have you ever gotten a headache from a room that’s recently been painted?  It’s because VOC’s are not good for us (i.e. they are toxic). A growing number of people are developing an acute sensitivity to VOC’s due to repeat exposure.  This is known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.  People with this disorder suffer from symptoms including headaches, skin irritation, and muscle pain.  Green product lines are emerging to offer low or no VOC products.  They are quickly becoming the standard because they offer the same quality at the same cost without the harmful side effects.  For more information, click here.
•          Organic Cotton:  Eco Bella explains it best:
  • Certified organic cotton is free from toxic pesticides and insecticides or other toxic chemicals.
  • Certified organic cotton production is highly regulated and sweat-shop and child-labor free.
  • Certified organic cotton is free from formaldehyde, toxic dyes and silicone which harm the earth, its soil, and its water supply.

•          Reclaimed or Discarded Material: Similar to recycled materials, many artists bring a second life to items that they find and repurpose. Great examples are Vivaterra’s Vintage Ruler Chair made from old yard stick rulers or the Root of the Earth Bowl from discarded tree roots.
•          Recycled Materials: 
  • Metal: Aluminum and steel are durable and sustainable metals if we reuse and recycle them optimally. According to Earth911, “making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less energy and 20 recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to produce one can using virgin ore.” (Source)
  • Glass: Unlike plastic, glass never wears out.  A ton of recycled glass saves 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar. (Source)