Choosing eco-friendly options for your wedding stationery doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style. From plantable seed paper to digital invitations, there are many options for brides seeking an environmentally conscious wedding.
Look for paper sourced from recycled materials and certified by a reputable sustainability organization. Also, choose a designer who uses soy or environmentally-friendly inks.
Crafted Recyclable Wedding Invitations
A great option for brides with a budget to stick to, crafted recyclable wedding invitations are made of recycled paper and repurposed materials. This enables you to create an eco-conscious invitation at a more affordable price, while still having a stylish and sophisticated look for your big day.
Recycled paper is sourced from post-consumer waste, which minimizes the need for new resources and reduces waste. Some crafted recyclable wedding invitations are also tree-free, using hemp, bamboo, or cotton instead of traditional paper products. This is a great alternative as these types of plants grow quickly, require less water, and do not contribute to deforestation like tree-based paper does.
Another way to make your invites more eco-friendly is by reducing the amount of printing on them. Instead of a printed design, try handwriting the details on your invitations or getting a local calligrapher to write them for you. This will save on energy, chemical use, and paper usage!
If you are still wanting a more formal design for your invitations, try an ink-based option such as soy-based or vegetable ink. These inks are more sustainable than the typical petroleum-based inks, and they use fewer chemicals. Choosing a wedding stationery company that practices eco-conscious printing will also reduce your environmental footprint. Look for a certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, which indicates that your chosen brand prioritizes sustainability and ethical business practices.
For a more modern take on eco-friendly wedding invitations, consider an online option such as Paperless Post. They offer a range of customizable designs and print on high-quality recycled paper to minimize their impact. Additionally, Paperless Post has a number of other features that are helpful for the environment, including trackable links to allow your guests to RSVP via email or text message, and an ability to monitor RSVPs to help you with guest counts, child/adult headcounts, and food allergies.
For a more rustic and nature-inspired look, a natural plantable wedding invite might be perfect for you! This type of paper is embedded with seeds, which can be planted after your wedding and will grow into flowers or herbs that can be used as a keepsake for your big day. It’s also handmade in India from sanitized elephant poo and cotton fibers, so you can feel good about supporting a company that is eco-friendly and mindful of animals.
Glass Bottle Wedding Invitations
Many brides and grooms choose a glass bottle wedding invitation to deliver a truly unique message. Unlike standard invitations that often get stuck to the fridge with takeout menus, kids’ school art, and tests, this invite is guaranteed to impress guests from the moment they receive it. A great choice is the Starfish marriage invitation in a Bottle, which features a clear glass bottle filled with coral sand and miniature seashells with a dried starfish placed on the neck. The message is written on a scroll designed ivory linen paper that fits perfectly inside the bottle.
If you want to add more luxury, consider engraving or embossing your wedding invitations, customize them with names, initials, photos, or meaningful quotes. Both techniques involve a metal die that is heated and pressed against the paper to create raised letters or indented designs. However, engraving requires a separate customized plate for each color, and embossing can be costly.
Message in a Bottle beach wedding invitations are another option, featuring an illustrated empty glass bottle with a beige sand background and blue sky. The text and other information is custom printed in brown over the paper illustration. Alternatively, you can opt for the Message in a Genie Bottle design, which features an actual red or clear glass bottle that is filled with sand and seashells. Your wish is our command with this unique wedding invitation!
Recycled Paper
Paper recycling has been around for over a thousand years. In fact, it’s the oldest known waste-reduction strategy. And, with today’s technological advancements in printing and packaging, eco-friendly solutions for businesses are more available than ever before.
Almost any paper that has been used can be recycled into new paper. In fact, 76 percent of paper mills used some recovered paper in 2011, meaning that everything from your junk mail to old brochures and envelopes finds their way into new products. The recycled paper is sorted at a materials recovery facility (MRF) and the items that shouldn’t be in the paper—like plastic bags, holiday lights, and diapers—are removed. The paper is then shredded and mixed with water and other materials to create a slurry, which can be separated into different types of paper based on the type of product it will be made into.
Then, the slurry is heated to break down the fibers and make it pliable enough to mold into shape. After it’s molded, it’s washed to remove any remaining contaminants like glue and ink, and then rolled into large sheets. The resulting sheet can then be cut into various sizes and shapes for use.
When paper is recycled, it reduces the amount of virgin natural resources that need to be harvested and burned. Additionally, it cuts down on landfill waste and the pollution caused by burning paper for energy. Every ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees and uses half as much water as producing new paper from raw materials.
In addition, recycled paper is also less expensive than non-recycled paper. However, companies should balance the benefits of using recycled paper with other considerations such as price and quality.
It’s important to know how to identify paper that has been recycled, so you can easily choose this environmentally responsible option for your business needs. You can check for a slight off-white or gray color and a rough texture. It may also have some spots or fibers that were embedded during the recycling process.
By choosing recycled paper, you’ll not only help protect the environment, but you’ll also support your sustainable business goals and attract eco-conscious consumers. So, the next time you need paper for an office project or a wedding invitation, consider selecting a recycled paper alternative to save your planet and your budget.
Post-Consumer Waste Paper
Choosing paper that is made with recycled and sustainable materials is an easy way to make a difference. It’s a great first step to reducing paper waste for your big day. Choose 100% recycled or sustainably sourced papers, eco-friendly envelopes and consider options that are plantable or reusable. Avoid embellishments, glitter and many ribbons as they cannot be recycled and add to landfill waste.
Post-consumer waste paper is a type of recycled paper that comes from the end of a consumer’s paper product’s lifecycle. It includes 65% pre-consumer waste (such as scraps from the production process) and 35% post-consumer waste (paper that has been used by you). It’s important to choose this type of paper, because it helps to reduce the need for harvesting more virgin paper, which is an environmental hazard.
It’s also a good idea to choose papers that are chlorine-free. This will help prevent the release of dioxin into the environment, which is a potent cancer-causing chemical. Look for papers labeled as Processed Chlorine Free, FSC certified or the Green Seal.
You can find beautiful, eco-friendly stationery in a range of designs and styles to suit any wedding theme. Artist Lucy from Lucy Says I Do, for example, uses a local printer and eco-friendly, vegetable-based ink to create her unique collections. She also works with a paper supplier that has an environmentally responsible forestry management system to minimise their impact.
Other earth-friendly choices include seed paper invitations, which are embedded with seeds and allow guests to grow their own plants for the wedding. These are a fun and interactive option that will remind your guests of your cradle-to-cradle wedding philosophy, while reducing the amount of paper you need to print your invitations.
If you want to take a step further, you can also opt for wood wedding invites, which can be laser-engraved with your details and repurposed as a keepsake after the event. Or, for a romantic beach wedding, you can find invites made from reclaimed cork. This choice reduces the need for paper and allows you to tie in your wedding with your destination.
