in bridal jewelry made from truly recycled metals and eco-friendly created diamonds and gems. The best option is to purchase an antique ring, which will help decrease the demand for newly mined materials. Diamonds that were mined before 1880 predate large-scale mining operations. Purchasing an antique ring is a glamorous way to recycle, and it ensures your ring did not contribute to mining pollution. With vintage styles at the forefront of wedding trends, you’re sure to find something that fits your personal style. A family heirloom is also a wonderful option because it is eco-friendly and carries a special meaning. If you have a piece of heirloom jewelry but don’t like the look, you can have the stones reset to match your style, or have the metal melted down and fashioned into your dream ring.
Image: Ellie Grover Photography
Go Local and Seasonal Choosing local, seasonal food and flowers supports local businesses and eliminates the impact of having to pack and ship items that were grown thousands of miles away. Investigate the options available during the season of your wedding, and talk to potential florists and caterers about their willingness to use only local and seasonal flowers and foods for your celebration. Image: Vishal Grover Your guests will enjoy their fresh and flavorful meal, and your flowers will be vibrant and gorgeous. Another bonus: you’ll probably save money with this eco-friendly approach. Image: Rebecca Wilkowski
Earth-Friendly Paper Paper is used for save-the-dates, invitations, RSVP cards, seating programs, menu cards, seating cards, thank you cards, and more. If you laid out all the paper used in wedding invitations alone in one year, it would cover the island of Manhattan! That’s a lot of trees. As if the sheer amount of paper used weren’t enough, the processes used in making paper also can be problematic. To make paper pulp white, paper mills add bleach and chlorine to the mix, adding hazardous and carcinogenic compounds to the mill’s wastewater. These toxins find their way into the streams and rivers nearby, where they go on to pollute the soil, water, fish and wildlife. There are many wonderful eco-chic alternatives. If you and most of your guests are computer savvy, you can go entirely paperless. Glö, a company founded on the belief that weddings can be modernized without sacrificing sophistication, offers online invitations in a variety of styles to suit any wedding. Create a wedding website to house all of the transportation and hotel information for guests, and to get RSVPs, and voila! Paperless wedding! NaturalNutmeg.com
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