The candlelit ceremony is one of the most beautiful, romantic wedding scenes I can imagine. Are candles eco-friendly? That depends on these three things:

1. Materials used to make the candles. Use beeswax or soy candles, not paraffin candles. Paraffin candles are oil-based; beeswax and soy candles (and candles made from other natural oils) are made from renewable sources.
2. Transportation of the candles from the factory. Choose locally-made candles and avoid the carbon impact from transporting the candles across the country or from overseas.
3. Reusing old candles. Ask for old candles from churches. Some churches use new candles for every service, and end up with lots of candles that get thrown out. These candles can have many hours left in them, and reusing them keeps them out of the landfills.

It’s hard to beat the candlelit ceremony for sheer romantic impact, and you can minimize the environmental impact by following the three tips above.

Check out:  “Green wax” from The New Scientist

Finding and explaining green or eco-friendly papers can get confusing. Is recycled paper really the stuff you put in your blue box (no)? What are alternative fibers? Here is a quick overview of environmentally-friendly paper.

Recycled Paper

Most paper has recycled content, and that is good, but the recycled content is generally pre-consumer waste. This comes from the trimming during the  manufacturing process or after the printing process. Recycled paper can have virgin fiber (wood that has never been used), pre-consumer waste and post-consumer waste.

Post Consumer Waste, PCW or Post-Consumer Recycled Paper

This paper comes from used paper - newspapers that you recycle, paper from the laser printer or photocopier in the office and so on. This paper is saved from the trash and recycled into paper again. While it’s good to keep paper out of landfills, there is a considerable amount of energy and chemicals used to de-ink and reclaim this paper. Environmentalists consider PCW to be greener than recycled paper. Look for the PCW percentage when buying or ordering paper.

Alternative Fibers

Alternative fibers can include hemp, bamboo, kenaf and straw. The production of this paper is still in its early stages in North America and can be hard to find. Generally, this paper is made from sustainable, non-tree sources (bamboo can grow 3 feet per day).

Look for Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper

The Forest Stewardship Council is an international organization promoting responsible forestry practices, and they certify papers that have been produced responsibly. FSC Canada has a good guide to green paper.

There are many options for an eco-friendly approach to wedding invitations (including e-vites, but that’s another post…). Talk to your printer or graphic designer about paper options.

Weddings bring out the gifts - showers, parties, the wedding itself, and hopefully you will be getting things you need and will use, and not 4 toasters.

Wedding gifts often come wrapped in gorgeous shiny papers, but paper especially will be torn off and disposed. Did you know that a lot of gift wrap cannot be recycled due to high metals content? Foil, Mylar, plastics and other materials used either on their own or combined with paper goes directly to the dump.

In the spirit of reusing and reducing, you can encourage your guests to go green by:

1. Choosing recyclable gift wrap: no metals, plastics, etc.
2. Using gift bags. Gift bags can be reused over and over (as long as there are no adhesive labels attached or other damage), especially if you encourage your guests to get neutrally decorated bags that can be used for birthdays, Christmas, etc.
3. Asking your guests to use gift bags made out of recyclable, and recycled, paper
4. Not wrapping gifts at all (not as much fun to receive, but more eco-friendly)
5. Not using foil or plastic bows, ribbon, etc.
6. Asking for experience gifts or donations as gifts, but that’s another post…

Things you can do:

1. Recycle everything you can recycle - paper, bows, ribbon, cardboard, etc.
2. Unwrap everything carefully and save the paper for reuse, especially if it’s not recyclable. Sure, you might be giving Christmas presents with silver-and-blue wedding bells wrapping paper, but hey…
3. Save and reuse gift bags. Four years later, my wife and I are still reusing our wedding gift bags.
4. Reuse bows and ribbon

Ideally, gift bags that can be reused, especially gift bags made out of recyclable paper, are a good solution for keeping unnecessary waste out of landfills. And don’t be afraid to ask your guests to help out.

Just had to share this blog. Beautiful.

Think Simple Now

Who are you first and foremost? Are you a teacher? A farmer? A marketing manager? A sister or a daughter?

How about a consumer? Do you see yourself that way? The economy does.

Before you pick up that nifty scanning device and go running through The Bay or Macy’s building your wedding gift list, watch this.

It’s not too late. Stay tuned…

Get your guests started on saving electricity and energy by giving a compact fluorescent light bulb as a party favour.

Compact flourescent lightbulbs (CFLs) have several advantages over traditional incandescent light bulbs, including longer life, lower energy consumption and they generate less heat. CFLs use up to 75% less energy and last up to 400% longer than traditional bulbs. They are especially good if you have light fixtures that are hard to get to, like in a stairwell. The cost of CFLs is coming down dramatically, and, in bulk, bulbs can be found for as low as $2 each. CLF to contain tiny amounts of mercury, so dispose of them properly and take the appropriate precautions if they break (if your guests are traveling a lot, you may want to consider something else).

When presenting the bulb as a wedding favour, you can dress the bulb up in a nice box (with a lot of padding for travel) or put a bow around the bulb. Include a card (on recycled paper, of course!) explaining the benefits of compact fluorescent ligh bulbs. You can present the idea of the bulb as “our friends and family light up our lives” or “lighting the journey into the future” - what does light mean to you?

The diamond engagement ring is the first and most prominent symbol of an upcoming marriage. The bride-to-be (and her friends) cannot take her eyes off the ring, especially for the first few weeks after the engagement. But before you buy a diamond, there is one question you absolutely must ask your jeweller:

Where did your diamond come from?

Diamonds have a long, dark history of being mined in slavery conditions to finance war, rebel insurgencies and the activities of warlords. Diamonds mined in West Africa (Sierra Leone, Liberia, etc.) in the 1990s financed brutal civil wars; see the movie Blood Diamond for a Hollywoodized version of these events.

Since 2002, conflict-free rough diamonds have been certified under the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme. This process tracks and certifies rough diamonds as being conflict-free; the money does not go to support wars, etc.

For high-quality, ethically mined and conflict-free diamonds, Canadian diamonds are a good choice. Canada is a major diamond producer, and has led the industry in setting ethical production and distribution standards.

Just ask your jeweller for conflict-free diamonds, Canadian diamonds or diamonds certified by the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.

Everyone at BluePlanetWedding.com is committed to living an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.  We are always finding ways to be more eco-friendly, and everyone, personally and professionally, is making lifestyle choices that are greener and friendlier. I, Dave Walker, the founder of the site, am making several personal commitments to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

•  BluePlanetWedding.com is run from everyone’s homes, saving on commuting and travel. Since the team is spread all across Canada, we communicate online using tools like wikis, internal blogs, email, BaseCamp and more.
• All of the power for my home in Calgary comes from Greenmax, ENMAX Energy’s environmental program.
• My carbon credits offset 5 tonnes of CO2 for 2007.
• I am eating about 30% less meat in the last six months, and I have resolved for 2008 to eat meat from organic sources as much as possible.
• When needed, I am replacing as many parts in my wardrobe as possible with eco-friendly alternatives using organic cotton, hemp and other fabrics. I’ve just ordered a bamboo t-shirt, and will report on it as soon as I get it.
• We’re doing several other things and making constant small changes to our lifestyle, personally and professionally.

I know I could be doing more, but my family and I are making incremental changes in our lifestyle. Changes are difficult, but I’ve found that once you start, it’s quite easy to sustain each change and add other changes into our lifestyle.

My hope for BluePlanetWedding.com is to encourage you not only to apply green wedding principles to your wedding, but to adopt a greener lifestyle for your household in the future. Together through small changes, we can make a big difference.

Your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and everyone at BluePlanetWedding.com supports your desire to celebrate your wedding in high style.

Even if you don’t consider yourself an environmentalist, there are choices you can make when planning your wedding to reduce the impact on the planet, and impact on society, while maintaining the glamour and elegance of your special day.

Check out the 95 Idea To Make Your Wedding More Environmentally-Friendly for some great eco-friendly wedding ideas. Use as many as you can; everything helps.

Subscribe to this blog (the orange button on the right) to keep getting great ideas and advice on how to make your special day special for the planet.