Avoid These Wedding Eco Demons for a Greener Wedding

Wedding budgets can get ridiculous and I know because I just got married. Costs get out of control incredibly fast, almost as fast as your carbon footprint. With a few easy steps you can control your impact and save tons of money to spend on your first down payment. Remember what's important, getting your friends and family together to celebrate?not the plastic wedding favors.

1. Skip the trinkets. Things like parting gifts are really costly, plastic, wasteful, and unnecessary.

2. Skip the meat and serve vegetarian foods. Vegetarian foods are often less expensive than pricey cuts of meat and they are tons easier on the planet especially if grass fed and organic meats are not available. A study by the World Watch Institute found that 87 percent of all agricultural land in the United States is used to raise animals for food. This means that 20 times more land is needed to feed a meat-eater than to feed a pure vegetarian. A typical pig factory farm generates as much raw waste as a city of 12,000 people. The same study also found that livestock account for more than half of U.S. water consumption and cause 16 percent of the world's annual production of methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.

3. Skip the excessive cut flowers. The floral foam used to hold flowers in place, is a petroleum bi-product that off gasses formaldehyde when soaked in water. This foam is not biodegradable and has been linked to lung cancer in rare cases of extended exposure. Leaf shine, commonly used to shine greenery and plants, is an aerosol product that is also bad for the lungs. Not to mention the chemical pesticides used to keep non-organic flowers looking lively. Instead, use living centerpieces like fragrant hydrangeas or orchid plants or fill your favorite bowl with organic lemons or limes. You can also make your own flower arrangements with fresh flowers from your local farmers' market or order your flowers from an organic florist to ensure that the only thing you'll be taking in is the enticing scent of your farm fresh peonies.