You won't be able to stop global warming on your wedding day, but your choices can lessen the carbon footprint of your event. For example, if your guests are traveling long distances, offset the carbon emissions from their trips with a donation to renewableenergy projects. The sustainablewedding website Portovert.com, in partnership with NativeEnergy, a renewable energy company, offers a wedding carbon calculator where couples can enter the number of guests and approximate miles traveled, to calculate the carbon impact of their weddingrelated travel.
Wherever you celebrate, you can reduce your CO2 impact and often save money by giving your wedding a local touch. Buy wine from a nearby vineyard or beer from a neighborhood brewery. Get your wedding cake from a local bakery, and use seasonal flowers, not imports. "Why eat food or drink wine or beer that has traveled thousands of miles when you can choose local options that are just as good?" says Meghan Meyers, CEO of portovert.com.
Anything you do to make your wedding a little more modestfrom wearing a borrowed wedding dress to choosing recycled paper or a website for your invitationswill lower its contribution to carbon emissions. Consider it your wedding gift to the planet.
This is an extended version of the article that originally appeared in TIME Magazine.