When I turned forty, I wanted to celebrate with my nearest and dearest. But I didn’t want to just “chuck a party” with a whole stack of booze and booze-soaking food and…wastage. I wanted it to matter and, so I put it together as sustainably as I could possibly make it. I bought nothing new, used produce that was going to be thrown out and kept as many ingredients as possible within a 100-200km radius of the event.
Recently I read about three couples who did similar, for their weddings. Waste free! This stuff gets me excited.
And so below, a list of ways to have a waste-free wedding. If you have a wedding on your radar, that is.
1. For the wedding meal, team up with an organisation that creates meals from food past its “sell by” date that grocery stores and bakeries would have otherwise thrown away.
2. At the end of the event, encourage guests to take home any leftovers.
3. Find your wedding dress on online classifieds website (like Gumtree) for $105. You might have to get a few alterations made, but the previous owner will be glad the dress is going to be used again.
4. Get your wedding rings made from reused metals.