Offsetting Carbon Emissions
You cannot escape carbon emissions when you plan your wedding. You will need a vehicle to transport yourself or other items to make sure they arrive at the wedding site. Think about how much energy it will take to make sure your wedding runs smoothly — electricity for the deejay, catering, lighting, and air conditioning or heating system. In addition, your out-of-town guests may have to travel long distances to attend your nuptial celebration. Fortunately, there are many ways you can offset these emissions.
A report released by the IPCC in February 2007, which was based on the work of more than 2,500 scientists from over 130 countries, states that humans have caused all or most of the planet's warming. Global warming caused by humans has been termed anthropogenic climate change.
Consider buying local foods and products because the items simply have to travel less distance to get to you. Encourage your guests to carpool or arrange shuttle service for them. One easy way to cut down on your guests' emissions is to hold your wedding at the hotel they are staying in. Ask your vendors what they do to make their businesses more sustainable.
Purchasing carbon offsets is another way to mitigate the harm emissions cause. By purchasing carbon offsets, you help the environment, reduce your footprint, and do your part to slow global warming. A carbon offset is a certificate that represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions. One metric ton equals 2,205 pounds of carbon dioxide, the major cause of global warming. Carbon offsets fund projects such as wind farms and tree planting, which reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. They also support renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects.
Carbonfund.org (www.carbonfund.org) and TerraPass (www.terrapass.com) allow you to put money toward renewable energy or reforestation projects. Both have online wedding calculators to see how many carbon offsets you should purchase to have a zero-footprint wedding. CarbonFund.org has a ZeroCarbon Wedding package that offsets a minimum of eight tons. You can purchase additional carbon offsets to add to the package. If it's too expensive for you to assume responsibility for offsetting all of your guests' carbon emissions, you can let them know you would appreciate a contribution to a carbon offsetting organization instead of a wedding present.
