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Three Useful Tips For a Zero Waste Wedding
Wedding planning can be a stressful time, especially in the current circumstances. With climate change, a growing concern for many, eco-conscious couples may be particularly worried about how to minimize the vast environmental impacts that weddings can have. But where to begin?
The prospect of planning a zero-waste wedding can be truly daunting, but the good news is it’s actually more achievable than you might think. Here are three tips that will bring you closer to achieving the sustainable wedding of your dreams.
Food waste
Choosing the food is one of the most important (and exciting) aspects of planning your big day, and rightly so! Copious amounts of mouth-watering dishes are necessary for keeping everyone fueled up and ready for dancing long into the night. But it’s easy to get carried away, and over-catering at weddings is a big problem.
Plan your quantities carefully, and use sustainable caterers wherever possible. To help with this, you can ask your supplier the following questions:
- What is your food waste policy?
- Is your food organic and locally sourced?
- Is any tableware reusable, biodegradable, or recyclable?
It’s hard to predict exactly how much everyone will eat, of course, and you don’t want anyone going hungry. That’s why a food waste policy is so important; as it ensures that any
leftover food isn’t just thrown straight into the bin.
You could also get a little creative with the ways in which you serve the food. For instance, why not consider serving buffet-style cuisine instead of plated meals? This will give guests the opportunity to take only what they want, and it will help to prevent plates from getting wasted. What’s more, it adds a fun and communal element to the formalities of the food-based portion of the day, as tables will be able to mix more freely.
By taking these simple steps, you can help to reduce food waste and make your wedding more sustainable in the process.
Plastic Waste
Plastic waste is an ever-growing problem that pollutes our seas, threatens the environment, and endangers the lives of animals. Unfortunately, weddings are a big offender when it comes to plastic waste. In the UK alone, recent reports show that unrecyclable plastic weighing as much as 47 blue whales were left behind at weddings in a single year. That’s a lot of plastic!
Photo by tanvi sharma on Unsplash.com
So what can you do about it? Plastic waste can creep into many areas of wedding planning; from balloons and decorations to cutlery, cups, and plates. Seeking sustainable alternatives to all of these items will significantly cut down on your plastic waste, and help the planet and its creatures at the same time.
Using more eco-friendly alternatives will also help to make your big day even more personal and meaningful to you, so take the time to research your options to get this aspect just right.
Wedding gifts
Everyone loves receiving wedding gifts, but how many of these items will you actually end up keeping? As thoughtful as they are, one way to reduce waste would be to create a gift registry to ensure that you receive gifts that will actually be useful for you.
Photo by Yomex Owo on Unsplash.com
Or if there’s nothing in particular you need, you could ask your guests to donate to a charity of your choice. Rather than ending up with a pile of unwanted gifts, you can channel all of that wonderful, generous goodwill into other areas instead.
You could take this one step further, and ask for eco-friendly gifts that will continue to do good for the planet long after you’ve tied the knot. There are endless possibilities for eco alternatives to traditional gifts, from bamboo kitchen accessories to plastic-free pamper hampers.
Not only will this ensure you’ll receive things you will actually use, but it’ll also make your guests feel a bigger part of the day, as they too will be contributing to the theme of sustainability.
The prospect of planning a zero-waste wedding can be scary, but hopefully, these tips will show you that it’s not an impossible task. There are many other factors that need to be considered, of course, but these three areas are a great place to start.
