01.29.07
Posted in home & garden, organic, weddings at 10:05 pm by greengirl
As part of my continuing wedding coverage (and continuing wedding planning), I’ve come up to the decision of picking flowers. There are three ways to be ecologically friendly in choosing flowers for your wedding (or any other event where you might use flowers, for that matter). Choices includes locally-grown flowers, organic flowers, or silk flowers. Traditional flowers from a florist, especially if they’re out of season, are typically brought in from overseas and sprayed heavily with pesticides.
If you can find a farmer’s market, you can often purchase locally grown flowers in a variety of lovely blooms. Doing this for your wedding, though, means you likely won’t know for sure what flowers you’ll have to choose from until a few days before your ceremony. You may also not have a long time to make intricate bouquets if you’re shopping the morning of your shindig. Some green thumb couples even grow their own flowers, timing it so that they’re ready for their big day. This may give you more leeway, especially if you have a greenhouse or indoor garden and can thus extend the season for your chosen bloom.
Organic flowers are becoming more widely available. As with any other organic item, make sure that it’s certified organic and not just tagged as ‘natural.’ Look for a florist certified by Veriflora, a green label certification for the florist industry. One of the few organic florists actually certified as USDA organic (and by Veriflora) is Organic Bouquet, and their CEO recently spoke to Grist about where they get their flowers.
If you don’t have a farmer’s market or organic florist in your community, or you want a bloom that is out of season, you could consider silk flowers. These now look so real that, at a recent wedding, I actually asked if I could smell the bride’s bouquet, not knowing it was silk. My face turned as red as her roses! Silk flowers are also a good choice for summer weddings where real flowers would droop after a few hours in the sun and destination weddings where you don’t have the ability to work with a local florist. You can buy silk flowers at craft stores like GardenRidge and Hobby Lobby, and many florists carry a selection as well. I would definitely recommend purchasing the flowers in a store rather than online, since quality varies considerably.
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01.28.07
Posted in global warming at 7:44 pm by greengirl
Recently, 14 corporations and non-government groups banded together to create the United States Climate Action Partnership. With DuPont, General Electric and BP America among its corporate members, they have the economic power to have alot of sway with legislators. And, to ensure that it’s not just a greenwash, their members include notable environmental groups like Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the World Resources Institute. Two of their six principles include creating incentives for technology innovation and creating economic opportunity and advantage. That seems to be key in getting the American marketplace to move on anything: it has to be profitable to do so. And with such big players creating incentives, it might create a more favorable economic climate for meaningful change.
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01.15.07
Posted in energy, recycling at 9:05 pm by greengirl
At the International Consumer Electronics Show, held last week in Las Vegas, a Green Wednesday was included on the list of special events. Part of this day was the launch of mygreenelectronics.org, which includes information on where to recycle computer and other electronic devices in your zip code. It also includes information on green electronics brands, energy conservation and computer trade-in programs. The site is just getting started and the lists are still growing.
Dell has long been involved in responsible environmentalism practices in the computer industry. They even have a special website devoted to their Dell Earth program. According to their website, their recycling program has helped to avoid nearly 10 million tons of CO2 emissions. They’ve also recently launched the Plant a Tree for Me program, allowing computer purchasers to not only recycle their old computers but also allow them to donate $2 to have a tree planted as a simple choice in the computer configuration process.
So, now you can give in to your techie gadget desires and still help conserve resources and protect the environment.
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01.08.07
Posted in fair trade, shopping at 9:15 pm by greengirl
McDonald’s, not often considered a pioneer in green practices, has announced that it will begin using ethically sourced coffee at its UK and Ireland restaurants. They will be purchasing coffee certified by the Rainforest Alliance and thus helping the livelihood of third world coffee growers and promoting sustainable farm management. These 1,200 restaurants brew 143,000 coffees from 1.8 million pounds of beans annually. Even if they’re green-washing, 1.8 million pounds of beans supports a lot of coffee growers. With this decision, they become the leading UK retailer of Rainforest Alliance certified coffee. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I’m lovin’ it!
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01.05.07
Posted in recycling, weddings, shopping at 7:02 pm by greengirl
So, you’ve decided to pop the question, but don’t want to feel like one of the motivators behind that Blood Diamond movie. There are alternatives to taking part in the conflict diamond trade.
A beautiful option is to purchase estate or antique jewelry. You may have a piece of heirloom jewelry in your family, which can express a respect for tradition. If that is not an option, many jewelry stores and resale shops have estate jewelry collections. The Way We Were has acquired antique jewelry, mostly from jewelry companies that closed in the 1930s and 1940s, and stored their jewelry.
You can also look into recycled pieces, like those available at GreenKarat’s website.
During recycling, gold and other metals are refined to remove impurities. Gold and silver are elements, and are the same whether they were refined from scrap or refined from ore. There is absolutely no difference in the quality of the product you buy. And, I can vouch (or my new fiance can vouch - grin) for the fact that GreenKarat’s customer service is excellent.
Recent advances have been made in the manufacture of diamonds and other precious gems. Since the 1960s, diamonds have been manufactured for use in industrial applications. In recent years, diamonds for use in jewelry have been manufactured. These gems are so convincing that a gemologist must use sophisticated machinery to tell the different between synthetic and natural diamonds. These are much more sophisticated than the stereotypical cubic zirconium; these diamonds are physically, chemically and optically identical to natural diamonds.
Think of it as a gift to your intended symbolizing a healthy and sustainable future.
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01.04.07
Posted in weddings at 6:35 pm by greengirl
I apologize to all for not posting for a while. It’s been a crazy holiday season, and I’m still catching up. I’m rolling out a new category, highlighting eco-weddings. I’ll be working with Tynan’s Independent Media on a green wedding book, and this category will accompany it. And, of course, I’ll continue to post green news on all topics here as well.
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