A new way to celebrate : eco-friendly weddings

By Miriam Rabkin
Contributor to Tolerance.ca®

I’ve gone to many weddings in my life. I guess it’s normal – you reach a certain age and it becomes part of your life. A few times a year, you get dressed nicely, you try to look your best and you go into what promises to be a night of food, drink and merriment. Weddings have strong symbolic significance for many and are often rife with tradition – which is why, when I found out about eco-friendly weddings, I knew I had to investigate further. It turns out, as concern for the environment has become more prevalent, so too, have eco-friendly weddings become an option for couples worldwide. I realized that there are people out there for whom it is important to celebrate their union in the most socially and environmentally conscious manner possible. I soon discovered that there exists a whole slew of ways in which to make your wedding more environmentally friendly, such as sending email invitations in lieu of the classical paper ones in order to save paper. I found out about an attempt in Nanjing, China, to have as many eco-friendly weddings as possible by the end of 2008 so as to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

Marisa and Russ are just such a couple. Currently residing in New York, this couple has indeed decided to create a ceremony that would be sensitive to everything that they believe in -- music, poetry, laughter, love, and also justice, fairness, equality, and being conscious of what they do. The reason they opted for an eco-friendly wedding? “We just thought about all the consumption that goes into a wedding. We knew that as a day that was supposed to mark the start of the rest of our lives, we wanted to make sure it was reflective of the principles, ideas, and values of our relationship. So we chose to do a wedding that tries to be eco-friendly, as well as conscious of labour issues, which are also really important to us.” One example that brings together all these elements is to buy all printed materials where paper is made entirely from tree-free or recycled materials and where all the workers are unionized. Another example is to have organic and locally grown food at the wedding, as well as organic and pesticide-free flowers. Wedding dresses can be made from materials that haven’t been treated by chemicals, such as hemp, silk or unbleached cotton.

Marisa is 28 years old and Russ is 29. Both are graduate students. Their interest in the environment is not new. Russ explains that he became sensitized to the issue in college, when he started getting involved in progressive work. “Labour and social issues were a higher priority for me however. It was the common factor of oil to 9/11, Iraq, and Katrina's devastation that made me think about how oil affects us.” It did not take long for him to connect this to the climate crisis, which, he feels, has already started to affect the world.

Though his feelings are obviously strong about the environment, I ask how his parents and friends reacted to the concept of an eco-friendly wedding. It is more difficult to organize, can cost more, and is certainly far from the norm. Russ replies that both sets of parents knew this was coming. “They know we have pretty strong values around justice and being, as Marisa puts it, good, responsible citizens. But both sets of parents have been really supportive.” Friends however, reacted differently: while some were encouraging, others felt that the couple was being a little preachy.

The biggest challenge in hosting an eco-friendly wedding however, was not so much convincing parents or friends, but just finding the materials with which to make the wedding. The couple explains that there is, as of yet, still no centralized place for these kinds of resources. They had to search for hours before they could find what they needed. It was in response to this that the couple created a resource page on their web site: www.marisaandruss.com Listed there, among others, are where to buy wedding bands from recycled gold, tree-free cards, organic chicken and beef, fair-trade goods, even dishes – Corelle dishes which, according to the couple, remains one of the few companies in the U.S. to still have unionized workers. Though this list is not long or exhaustive, it is a beginning. For Marisa and Russ, it is not enough for a product to be organic – they look to see the entire package – how and by who it was made and under what conditions. Marisa explains: “I don't see myself as an environmentalist per se. I try to be a good citizen and to have a positive impact on my community. These days, that means paying attention to environmental impact, but the environment should be important to everyone, not just ‘environmentalists.’”

I have to admit that I am impressed by this couple and by their commitment to live by what they believe in. I often think that it would be good if I were more aware of where the products I buy come from and how they are made, but often convenience and preference for certain products are more likely to sway my decision. Marisa and Russ’s life together is just the opportunity to create the lifestyle that they want to have. “I am excited to build a new home in which we set up an environmentally sustainable lifestyle for every day. I want to use less packaging and fewer disposables, use efficient light bulbs and other appliances, maybe compost. I also want to use mostly public transportation.”

It is fortunate that more and more couples are following similar paths. Guidelines for eco-friendly weddings are starting to appear, though they are still few in number. Organic food is expensive and searching for environmentally and socially conscious options can be quite taxing. In Canada, the concept has yet to take off as it has in the United States, though the trend will no doubt become more common here as well. It is only a matter of time. In the meanwhile, I am glad that there are couples like Russ and Marisa who are willing to take the leap. And it is all the more heartening that they are doing this together and encouraging each other every step of the way. Marisa concludes: “I am so happy to be marrying someone who will agree with all these values and who will help implement them in everyday life. It’s really not just about the wedding.”

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