For some time now, I have been planning an eco-concious wedding. Now, I couldn’t get innovative with it because we moved the date and suddenly I was on a time-crunch and because my family insisted on certain things, looking at you conventional decor. Yet, I tried to be sustainable as far as possible. For example, requesting that the decor vendor reuse the drapes from other celebrations, even though they usually don’t, or hiring vendors who claim to use eco-friendly items, even when I couldn’t cross check that. Oh and supporting lots of local businesses.
While I have shared some insights that I had from my engagement party about food and decor for a sustainable celebration, here’s some other things you can do to make sure your party is planet-friendly.
Get Sustainable Clothing and Gifts
Like I mentioned in my blog how to have sustainable food and decor at a celebration I got thrifted clothing but you can also try other forms of ethical and eco-friendly clothing, such as hand-me-downs, or upcycled clothing, and so on, if like mine your culture and family don’t allow thrifting. The best thing you can do is try and use existing resources and go for as many fair trade items as possible within your budget. In my case, choosing upcycled fashion and sustainable stores turned out to be budget-friendlier than going for fast fashion, but that could just be because the Indian wedding industry is a beast.
For gifts, while the idea is to be as lavish as possible if it’s a wedding or engagement that you are celebrating, you can always try gifting fruit baskets and jade plants like we did. Other sustainable options are seeds, zero-waste kits; though I do not prefer them personally; or items from sustainable and local stores, such as the eco-friendlier home décor from Our Better Planet. We also gifted some sarees and clothing as is traditional and I tried to get as many plant-based fabrics from small businesses or sustainable vendors as far as possible, while ensuring the quality is good, of course. Who wants to burn bridges with new relatives by giving them bad gifts? And the best part with clothing is, you can support local and rural artisans and women artisans….and if there’s one thing I am learning in my MA in Sustainability is that Indian eco-friendly initiatives need to be focused on rural livelihoods.
Another idea is to regift or give items you have had at home as gifts, as long as it is appropriate. Or you can hand e-cards to sustainable stores or even cash in an envelope. Gift hampers for food from sustainable stores is another idea, though in a tie crunch, I turned to Eat Better on Blinkit, which looks eco-friendly because they partnered with Phool Co. but I have not checked.
The idea is not to skimp out on the gifts that you wish to gift or exceed your budget but to find some eco-friendly and ethical alternative for your gift or the same gift made in a sustainable manner…or at least realistically sustainably. Let me know what gifts you for your next celebration choose in the comments!
Until then, let’s talk about how you can try and…
Get E-Invites or Use Sustainable Paper as Far as Possible
While many experts recommend sending e-invites -and that is what I did- sometimes it can take away from the personal aspect of inviting people. And a community is an important part of sustainability and mental well-being.
In such a case, my solution at first was a video call to invite people except I realised how much energy that takes. While it is still less energy intensive than going to far away places to send invites, if you do decide on paper invites, you can always go for seed paper cards, which can be sowed after the party and turn into a memorable gift for your guests and invitees.
We also printed one card as a memento on recycled paper which we then put in front of our gods as tradition demanded, so there’s that option too. And handmade cards are the cutest. Just saying.
There are other sustainable paper options such as upcycled paper like the ones available on BlueCat Paper, and more. Which brings us to…
Extra How to Have Sustainable Engagement Tip- Rings and Other Jewelry
When getting engaged, the ring is often the star of the show. I will not provide any advice on what the ring should be or the financial pros and cons of getting sustainable engagement rings as I am not a student of finance. What I can share is some idea on how to get more sustainable jewelry if that works for you.
Go for ethical stones because while it is debated whether lab-made or natural diamonds are better, we can all agree that human lives should be valued when mining or making precious stones. You can also choose recycled metal or even repurpose heritage jewelry. My goal is always to try support local artisans, small businesses, recycled materials, and ethical choices. Just be mindful and allow yourself grace here, because there is a lot of greenwashing in the jewelry industry. Such as one of the jewelers I frequent telling me that all jewelers in the city use recycled gold only cuz expenses while in another city, I heard fresh or dirty gold is used. While I decided to google a store, check their reviews, speak to the owner and trust them, because being paranoid only works to an extent, you can always look for stores which are RJC certified. Moving on…
Extra How to Have Sustainable Engagement Tip- Makeup and Mehendi
I did my hair myself with the caretaker of my house for my engagement, using pins I have had for years and got my makeup done at a local parlor using makeup they had. I know that can cause hygiene issues but they are supposed to keep it clean. I had asked them to use my own makeup for that reason, until they refused. I was in a rush, but I suggest either using your own products or ensuring their products are truly safe to use. Thankfully, their products didn’t harm my skin as they followed MUA standards.
If you do use your own products, but makeup from companies Zoobop has said have good products and are sustainable. You can try and go for plant-based materials, if that is important to you. Just ensure you buy products with ingredients which are safe for marine life, and humans as well as made from materials that are not bad for the planet. If you can, try and go for either take-back program products or those that come in sustainable packaging. You can always use natural materials such as besan or chickpea flour mixed like an uptan for your eco-friendly skincare and berries as lipstick and blush for makeup. Though do make sure if you are using them to clean yourself, they actually work against bacteria and good for your skin, since besan was too harsh for mine according to my dermatologist. DIY often does not work in skincare unless done extremely right and with lots of caution. And of course, if it’s a long-event ensure you can have touch-ups or the makeup is going to stay.
For my next event, I am going to try and ask my MUA to use vegan and sustainable products or reuse products they and I have. Think we can all do it?
Oh and one more thing, while fresh flowers can be composed if you use them in your hair or decor, I skipped them for the hairdo and tried a tiara instead. Think that’ll become a trend? Ereborian weddings? And can those be done eco-friendly and ethical? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Let me know in the comments if I should write a separate blog on how to get eco-friendly makeup to stay for parties and birthdays.
Disclaimer- This post contains affiliate links which help sustainable the writer. Remember to shop only for what adds value to your life! Thanks for reading.
Updated- 21/11/2024
