Project Green My Wedding: Final Reflections

So about five seconds ago I came to a realization: I think I am actually going to miss blogging. Our generation has grown rather accustomed to it, but there is something powerful in writing down our thoughts and posting it on a platform for all the world to see. (As an experiment, I typed "project green my wedding" into Google and I came up as number four in the list.) I have gotten some good feedback from classmates, some saying that they have referred friends to my blog or plan to use some of my ideas for their own weddings. I even got an offer to borrow a wedding dress. (Thanks again, Laura!) I put a tremendous amount of time into doing research for this project, and I am pretty pleased with the results. In this final blog, I will discuss some of the main things I learned along the way.

Lesson #1: Weddings are extremely complicated.

So I wasn't completely oblivious to this before, most of my friends have gotten married and I have seen plenty of movies, but holy cow are weddings ever complicated. There are so many things to do, organize, and consider, and then I am making it a green wedding on top of it! One of my books said that an average wedding takes about 250 hours to plan. I am a grad student; I don't exactly have a spare 250 hours lying around. So that has freaked me out a bit, and despite constant nagging from relatives, I moved the wedding to 2013.

Lesson #2: Green weddings are often cheaper but not always.

I was pleased to find that many of my green ideas such as for attire, invitations, and transportation will also save me money. Since we are also trying to make this a budget-friendly wedding, these ideas are pretty exciting to me. However, I did discover areas that will end up being more expensive because of my environmental requirements. The location at the Green Bay Botanical Garden is beautiful and has a ceremony and reception site all in one place, but it costs a pretty penny. We are saving a bit of money by having the ceremony on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. That way we get a pretty heavy discount and people will have both Saturday and Monday to travel. Food is also another area where I will be paying more. The cheaper food tends to be at places that disregard sustainability. In addition to being more expensive, finding these elements of the wedding are much more difficult. Even for the dress, instead of being able to go to a store and try on many dresses until I find the right one, I have been monitoring Craigslist for a dress I like it and that is in my right size. I don't know how realistic it is to assume that some day there will be one in the size and style I want. (I'm looking for an ivory lace dress in a size six in case someone can magically hook me up.)

Lesson #3: There is more than one way to do everything.

First of all, I am of the firm belief that people should not design their weddings based on the way you are "supposed" to do it. I have been to far to many cookie cutter weddings where the bride was panicking because she didn't know if the groom's grandparents or the bride's grandparents were supposed to enter first. It is your own wedding! Spice things up! Put your own spin on it! I'm curious to hear how people will react when they find out Cory and I will each be walking up from the sides, and *gasp* I won't be given away by my father. It is the biggest party I ever throw and I am excited to get creative with it.

I was pleased during my research to see just how many different ways you can do a green wedding. I included several options for each category but the lists could go on and on. There are also degrees of greenness (greenocity? greenaliciousness?). It is often difficult to take the green theme to the extreme because of limited resources and because sometimes there are things that you just aren't willing to compromise. I was disappointed to find that my hometown is not on the sustainability train, which means my options are really quite limited.

Lesson #4: Communicate what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Over this semester, when I have described my green wedding goals to relatives and non-SPEA friends, I'm met with a bit of confusion. Not everyone understands this whole environmental impact thing. Your wedding is probably the most attention you will ever receive in your life; use it as an opportunity to educate your guests and help them decide to make changes in their own lives, or at least try to convince them that you are not a crazy person. Going with the advice in the community-based social marketing book we read this semester, I plan to inform my guests of my goals and throughout the wedding demonstrate ways to benefit the environment. I will make acting easy for them by providing trees and seeds as favors and perhaps provide coupons for green items at local stores. On my wedding website I will provide simple ways they can improve their habits at home and encourage engagement by asking people to submit their own ideas.

It is also important that you communicate your vision with your vendors. They may have more ideas for you or may willing to make a long-term environmental investment based on your suggestions. If they do not know you are going for green, they may unknowingly mess things up for you. The author of "The Green Bride Guide" included in her book that she had ordered a bio-diesel bus to transport the wedding party on her wedding day. Thinking that they had ordered the bus as a way to save money, the transportation company generously sent a Hummer SUV complete with leopard-print upholstery. Imagine how many times you'd be called a hypocrite pulling up to your green wedding in that thing.

Lesson #5: There is a community for green brides (and grooms).

I was amazed with all the information I was able to easily find for planning my green wedding. There are books dedicated to the subject, websites, online stores, you name it. Some websites connect brides and allow them to share ideas and pass on wedding items once they are done with them. I truly feel like I have joined a community, and I am glad we all share such a wonderful vision.

Empowering the Neighborhood

I loved Mr. Rogers when I was little. He showed us how to do crafts, took us on tours of local factories, and showed us a pretty cool imaginary land accessed by trolley. Only now that I am much older, do I realize all the really good messaging that was included in the show (though I am sure not all of it was intentional). Not only did he talk kids through subjects like divorce and family members dying, but he walked around his neighborhood, getting to know it and the people who lived there (let's not forget Mr. McFeely, the mailman). To me, the show was conveying the importance of the neighborhood as a solid community unit.

In Roseland's chapter on governance, he discusses how neighborhood associations can be "very successful at promoting leadership, responsibility, and collaboration among community members." By forming an association, people are empowered to take action to solve problems quite literally in their own backyards. The associations function as miniature units of governance, bringing neighbors together, giving them experience with civic participation. Roseland also says that members of the association "can address all areas of local concern, whether they concern social, educational, economic, land, environmental or cultural dimensions of the community." The association does not have to be purely homeowners or even just residents; it should involve all members of the neighborhood including business owners.

Bloomington

I guess it should come as no surprise that Bloomington has a thriving scene of neighborhood associations. (This city is really on top of that kind of stuff.) Many of the 49 neighborhood

associations have their own websites, such as Elm Heights. The city of Bloomington lists the associations on its website as part of its HAND (Housing and Neighborhood Development) program. The HAND program provides the neighborhood associations of Bloomington with "tools and resources for planning and development that reflect their individual needs and to facilitate communication between neighborhoods and City Departments." Neighborhood maps on the website only residents to know which association covers each area. The program also provides grants to the associations for neighborhood projects.

Seattle

Since the plan is to move to Seattle next year, I thought I'd check out what kind of neighborhood associations are over there. Again, no surprise, Seattle has a very robust program. 264 associations give people a voice and the ability to improve their community. Like in Bloomington, the city of Seattle has a program to support the associations, The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Their mission is to engage residents in civic participation and empower them to make positive contributions to their communities. They also strive to involve commonly

underrepresented groups including ethnic groups and immigrants. Their programs include everything from dealing with pet loss to social justice. The coolest project is the P-Patch project which is a network of community gardens throughout Seattle. The gardens serve to improve the appearance of neighborhoods, increase involvement and interest in the community, and provide food.

Ostrom's View

I have heard quite a bit about Elinor Ostrom while at SPEA, but I was actually surprised to have her name come up when I Googled "neighborhood governance." I didn't realize that her theory challenges the famous tragedy of the commons, saying that common pool resources can be maintained sustainable by those who depend on them. This theory can apply to neighborhoods. The residents of a neighborhood feel a sense of collective ownership. Ostrom maintains that self-governance of a neighborhood will not only be effective but is more likely to be successful than a top-down approach by a city government. So basically, a Nobel prize winner is telling us that neighborhood associations are the way to go.

Three Sustainability Events

I didn't realize until this past week that we had to go to three sustainability events, so I hammered three of them out quickly so I can scratch it off of my list. Fortunately, both SPEA and the Bloomington community offer ample opportunities to attend sustainability-themed events.

LEED Talk

November 9

I went to a talk about LEED Certification and saw a few other members of our class there. The two speakers talked about the general aspects of USGBC, LEED Certification, and becoming a LEED Green Associate. I learned that LEED considers site planning (which includes the building relationship to the other buildings around it), indoor environmental quality (which includes things like what cleaners are used), material use, energy, and water management.

I was surprised to find out that many buildings that get LEED certified are already existing buildings, and that LEED addresses the complete lifecycle of a building. The steps to LEED certification are 1) Register the project, 2) Track progress and document achievement, 3) Apply for certification. I was surprised to hear that only about 20% of registered projects get certified.

Another things that I wasn't aware of is that you can get multiple certifications for one building. For example, the LEED headquarters are in the Empire State Building which is Gold Certified (impressive!), but the headquarters themselves are Platinum Certified. Another thing I was pleased to learn is that the local chapter of LEED is going to be partnering with Habitat for Humanity.

The talk was informational and I am bummed that I can't take the class next semester. A member of SDA said that she might be writing a grant to purchase the study materials for the exam so there is a possibility that I would have the opportunity to study for the exam over the summer (if I haven't gotten a job yet). I think that being a LEED Green Associate would be a great boost for my resume and would hopefully come in handy in my future career.

Bloomington Handmade Market

November 12

This event and the next event are events that I would have liked to go to anyway, and it happened to work out that they incorporate many elements of sustainability. The Bloomington Handmade Market was located in the Bloomington Convention Center. The location alone was pretty cool as it is a renovated old building (I believe it used to be a car factory), and it is great that Bloomington has a space to host these type of events.

I went to the event since purchasing items made my local artisans prevents carbon emissions from shipped products and it supports the local community and economy. I also found, however, that there were more sustainable elements present. The majority of artists sold items that creatively recycled old materials. There was plenty of jewelry made out of watches that no longer functioned or the keys of old typewriters. Clothing was made of clothes picked up at a local Goodwill or thrift shop and then redesigned to make something new. Since "handmade" doesn't necessarily mean environmentally-friendly, I was pleased with all the recycling. I also saw several people I know there, so there was an added social element.

Cider Fest

November 12

After the Bloomington Handmade Market, I headed to Cider Fest. I had never been to the Community Orchard before so I was looking forward to walking around and checking it out. When I arrived, I was sad to hear that they were already out of cider and food, but at the same time I was happy about the unexpected turnout. Kids bobbed for apples and could get their faces painted. Local musicians set the mood. I walked around the orchard and was very impressed by the variety of fruits that will be growing there in the future. I got a demonstration of the cider press, and was actually surprised to find out that apple cider is purely the liquid from crushed apples, nothing else added. It makes me like apple cider even more. Before I had arrived it seems that there was a display of foods made with local ingredients. It was very cool to see the community come together in this way, and, of course, to see the orchard itself, one of Bloomington's finest examples of sustainability. I had a good time and I did end up getting a bit of cider after all!

Project Green My Wedding: Location, Food, Decorations, Transportation, and Accommodations, oh my!

This is my second to last blog post about my personal project so I am throwing in all the remaining categories I want to talk about so that I can focus on my reflection on the project in my last blog.

Location

Location is one of the hardest choices you have to make while planning a wedding. Especially when you are doing a green wedding. Add to that the fact that I am not there is person to check places out, and you can imagine that this one was a tough one for me.

Being a girl with a major case of biophilia, I have always known that I wanted to get married outside. I am a forest or natural, open field kind of a person, but after doing quite a bit of research on green weddings, I realized that the foot traffic of over 100 people is probably not what is best for a natural space. After extensive research, I have decided to have my wedding at the Green Bay Botanical Garden in Green Bay, WI. It is a bit more manicured than I would have preferred, but it is set up to accommodate weddings with little impact to the garden, and Cory and I can still stroll in the wooded area (in the first picture) to do photos which is still not completely natural but it will have to do.

So what is green about holding my wedding here? There are many things! First of all, holding your wedding ceremony outside is probably the best choice you can make to green it. We will not need artificial lights or temperature control or decorations, because it will all be provided by nature! We decided to get married in September, because that is a not-too-hot, not-too-cold time of year in Wisconsin and everyone should be pretty comfortable. That is, of course, unless it rains. I will be devastated if it rains. (I imagine a scenario where I am irrationally declaring that we are postponing the wedding on account of rain.) The best I can do to prepare for rain is to rent a giant tent to have at the ready, but it will ruin the whole effect. I guess it is a gamble it will have to take.

Another thing I love about the wedding site at the garden (pictured in the black and white photo above) is that is has paths up the side. We will have the ceremony in front of the dome in the way back and have the guests seated in the grassy area. Breaking the normal tradition of being walked up the middle aisle to meet the groom at the front, Cory and I are going to enter at the same time on opposite sides of the oval garden. We will each walk up the path on the sides and meet in the middle in front of the dome. I guess you could say it is my way to involve the social equity aspect of sustainability in my wedding.

Another big reason I chose this location for my ceremony is that we can do the wedding photos and the reception all at the same place. Minimizing travel makes it more green. Guests can wander the gardens (complete with a children's play area) while we do photos and then move to the reception hall on site. It has big windows, so I hope to utilize the natural light as long as possible and with it being September, we hopefully will not have to run air conditioning or heat and can leave doors and windows open to let in the fresh air.

Other options for locations:

• hold your ceremony at a local park
• hold your reception a green restaurant (a member of the Green Restaurant Association or certified by a local certification program)
• hold your ceremony and/or reception at a local art gallery, museum, or library
• hold your ceremony and/or reception at a LEED certified resort or hotel
• have you wedding coincide with a local festival and skip the reception to party with your guests along with the community

Food

Since I will be having my reception at the garden, I will have to hire a caterer to bring food in that was cooked offsite. I was disappointed to find that, at least according to my internet search, there are no local caterers that have a green mission. I did however find a Green Bay caterer called The Runaway Spoon that mentions they like to use local foods. I hope to have a conversation with them to encourage them to use as much local and/or certified food as possible. I would like to go a non-traditional route and have a salad, pizza, and pasta buffet. I will encourage guests to only take as much food as they will eat, and then I will donate the remaining food to a local homeless shelter. The same caterer also makes cakes, so I can have everything come from the same place.

I also want to make sure that the caterer will use reusable dishes, utensils, and glasses. For drinks, I would like to serve Hinterland Beer, a local beer crafted right in Green Bay, and wine from Captain's Walk Winery, also handcrafted in Green Bay. Although I prefer that the drinks are served in reusable cups, I understand that isn't always feasible, so I will request that the cups be made of recycled materials and that they are collected and recycled after the reception.

Other options for food:

• have a early ceremony and then serve breakfast or lunch instead of the traditional dinner, that way the meal can be lighter and require fewer ingredients
• have the reception a a green restaurant that serves local foods, and utilizes composting and recycling
• serve vegetarian food since raising livestock has a much greater impact on the environment than agriculture
• make the food yourself to save money and to ensure the sources of ingredients, though this is really only feasible for a small reception (you can also make the beer and wine if you are super adventurous, but plan ahead for it)

Decorations

Like I said earlier, a big advantage of having a wedding in a garden is that I don't have to decorate the ceremony site. In the reception hall, however, I will do some decorating. Since my theme is family tree, I would like to gather tree branches and hang family photos from them. In September, the leaves will be changing and falling in Wisconsin. I will gather a bunch of them up and scatter them on the tables. It will go great with the theme, add a splash of color, and it's green! For the card box, I plan to get an old birdcage from an antique store.

For the flowers (bouquets and boutonnieres), it is important that

they come from a local source and that they are in season. I found out during my research, that most flowers sold by flower shops in the US come from South America. Not only is that a lot of carbon emissions to get here, but the flower industry is the most pesticide laden in agriculture. Since the flowers are not consumed, they do not have the same pesticide regulations as food products. The South American communities that farm the flowers suffer the consequences from the pesticides and the about 60% of women cultivating and cutting the flowers suffer adverse health effects including miscarriages and infertility. My plan is to work with a local grower (I will track one down at the farmer's market), and put together local, seasonal, organic flowers. For September in Wisconsin, it will be flowers like sunflowers, zinnias, and chrysanthemums. The bridesmaids' bouquets can double for decorations at the reception.

Other options for decorations:

• decorate the space with fruits and vegetables and give them to guests to take home after the wedding
• use candles made from natural soy, vegetable-based wax, or natural beeswax
• decorate the space with vintage items from an antique store or from a rental business like re:find Joy right here in Bloomington
• avoid any disposable decorations!

Transportation

The Green Bay Botanical Garden is about 45 minutes from my home city. To reduce the amount of carbon emissions, I will encourage guests to carpool. On my wedding website, I will set up a carpooling section so people can say how much room they will have in their cars for more people. I will borrow two minivans from family, one for me and my bridesmaids, and another for Cory and his groomsmen. The carpooling is especially important for family members that will be driving up from Tennessee.

Other options for transportation:

• take public transportation to the wedding
• rent a bus to take the bridal party or guests to the wedding

Accommodations

Most of my guests will be able to return home after the wedding, but out-of-town guests will need a place to stay. I will ask friends and family to take in as many guests as possible for a couple of nights. (And then they can all carpool together.) For any extra guests, I used the site www.istaygreen.org to determine that Hotel Sierra is the most eco-friendly hotel option in Green Bay. The hotel is also close to the Green Bay Botanical Garden so there will be minimal carbon emissions if everyone carpools to the wedding.

Other options for accommodation:

• tell your guests where they can go camping nearby
• rent an apartment or house to fit in as many guests as possible

The Third Place

Ray Oldenburg coined the term "the third place" in the 1991 release of his book, The Great Good Place. Oldenburg stated that our first place is our home, our second place is our work, and then there needs to be a third place where we can gather with other members of our community. This place should be neutral, free from pressure to purchase something, within walking distance, and equally available to all members of the community despite demographics. When I think about the third place, I think about television sitcoms. They usually have three types of sets: the homes of the characters, the workplaces of the characters, and then that third place where they always hang out and somehow no one else ever takes their spot. There have even been shows about the third place itself (think "Cheers").

In this chapter Roseland talks about creating a community. If people go to work and come home, drive into their attached garage and spend the evening indoors or in a fenced in backyard, there is a good chance they will never get to know the people on the other side of that fence. Human beings as a species are not meant to be so isolated. We rely on social structure for the benefits and safety it brings us. Roseland says that neighborhoods should be designed with physical characteristics that encourage "an atmosphere of peace, security, and pride among residents." Neighbors who socialize with each other can create an informal social system where people help each other with child care, house repairs, and generally looking out for each other. Residents in social neighborhoods are far more likely to report suspicious activity at a neighbor's house.

To facilitate this type of community or "sense of place" as Roseland calls it, every neighborhood needs a third place within walking distance. Often these take the form of a park, a book store, or a coffee shop when there is ample seating and no expectation that something will be purchased (although something often is). Friends can meet to hang out, informal business meetings can take place, or strangers can get to know each other. Now that pretty much everybody and their grandma owns a laptop, netbook, or iPad, retail and food establishments are installing wifi to draw more people in. This trend coincides with the growing number of people who work from home or "telecommute." Places like cafes are seeing many people come in to do work because people have the tendency to want to be around other people.

Many developers and entrepreneurs have set about to create that third place for neighborhoods. One idea is to convert a mall that is failing or has been abandoned. We discussed in class how it is not uncommon for malls to die for one reason or another and then there sits prime real estate and a whole lot of unused space. Developers may rethink the space to make it a place where people go to hang out and create community. However, I have personally witnessed that this isn't always successful if not done just right.

My hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin boasts that it was the first place in the United States

to have a covered mall. Located in a fairly prominent spot, the Valley Fair Mall was still alive and kicking when I was a kid, but somewhere along the line it died. Having the third place idea in mind, developers purchased the mall and planned to turn it into a hang out spot for teenagers. The plans included a skate park, lounge areas, clothing stores, and keeping the existing arcade and movie theater. The city thought this was a great idea. It would give something for teenagers to do and keep them out of trouble. Unfortunately, the developers could never get the funding to go through with the plan and the mall was bulldozed and a grocery store was built in its place.

In the city where I did my undergrad, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, I got much more up close and personal with a dying mall. I worked at a children's museum located in their downtown mall and in the two years I was there, I watched store after store shut down or move out. But something pretty awesome happened as more space became available, community activities began moving in. Old stores were converted into meeting spaces for local groups such as the model train enthusiasts. Community concerts were hosted in the main spaces, fund raisers, the prom, you name it. Unfortunately for this mall too, the money just wasn't there. I sadly read an article during the research of this blog. The city of Stevens Point, wanting to redevelop the site for other purposes, declared the mall condemned for economic reasons and took ownership of the property. A court case is still pending, but it looks like my beloved CenterPoint Marketplace is getting bulldozed.

The Third Place Commons

There is, however, an excellent example of using a redeveloped mall as a third place working out really well. Developer Ron Sher, inspired by Oldenburg's book, purchased a failing and crime ridden mall in Bellevue, Washington and turned it into The Third Place Commons. It is described as basically being an indoor town square. Unlike the projects I have seen fail, Sher made his project a success by creating a partnership involving the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Like a regular mall, there are businesses such as bookstores, cafes, and restaurants with "sidewalk seating." But this place also has a library branch, a children's art center, a stage for performances, a giant chess board, meeting rooms, and plenty of lounge space. The fast food chains in the food court have been replaced with local establishments representing many ethnicities. Outside, the once boring expanse of parking lot now incorporates trees and sculptures by local artists. Bellevue residents have really taken to the new space, and a greater sense of community has been developed. In addition, a building was saved from abandonment.

These types of spaces are necessary for a healthy and enjoyable community. They can happen in any type of city, town, village or rural area and can vary greatly in size and primary purpose. Perhaps, through the development of designated community spaces, we can finally break down this American self-imposed isolation and need for a privacy bubble. Everyone, get to know your neighbors!

Project Green My Wedding: Attire

This week’s category is probably what most brides jump after first when they get engaged: what she is going to wear. Now I have never been a particularly girly-girl; even at a young age I would put comfort and practicality ahead of fashion trends, but there is something about a wedding dress that gets me pretty excited. Perhaps it is because for one day I get to spoil myself and not feel guilty about it. Even still, I am finding plenty of ways to get all dressed up without doing damage to the planet.

The Bride (That's me!)

A typical bride will go to a bridal boutique and pick out a brand new dress. By the time you factor in alterations, all the undergarments, the veil, the shoes, and the jewelry, you are looking at quite the expensive get up. The dress prices can greatly vary depending on where you live and if you can survive without a designer gown. (Has anyone ever watched “Say Yes to the Dress”? We’re talking $30,000 dresses.) And after the wedding day, the dressed gets cleaned and sealed in a box. A bride who thinks the dress will someday be worn by her daughter is likely kidding herself. I don’t have a single friend that has walked down the aisle wearing a poofy-sleeved dress from the 1980s.

The Dress

Like I have mentioned previously, Cory and I are on a budget, so this is an area that we can save money in addition to being green. I plan to find my dress on Craigslist. Many women are selling their dress that they have worn once or perhaps they haven’t worn it at all because the wedding was called off. They sell the dresses for quite a bit less than it was purchased for, so I will get a deal and reusing a dress is a great way to be eco-friendly. After the big day, I will try to resell the gown on Craigslist or donate the dress to a good cause such as Brides Against Breast Cancer.

Other options:

• Wear a dress from friend or family member if they are willing to share (and it is actually your style)
• Rent a gown
• Buy a dress made from sustainable material such as hemp, organic cotton, or even bamboo from a place like www.threadheadcreations.com
• Have a local seamstress sew your dress (preferably from sustainable material)
• Make your own dress from old t-shirts like in the photo below

The Veil

I was shocked to find that veils can cost well over a $100. My solution was to just buy a few yards of tulle from the fabric store and sew it to a comb and do the whole thing for less than $10. However, I realized that even though I’d be saving quite a bit of money, I would still be purchasing the same amount of brand new petroleum-based material. Instead I will ask one of my many friends who has gotten married if I can borrow her veil. If I have no luck there, I am sure I can find one on Craigslist.

Other options:

• Buy a veil made from handmade lace
• Skip the veil; put a flower or other accessory in your hair

The Shoes

The key to the shoes is that they have to be a pair I will wear again (and that they are comfortable). I’d also love if I could find shoes that made from a sustainable fiber and from a factory in the US. Perhaps I will get a pair from TOMS Shoes wedding line.

Other options:

• Wear a pair you already own or borrow a pair from a friend
• If the venue is appropriate, go barefoot!

The Jewelry

Many brides buy a set of extravagant jewelry that she only wears on her wedding day. Mining metals causes a lot of damage to the earth, so the best thing you can do is reuse jewelry. On my wedding day I plan to wear my grandmother’s wedding ring and Cory’s grandmother’s wedding ring on a chain. Both passed before I had the chance to meet them, so I think this is a great way to represent them on my wedding day.

Other options:

• Purchase jewelry from a vintage store or antique site
• Purchase jewelry made from recycled metal
• Rent jewelry from a high-end store
• Wear jewelry made from shells, bamboo, seeds, etc.
• Buy jewelry from a fair trade store like Global Gifts

The Groom

I am guessing that it is pretty unusual for guys to own a tux, at least the type of guys I know. Many guys rent a tux or suit for their wedding. Although it is more eco-friendly than purchasing one, the even better option is to wear a suit you already own. Cory, like most guys, owns a plain black suit and dress shoes. We are just fine with that being his wedding outfit. We may purchase a tie, but those are easy enough to come by at second-hand shops.

Other options:

• Borrow a suit or tux from a friend or family member
• Rent the suit or tux (preferably from a place that does eco-friendly dry cleaning)
• Go with something made from hemp, tweed, linen, silk, etc. or from recycled materials

The Bridesmaids

It is expensive to be a bridesmaid. There is the dress that is often about $200 that will likely never be used again and the alterations are another added expense along with shoes, jewelry, and hair and makeup.

For my bridesmaids, I am letting them pick out their own dresses. I have chosen the color green (which also happens to be my favorite color). My bridesmaids can each find a dress they like, that flatters their body type, that is not too much money, and that they will wear again. I think it will actually look nice to have a variety of shades and styles. For shoes, they can each wear a pair they already own or borrow a pair, etc. For the jewelry, I will give them each a necklace to wear on the big day. I plan to buy an antique locket for each girl and include photos of their loved ones to keep with the theme of my wedding. For hair and makeup, we can do our own or have it done at a locally owned salon and request that only natural, eco-friendly hairsprays and makeup be used.

Other options: The alternative options for bridesmaid dresses match the bride’s options.

The Groomsmen

Like Cory, we are having the groomsmen all wear black suits, shoes, and white shirts they already own. They will also need a tie in any shade of green so if they don’t already have one, they can hit up Goodwill.

Other options: The alternative options for groomsmen outfits match the groom’s options.

We're Going All Sci-Fi

I filled up my gas tank twice this year.

That tends to blow minds, but it really shouldn't be shocking. I specifically chose my apartment based on its proximity to campus and grocery shopping and its location on a bus line. We also chose the apartment because it was a two-minute commute to my fiance's work. He has since started working on the other side of town, but he organized a carpool and is now filling his tank about once a month.

It wasn't always this easy to conserve gas. Before I came back to school, I was living and working in different cities. At first I got an apartment near my job, but my evenings were lonely and I'd travel on weekends anyway. I decided to move back to my hometown and do the highway commute.

I hated it. A tank a week aside, the congestion on the highways was stressful and more than once I witnessed fatal accidents. The commuting experience really hammered home for me that cars are more than an environmental problem, it's also a problem of the health, well-being and efficiency of our communities. The transportation system relied on so heavily in the world, and especially America, has got to change.

Roseland talks about transportation demand management. Instead of improving cars, alternative means of transportation should be considered. This chapter talks about increasing pedestrian-friendly zones and bicycle transport, but they do not consider traveling to places outside of a feasible walking or biking distance and they do not consider inclement weather. What I want to know about is alternative vehicle transport, and for that, I looked to the future.

Michigan's Hydrogen Highway

Roseland stresses in the previous chapter that light rail travel is the way of the future, or at least, it is what is necessary to reduce our automobile carbon emissions. Well, my research showed that the future is not as far off and a lot closer to home that I had anticipated. From what I can find, plans (or attempts) are being made for an elevated rail system connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit in Michigan. The Interstate Traveler Company has developed a design for the rail highway which would run along the automobile highway. The vehicles, which will hold passengers, freight, automobiles, and medical services, will zoom along at 200 mph on magnetic rails and powered by solar panels. The system will also produce hydrogen (from electrolysis of water) as a fuel source for other systems and carry waste and resources. The company is very forward thinking and imagines that this will someday be all over the country and people may even live in a large version of the vehicle.

I am not sure if or when this project will actually happen in Michigan. I found plenty of news articles about it, but the last one was in 2010. From what I understand, the Michigan House and Senate passed the proposal and private investors were lined up so I am not sure why the project dropped from the radar. Has anyone heard anything about it?

RUF Dual Mode Transport System

This next sci-fi-ish idea is being developed in Denmark. I am particularly excited about this one because I honestly think that this is going to something that becomes commonplace in my lifetime. Since Americans have an obsession with personal vehicles, they might actually get on board with this Danish idea. The RUF Dual Mode Transport System combines cars and a rail system. Personal electric vehicles are manually driven on streets but then connect to an elevated rail track. Driving then becomes fully automated; you put into the computer where you want to go and then sit back and enjoy your morning cup of coffee and watch some television on the way to work. The rail system will increase speed and efficiency of transport, decrease traffic accidents, and decrease traffic congestion. The system could eventually replace highways and passengers could actually sleep while their car travels to their destination. The plan could also incorporate wind turbines that double as structural supports for the rails.

Again, it can take a variety of forms, but I definitely agree with Roseland that our future is in rail. I'll leave you will this slightly strange and a little dramatic but oddly soothing rendering of a rail and manual vehicle system. I sure hope this type of system happens sooner than later.

Project Green My Wedding: All Things Paper

Last week I went to the library and picked up some books to help me with this project. Two of the books are specifically about green weddings: "The Everything Green Wedding Book"

and "The Green Bride Guide." They are proving to be excellent resources. I also picked up a book called "Bridal Bargains" (which I am told by the cover was featured on Oprah) since I am definitely on a budget and often budget options go hand-in-hand with green options. My fourth book is for the purpose of this project only. It is called "The Everything Wedding Etiquette Book." I had quite a few laughs with that one; I felt like I should be reading it while sitting on my yacht and drinking tea with my pinky extended. (It seriously says that when picking a date for the wedding, consider such things as whether your parents plan to summer in Europe.) That book I will be using just to determine the "proper" way of doing things so that I can sort of measure how much I am lessening my impact.

This week I will be talking about paper. According to one of my books, every year 500,000 trees are cut down for paper items for weddings in the US alone. There are plenty of ways to cut down on paper usage, and I will be breaking paper items down into categories to describe my ideas for doing so.

Save the Date

I had completely forgotten about Save the Date cards until I read the etiquette book. Tradition dictates that at least six months in advance of the wedding, what is basically a pre-invitation should be sent out. It lets people know when the wedding will be so that they can make sure to get off of work or buy plane tickets. To me, the idea is silly. For myself, I plan to utilize my phone, Facebook, and word-of-mouth. Letting my relatives know will be easy. We have a system in my family: just tell the news to my very talkative aunt and everyone related to me will know by sundown. Most of our friends are on Facebook (plus, you know, I hang out with them), so I am really not worried about someone not finding out about the date. If there are any obscure relatives missed on Cory's side, I am sure they will find out from my future mother-in-law's Christmas letter.

Other options for Save the Date cards:

• send a postcard made from recycled paper
• send an e-card

Invitations

This category is the big paper hog for the wedding. Every year, approximately 350 million wedding invitations end up in an American landfill. The amount of paper in each invitation is ridiculous. Traditional etiquette dictates that the following should be included: the invitation itself, an RSVP card, a stamped envelope for the RSVP card, a reception information card, a map and directions card, a card with hotel information, a card listing where you are registered for gifts, an inner envelope (why?!), and an outer envelope. I was just a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding so she also included rehearsal information and an RSVP with envelope for the rehearsal dinner. On top of that there are usually ribbons and other doodads, and sometimes a bride will throw in a handful of confetti for good measure. "The Green Bride Guide" likens opening a wedding invitation to going on an archaeological dig.

I plan on making it much simpler. The most eco-friendly (and budget friendly) option

would be to do all invitations via the internet, but I like the idea of my guests having

something they can hold and put up on the refrigerator. The books I have and the websites

I have looked at sing the praises of a company called Twisted Limb Paperworks. They make handmade invitations from 100% recycled paper and embed seeds in them. When the guest is done with the invitation, they can actually plant it in their yard and flowers will grow. Cool, huh? And the best part is, I discovered much later that this famous company is actually based right here in Bloomington! So now, not only will I be supporting a local business, but there won't be any carbon impact from shipping them.

As far as the other parts of the traditional invitation, I am skipping them. There will be one envelope and the invitation and that's it. All other information will be located on a personalized website that I will create. There are many options out there with different levels of customization, but I have chosen weddingwire.com because it is free and because it offers a feature where guests can calculate their personal carbon impact from attending my wedding and donate to offset it. The site can also contain all the information (hotel info., maps, etc.) that would traditionally be included in paper form with the invitation. The best part about using a wedding website is that the guests can RSVP right on the site. That will save paper, carbon, and money by not having to include RSVPs to be returned by mail. Since even my Grandma is on Facebook these days, I am pretty confident an internet RSVP system will not be a problem, but I will include my phone number on the invitation just in case.

Other invitation options:

• use invitations made of recycled paper and ask guests to recycle the invitation when finished with it
• use paper made from bamboo, a very sustainable natural resource
• include a postcard RSVP which will reduce postage and paper
• send an electronic invitation from a site like evite.com
  
  

Thank You Cards

The same applies for thank you cards as for the two categories above. I think for my closest friends and family it would be nice to call them and thank them for coming to the wedding and for the gift. For other guests, I will send a personalized e-card.

Programs

This was another thing I had completely forgotten to consider until reading about it in the etiquette book. The programs are handed out at the ceremony to give a rundown of what is going to happen. Personally, I have never been at a wedding thinking, "Wow, I would have been really lost if they hadn't laid everything out for me." I was planning on just skipping it all together, but my mother-in-law-to-be told me that I need something to say who the members of the bridal part are, so I did a little searching and came up with an eco-friendly option. I will place chalk boards at the entrance saying "Welcome to our Wedding" and listing the bridal party.

Other options:

• print them on recycled paper and collect them at the end to recycle them
• make the program double-duty such as printing it on a collapsible fan for a wedding on a hot day

Name Cards

This is another thing I always thought was silly. I plan to let people sit where ever they want, so there will be no need for place cards.

Other options:

• print them on recycled paper and collect them at the end to recycle them (this one is pretty obvious at this point)
• use a marker to write names on natural object such as rocks, leaves, sticks or something seasonal like those little pumpkins (the guests could take those home)

Guest Book

A blank book for messages from guests is yet another silly thing in my opinion (especially when it is paired with one of those giant feather pens). Since I love to scrapbook and will be scrapbooking photos from our wedding, I will be putting blank sheets of 12x12 paper out for the guests to write messages which I can then incorporate into my scrapbook. This way the messages are much more likely to get viewed on a regular basis.

Other options:

• at my friend's recent wedding, she used a coffee table book of Ireland (where she will honeymoon) as her guestbook; guests could write anywhere inside, draw little pictures and give advice on places to visit
• someone could operate a digital video camera in a designated area where guests can go to record a message to the couple

Well, there you have it for all things paper. As you can probably tell, I am really enjoying this project! As always, suggestions are welcome!!!

Bring on the Daylight!

It is rather amusing to me that is now becoming a movement to go back to a pretty basic concept: using the sun as a source of light.

Pretty regularly I hear about solar energy, but I hadn't really thought about the extent to which we could further utilize what is one of our most important resources. The tour of the Cyber Infrastructure building introduced me to the simple idea of controlling and guiding sunlight into a building, and Bill Brown mentioned in class how Walmart is now installing skylights on it roofs. I decided to do a bit more research into to this idea of daylighting buildings.

Commercial Use

Electricity for lighting accounts for approximately 20 to 50% of industrial and commercial energy use. Many large companies including Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes are now installing skylights on the roofs of their stores and participating in what is fancily called "daylight harvesting." Many of the companies' representatives, including the VP of International Development of Walmart in this photo, are talking about how this is part of their efforts to lessen their impact on the environment. Many people are crying BS, including one architect who said they don't love trees or spotted owls; it is all about the dollar.

I say, "So what?" Roseland really stressed in this chapter how energy efficiency and saving money go hand-in-hand. Walmart is the largest energy user in the world, and it also the largest building owner. Each skylight installed saves 3,360 kWh per year. Not only does the reduction of electric light use save money, but the lack of electric lighting keeps the temperatures cooler and saves money on air conditioning costs. If saving them money is what it takes for them to significantly reduce their energy consumption, then so be it. Roseland seems to be saying that it is the best way to encourage companies and individuals to take these measures that will ultimately help the environment.

Better Performance

Daylight indoors has plenty of other benefits. We heard in class how Walmart has found that items sold in areas lit by daylight tend to sell more quickly. Studies also show that people linger in stores much longer and that employees have increased morale and productivity and decreased absenteeism. The same holds true for schools. Students tend to perform better on tests lit by daylight and there are fewer cases of truancy.

Health

Daylight effects on health are also a reason to seriously consider using daylighting in school, offices, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, and our homes. The most basic one is that sunlight stimulates the production of endorphins and serotonin in our brains, making us feel happier, more awake, and have a greater sense of well-being. Other lesser known powers of sunlight include lowering cholesterol; reducing the risk of breast, colon, and prostrate cancer; preventing dental decay; and relieving the symptoms of PMS. Kids in schools lit with daylight also tend to grow taller.

Daylighting Our Homes

Aside from large windows in the walls, traditional daylighting at home involves essentially a window in the ceiling. People complain that the direct sunlight fades carpet and furniture and that the skylights are not well-insulated. A new type of skylight solves those problems and is much easier to install.

Tubular skylights are, well, tubes that bring in sunlight. A highly reflective tube snakes its way from your roof to your ceiling. The light is emitted through a frosted glass fixture that looks just like any normal electric light fixture. The fixture diffuses the light and eliminates most of the harmful UV rays. These can be picked up at a home improvement store and installed on your own.

Again not only will you help the environment by reducing energy consumption, you will be saving money, creating a better atmosphere in your home, and getting immeasurable health benefits.

I love when one solution can solve so many problems! That is why I am studying sustainable development!

P.S. This song was stuck in my head the entire time I was researching and writing this blog.

Project Green My Wedding: Gifts and Favors

So I have never planned a wedding before. I am guessing the most logical place to start is by doing research on the venue. However, in my initial research I got a bit sidetracked and so my very first green wedding blog is about Gifts and Favors.

First I'll start by touching on some of the research I am doing. I am attempting to find out the average carbon footprint of a wedding in the US. Different websites are telling me very different things. I have heard 22 tons, 62 tons, 8-50 tons, etc. I don't know where they are getting their numbers from, but there doesn't seem to be an agreed upon amount. Also, the World Wide Web contains a number of wedding footprint calculators, such as Terrapass and Native Energy where you can calculate the carbon footprint of your wedding based mostly on the traveling done by your guests (and offset it by giving money to the site). These calculators also give different results. I am being told that my footprint will be anywhere from six to ten tons of carbon (although a group in New Zealand calculated the footprint of the recent royal wedding in the UK to be six tons).

Regardless of where my wedding falls in terms of a carbon footprint, there is one thing the sites all agree on: the best way to reduce the carbon impact of your wedding is to invite very few guests who have to travel to get to your wedding. Cory and I will be having our wedding in our hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin where most of our friends and family still reside. There will be approximately 100 guests. I will discuss ideas for travel and accommodation in another post.

Gifts

At a typical wedding, the bride and groom receive gifts for their home such as bedding, silverware, and a toaster. It can probably be assumed that the items have been made and shipped from overseas and likely were not produced in a sustainable manner. Also, to ship or transport the gifts to the wedding requires fuel. Cory and I have decided we will ask people not to give physical gifts. We will hopefully be living in Seattle at that point, so it would be a pain in the butt to get everything back home anyway. We will not be registering at any stores, nor will I be having a bridal shower.

Instead, we will tell guests that if they would like to give us a gift, they can make a contribution toward our honeymoon or make a donation in our honor to a nonprofit of their choosing. I will provide a few examples of nonprofits we support to help them out.

Other options for couples striving for a more sustainable wedding include:

• asking for gifts that have been locally made
• asking for gifts that have been certified by an accredited sustainability certifier
• asking for eco-friendly items such as an indoor composter or a rain barrel

Favors

So this is reason I focused my topic on gifts and favors this week. I found an idea for favors that I am really excited about. I'll start by mentioning that the theme of our wedding is "family tree." We thought it was the perfect blend of our passion for the environment and our love of heritage. So what would be more perfect than giving each guest a baby tree to plant at home?

Typically at a wedding, each guest receives a small bag of candy as a token of thanks for attending. Though it probably isn't a terribly shock on the environment (though we could talk about the source of sugar and chocolate), I never really thought it was that exciting. In my exploration of green weddings, I came across the website for the Arbor Day Foundation. For $3 each, your guests can take home a baby evergreen tree. The tree comes in a plastic tube with a customized label for the wedding. The tubes are made of 50% post-consumer plastic and can be recycled or turned into a bird feeder.

Not only does it make for cool favors that fit the theme of the wedding, but this is a great way to offset the carbon emissions produced by my wedding along with some other benefits. The website shows you what your options of trees are based on region and stats about each species of tree. Since most of the wedding guests will be from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, I have decided to order Norway Spruce (perfect since I am marrying into a Norwegian family) and Eastern White Pine.

The website also has a tool to calculate the benefits the tree will produce. When the 100 trees reach maturity they will:

• intercept 460,500 gallons of runoff each year
• conserve 18,500 kilowatt/hours of electricity by cooling each year
• reduce the consumption of oil or natural gas by 2,500 therms each year
• reduce atmospheric carbon by 31,000 pounds each year

Of course, this assumes that all of the trees reach maturity. I know that not all guests will be able to plant trees at their home, so I will encourage the guests to give the tree to someone who will be able to plant it.

Other options for eco-friendly favors include:

• seed packets
• stainless steel water bottles
• a small piece of art from a local artist (preferably using recycled materials)

So there are my ideas this week for greening my wedding. I am planning to post every other week (weeks where I don't write a regular blog). As always, comments and suggestions are welcome!

Desert Lettuce: Inefficient Water Use at Its Finest

Roseland speaks in Chapter Five about the environmental and economic impacts of the current water consumption habits in North America. Not only does overuse of the current water supply create a burden on a limited resource, but it only encourages further environmental disruption and economic strain through the building of new dams and energy sources to pump more water from less accessible locations.

Roseland took an optimistic route in this chapter by showing us examples of things local governments and grassroots organizations are doing to decrease water consumption and to more effectively clean water for reuse. All this talk about efficient water use, however, got me thinking about an example of the government enabling inefficient water use: the large-scale production of water-thirsty crops in the Southwest. We learned about this issue in Economics class last year, and it really has stuck with me.

Despite the water shortages in the cities of states such as California and Arizona, farmers are using obscene amounts of water to grow crops such as lettuce, rice, and cotton. Some of the crops even require the fields to be flooded (what genius thought desert rice paddies were a great idea?). Why would farmers engage in these activities when the hot sun and arid climate rapidly evaporate the water? It is all made possible by the government. Huge federal subsidies make water much, much cheaper to farmers than to residents of cities. The government defends this practice by saying that the farms create much-needed jobs and food.

According to a 2009 article in The Arizona Daily Star, agriculture in California uses 80% of their federally-controlled surface water each year, and the farmers pay less than half of what a city does. The same article states that over a two-year period, the government handed out $687 million in subsidies to hundreds of farmers in Arizona and California (article does not clarify whether the money was entirely for water subsidies). Roseland eludes to the fact that that this type of system would create irresponsible use of water since the farmers do not know the true value of what they use. He says (sourcing NRTEE and Pinkham & Davis) that studies show that raising the cost of water and imposing user pay rates encourages conservation.

The World Wildlife Fund campaigns against wasteful water use in agriculture. Their website states that "inefficient food production and harmful agriculture subsidies are causing deforestation, water shortages and pollution." They go on to say that agriculture wastes 60% the water used for the industry each year. They list the main causes as being:

• leaky irrigation systems
• wasteful field application methods
• pollution by agri-chemicals
• cultivation of thirsty crops not suited to the environment

The last one, of course, is what I am highlighting in this blog post. Roseland has stressed in several places in both this chapter and the previous one that it is very important to plant vegetation that is drought resistant and/or native to the ecosystem. The government should encourage farmers in desert areas to plant crops which will require much less water or to give up farming these lands all together (an option which may not be economically feasible). This would save the government money, save the citizens money, allow more of the water to be directed to cities (where water-saving programs should also be in place), and lessen the strain on the Earth's freshwater resources.

Desert lettuce has got to go.

Getting Hitched Eco-Style

So my project idea is quite personal: greening my wedding. There is no date set yet, and I am certainly not getting married this semester, so my project will not show the end result. Instead I am going to do a lot of research and a lot of planning. I want to see if I can figure out the average carbon footprint of a typical wedding and see if, at the end of the semester, I can come up with a way to determine what the carbon footprint of my proposed wedding would be based on my eco-friendly planning. I will break wedding stuff into categories throughout the course of my project (clothing one week, food the next, etc.) For each category I will describe traditional and common ways to do things and then come up with several options to make the wedding more green. I think it is important to describe several options because I am guessing there will always be much more eco-friendly options than what I ultimately decide to go with. So there you go. I am very open to suggestions!

Seattle and Sustainability

My fiance aspires to work as a concept designer for a video game company, so he gave me the following choice of where we will move after I graduate: Los Angeles or Seattle.

I have been to Los Angeles.

I chose Seattle.

Though I haven't yet had the chance to see Seattle, I have been hearing good things about it, including its reputation as being a green city. After reading in Roseland today (which, by the way, has to be the most interesting and most digestible book I have this semester), I was curious to find out what Seattle's city government does that makes it stand out among other cities and if those methods could be replicated in other cities.

To start my search I entered "the most sustainable cities in the U.S." into Google. The first site that came up names Seattle as the most sustainable city with Portland and San Francisco as runners-up. The second site puts Portland and San Francisco in the top two, but Seattle gets moved to 8th place. Based on the big difference, I checked a third which also places Portland and San Francisco in the top one and two, but gives Seattle 3rd place. (Another interesting research topic would be to compare grading criteria for sustainability assessments.) Even if Seattle's ranking jumps around a bit, I think it is pretty safe to conclude that it is, in fact, considered to be one of the greenest big cities in the United States.

So then I was on to www.seattle.gov to see what the government is doing to achieve this kind of status. The first thing that jumped out at me was that 90% of Seattle electricity comes from publicly-owned, renewable sources (mostly hydro sources). I know that 85% of the country's energy still comes from fossil fuels, so I am rather impressed by this number. Here are some other things the government is doing to make Seattle more sustainable:

• The Department of Planning and Development has a Green Building Team to promote a reduction in water and energy usage.
• Natural drainage systems manage stormwater.
• Projects are creating a more pedestrian-, bike- and public transportation-friendly city.
• Days are selected to close certain street to cars and make them open to bikes and pedestrians.
• Charging stations make electric vehicles a feasible option.
• City ordinance bans recyclable materials from garbage containers and recycling pick-up is a free service.
• Tree education programs and tree give-aways are among the strategies used to meet the city's goal of 30% tree cover.
• Cash incentives are given to commercial, institutional, and industrial entities who replace their water systems with efficient ones.
• Plenty of educational materials and information are available to the public.

I am very impressed with Seattle's initiatives. Its Office of Sustainability and Environment outlines many plans they have put into place with solid goals. I am also impressed with how easy it is to navigate their site and find information even for little things like where you can buy compostable bags. I believe many of the large cities could model programs after Seattle's to increase their sustainability. I am, however, struck by something even the government of Seattle admits: their programs have easily taken root and have been successful thanks to the mindset of the already eco-conscious citizens. So I wonder how the citizens of Seattle came to think that way in the first place. (It may have something to do with being the city with the highest percentage of college-educated residents in the country.) It could be that some of these programs would need to be implemented with a heavy dose of social marketing in other cities. Let's hope other city governments see the value in striving to be sustainable, because big changes are possible.

Blog Title

I often stress for whatever reason over what to title something. Part of me has this fear that people will judge my ability to be creative and witty based simply on the titles I assign to various things. This time I thought I had it. It popped in my head, and I was pretty excited that I wouldn't have to hem and haw over word choice for once.

Sense and Sustainability. (A play on Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" for those who don't understand why I thought it was witty.)

Turns out that I am not the only one to have this title pop into his or her head. There are websites, a podcast, a 2011 Gibbs & Soell study of Fortune 1000 executives, and even a New York eco-fashion show that go by this name.

But since this is only for class, I think I am again giving way too much thought to a silly little detail. I just thought I would practice posting by declaring that I am not a title thief, at least not on purpose.

Here are some of the links I found:

http://www.senseandsustainability.net/

http://www.ecouterre.com/nyc-event-sense-sustainability-eco-fashion-showfundraiser/

http://www.senseandsustainability.com/

http://www.mohawkpaper.com/carbonneutral/pages/SenseandSustainability.pdf

http://www.gibbs-soell.com/home/pulse-check/2011-gibbs-soell-sense-sustainability-study/