Eco-Friendly Friday Tips 94 – Wedding Gifts
May 21st’s Tip
Wedding gifts: With summer here, and June, July, and August being the top three months for weddings, you may among the many who will soon be attending a wedding and need a gift. Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson from Celebrate Green have some tips on giving green to brides and grooms.
If the couple signs up with an eco-friendly shop registry or asks for donations to a cause they support in lieu of “stuff,” you’ve got it made.
If not, check for eco-friendlier items on their registry. For instance, they may have chosen a set of bamboo bowls or wool blankets. Look for items that are locally produced instead of made and shipped from overseas. These may not have been selected because they’re eco-friendly, but who cares? If they are greener choices, you’ll feel great picking them and the bride and groom will be happy as well!
When giving a tangible gift, avoid conventional wrapping paper. The Carnegie Mellon Green Practices initiative says that “If every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.”
Why buy paper from virgin trees when there are so many great alternatives – fabric made just for wrapping, silk scarves, a map from the honeymoon destination, tree-free or recycled papers, and seed embedded wrapping that can be planted once the gift is opened, to name a few.
And when it comes to ribbon, embellishments and cards, alternative choices can make your gift beautiful and guilt-free.
Contribute
We are looking for reader submitted tips for Eco-Friendly Friday so we can share some even we may have not heard before. If you’ve got a unique or informative tip and want to contribute to Eco-Friendly Friday, shoot us an email. Be sure to include your URL if you want a link to your site included with your tip!
