Environmental sustainability is a big deal for many of us. From recycling to avoiding fast fashion, we all want to do our part to benefit our precious planet.

As joyful and memorable as weddings are, they can result in a lot of waste. Disposable components such as napkins, confetti and decorations, although sometimes recyclable and even reusable, often end up in landfill. That said, it is possible to have an eco-friendly wedding that aligns with your ethics without putting a damper on your special day. Read on to find out more.

Vintage Engagement Rings

The first aspect of your wedding you’ll think about is your engagement ring - the all-important item that initiates the process. While every bride-to-be deserves a beautiful ring, the environmental impact of diamond manufacture includes soil erosion, deforestation and loss of habitat for wildlife. Furthermore, not all gemstones are ethically sourced. As such, it may be worth considering a stunning vintage ring already in circulation. If you find one you like, a reputable jeweller will be able to resize and polish it to perfection.

Cloth Napkins

Many couples choose disposable components for their wedding breakfast to keep hassle to a minimum. While you can still cut down on washing up by ordering biodegradable wooden cutlery - which can be composted - opting for cloth napkins over disposable alternatives is a much more sustainable choice. Once used, paper napkins are unrecyclable, whereas cloth serviettes can be washed and reused for other functions or upcycled, minimising waste.

Seasonal Flowers

We all understand the environmental benefits of consuming seasonal, locally-grown crops; the same applies to flowers. Your desired wedding flowers may not be in season, meaning they’ll be imported or grown in commercial polytunnels, requiring vast amounts of energy. As an eco-friendly alternative, opt for seasonal blooms grown organically by a local florist. For instance, if your wedding is planned for March or April, you could go for vibrant springtime flowers like daffodils, tulips and magnolias.

Eco-Friendly Favours

Choosing your wedding favours can involve some tough decisions. Keeping costs down whilst selecting crowd-pleasing favours everybody will enjoy can be challenging enough, but throwing sustainability into the mix can make things even trickier. Select favours based on your environmentalist values, such as mixed wildflower seed packets or potted seedlings. You can always make a rustic gift look enticing by ordering customised boxes for packaging made from recycled cardboard.

Evites Over Invites

Traditional invites are a wonderful keepsake for your friends and family. However, the environmental impacts of the paper and card manufacturing industry include deforestation, air pollution and more. You can reduce your carbon footprint and make your wedding sustainable by choosing recycled cardboard invitations. Alternatively, you could cut the paper and card out altogether and opt for evites instead of invites. Evites are convenient digital invitations you can send directly to your guests via email.

Biodegradable Confetti

The throwing of confetti is a tradition practised at weddings, thought to have originated in the middle ages in Italy. Having your guests throw fistfuls of confetti makes for fantastic photographs and symbolises luck and prosperity. Although rice was traditionally thrown instead of confetti, dry rice can be harmful to birds. Similarly, non-biodegradable confetti can severely damage the local environment, as outlined in this article. As an alternative, you can purchase biodegradable confetti in the form of dried flower petals and water-soluble rice paper.

Donate Leftovers

Donating your leftover wedding paraphernalia can be an excellent way to reduce waste and reuse items, keeping them in circulation for longer. You could donate anything, from your table decorations to your cloth napkins, either to other engaged couples or to your local charity shop. Alternatively, you could always hire as many components as possible, which may even save you money simultaneously.

Dye Your Dress

It may come as a surprise, but your dress is another thing you could potentially reuse. A bride’s wedding dress is often considered the most important garment they will ever buy. As such, it would be a shame for it to sit in a wardrobe gathering dust. While you could sell or donate your dress, you could also repurpose it for other events by dying it. Ensure you use the correct type of dye, as some dyes will not take to certain fabrics. You could even take it to a tailor or seamstress to alter it into a less formal cut.

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