Something old, something new, something borrowed, something…green.

This traditional wedding saying gives you a good idea of where to start planning your green wedding. Instead of just one representative item for old and borrowed, how about adding as many old or borrowed things as possible.   If you do want or need something new, look for green options. The three R mantra of reduce, reuse, and recycle can be brought to one of the most important days of your life just as easily and cost effectively as you can bring it to everyday living.

I’m currently in the process of planning my own wedding and researching eco-friendly options. This is the first in a series of  blogs that will discuss most areas of planning a wedding (some of which can be adapted to other large events). I have chosen to arrange topics alphabetically for the sake of simplicity.

Attire

There are lots of eco-friendly options for your wedding dress, the rest of the bridal party and the tuxes.  Let’s start with the wedding dress.

Have you considered a previously worn gown?  It might be your grandmother’s, mother’s, sister’s, or a close friend’s.  This is both an environmentally conscious and cost effective choice.  Other previously worn ideas include renting your gown Rentagown.com or buying vintage.  When buying vintage, be sure to investigate whether the gowns are really vintage or just vintage style.  Vintage style means that they are really new dresses that are based on a vintage pattern, so purchasing one would have the same environmental impact as purchasing any other new gown.  One way to tell the difference is that “real” vintage dresses will usually mention that the dresses are restored and ready to wear or will comment on the condition of the gown.  Some vintage choices I found include Cherished Vintage Bridal Salon and TheFROCK.com.  Another great choice that also supports a great cause is Brides Against Breast Cancer. This site provides options for purchasing a once used or a sample couture gown and the proceeds are used to grant wishes for metastatic breast cancer patients as well as to support, educate and increase resource awareness.

There are also on line services such as The Dress Market and Pre Owned Wedding Dresses.com
where you can sell your own dress, purchase designer samples or salon
overstocks, or place a ‘wanted’ ad to find the perfect dress.

Are you set on having a new dress?  Consider purchasing one made with environmentally friendly fabrics after all hemp isn’t just for hippies anymore. There are some beautiful hemp and hemp/silk combination gowns at  Conscious Clothing.   There are also some sites that will make you a custom dress using environmentally friendly fabrics, of several that I looked at the three I found easiest to navigate and with plenty of options include (in no particular order) Olivia Luca, Threadhead Creations, and Tara Lynn Studio.And remember you can always donate this once worn gown to Brides Against Breast Cancer or chose an environmentally friendly way to preserve it for future generations.  There will be more about preserving your gowns in a future article.

In the past most bridesmaids did not want to preserve their gowns for anything, but thankfully these dresses no longer have the reputation for being hideous gowns in colors and styles that you would never want to wear again. The first step to choose dresses that your bridesmaids will want to reuse is to speak with them about colors and styles. Find out what they want. Frequently the people you chose to be your bridesmaids aren’t all the same shape, size, and/or complexion. Gone are the days of the “perfectly matched” bridesmaids so allow for some mixing and matching.  This could mean choosing a color
and allowing the bridesmaids to choose their own dresses that will fit
their personal style and body type.  Or chose a color and allow them to
pick shades of that color in the same dress that are more complementary
to their complexions.   There are also separates to chose from so that
even if they never wear the pieces together again, they could have a
great evening out top to pair with jeans or a nice skirt in a funky
color to pair with a more neutral tone that they could even wear to
work. Or if your bridesmaids like to party they may want a dress that they can wear on other formal occasions.

For those bridemaids who know they are not wearing their dress again, there are several charitable organizations that accept donations
of bridesmaids dresses and provide them at low cost or free as prom
dresses.  The Glass Slipper Project and The Princess Project are two choices, but check your local area or consider starting one.

Although it is more difficult to find used dresses for your entire bridal party, it is still possible to make the selection more environmentally friendly. Conscious Clothing also has a small selection of hemp and hemp/silk bridesmaid and flower girl dresses.

As with most of the wedding men don’t have as much to think about. Their typical choice of renting tuxes just happens to be an environmentally friendly option too. But if the
groom and/or groomsmen are in need of new suits Conscious Clothing
also offers hemp and hemp/tencel blend suits. Or if you’re planning an
informal wedding they may be able to wear suits they already own.

Keep posted for the next installment of Green Wedding 101:  Decorations

If you are in a hurry and can’t wait for the next installment of this blog check out these eco friendly wedding options for additional ideas.

Please note that neither I nor the site administrators have used any of these vendors, so I am not vouching for them.

In my last blog I spoke about how I’ve become more “green” since moving to China.  Today I’m going to tell you about the newest way I’ve become “green”.  Over the last couple of months I’ve starting cleaning “green” for several reasons. One of course is that I care about the environment.  Secondly, I live in China and can’t read the labels of cleaning products, besides who can really read the ingredients and know what they are in English either.  We just know that the ingredients are harmful chemicals that we probably don’t really want around our families, which brings me to a third reason.  I have an 10 month old baby that loves to crawl and put everything in his mouth.  Do I really want him crawling on a floor cleaned with harmful chemicals or mouthing furniture dusted with chemicals.

When I decided that I was going to “clean green” there were some things that I already I knew I could do, for example using vinegar to clean glass.  But I also knew that there had to be more ideas.  So like most people I looked on line to find more information.  I was relieved to find that most household cleaning can be done with a few simple ingredients that, if I was in the US, I would have at home.  White vinegar, baking soda, hot water.

Below are several links that I’ve used to find recipes for green cleaning.  Some are more advanced, for example, did you know you can make your own laundry detergent or disinfectant?

Word of caution:  green doesn’t mean “safe”  some cleaning recipes include ingredients like borax that still require caution when being used and must stored away from pets and children.  Even when you make your own cleaning products store them in a safe place and make sure they are clearly labeled.

www.wswmd.org/recipes Has a very comprehensive list of green cleaning recipes and it they are in a very easy layout.

www.thegreenguide.com/home-garden/cleaning/diy-cleaners

www.organizedhome.com/pantry-recipes-homemade-cleaning-products

www.sideroad.com/Budgeting/homemade-cleaners.html

www.cozgroovy.com/ Has a great recipe for making your own laundry detergent.  I haven’t tried this, but it’s looks simple and an option for those of you who want to up your level of green. (FYI:  I’m currently having trouble accessing this website, but I think it’s because I’m in China)

Essentially you can really do all your cleaning using very simple ingredients you probably have in your home.  Everything from dishes, dusting (olive oil and lemon juice), to cleaning your oven. Who doesn’t want oven cleaning to be better, if nothing else the noxious fumes from store bought products could kill you.

If you’re  interested in cleaning green, but don’t feel you have the time, look for someone in your area who will come to your home and clean green or ask your current cleaning person to “green” their cleaning.

HAPPY CLEANING!

When Americans think of China, right now I think two things come to mind: the Olympics and pollution. When I moved to China last October I promised myself that I would make an impact on the environment while I was here. Specifically I had some grand idea that I would somehow impact the how the Chinese as a whole, both individuals and companies, treat the environment. Needless to say, this fantasy has not materialized. Instead I’ve been surprised by how environmentally conscious individual Chinese people seem to be. I’ll be talking more about this in future blogs. But first I want to begin by giving a brief picture of the reality of which countries are the most detrimental to the environment.

The Olympics are done and gone, so you might be wandering… is China going to continue to combat the pollution and environmental problems that were a major concern before the Olympics. As an American living in China (and as a citizen of the world) I certainly hope so. In this and future blogs I will be providing updates on how China is combating environmental issues and sharing what I’m personally doing to “be green” in China.

Even though China as a whole is a large contributor of industrial pollution, per capita it has a very small carbon footprint. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2000 China ranked 99^th with per capita greenhouse gas emissions of 3.9 tons, compared to the US which ranked 7^th with per capita emissions of 22.9 tons. My personal carbon footprint has decreased by at least 400% since moving to China. There are three main reasons for this dramatic decrease.

The most obvious is that I don’t own a car in China, I live in a city with good public bus service and our apartment is conveniently located to both where I work and shop, so I walk the majority of the time. When I say conveniently located, I mean there’s a market with fresh produce, meat, and seafood in the first floor of my apartment building. It doesn’t get more convenient than that.

Also I now live in a studio apartment as opposed to the two story, two bedroom, two bathroom apartment I had in northern Virginia. Heating and cooling costs are much lower, especially since the Chinese government controls your heat in the winter. By that I mean that you pay a heating fee at the beginning of the winter (sometime around the end of October or beginning of November; we had to pay it when we moved in) and you have constant heat until the beginning of March. Most apartments also have a supplemental electric heat source. But we only used ours twice, both times after the main heat was turned off in March and only because we had a newborn baby, for a few hours.

The next biggest energy saver is in the area of cleaning. Specifically, showering and doing laundry. Our bathroom has its own small hot water heater that is just for the shower. You turn it on for a few hours in the morning, take your shower and then turn it off. Ours in electric powered, but many are solar powered. As for laundry, our washing machine is only hooked up to cold water, so no wasted energy heating water and dryers are very rare in China (not to mention there isn’t room for a dryer in our apartment) so we aren’t using one of the most energy inefficient appliances that most people own.

As you can see life is different, being green in different here in China.  I’ll share more as time permits!  (I have a new baby boy who keeps me occupied!)