Weddings generally have a negative impact on the environment as people travel from far and near in cars and planes to attend, electricity is expended to light large venues, vendors deliver goods in moving vans, and loads of paper are used for invitations, programs, menus, and thank you notes.
It is our goal to make our wedding as green as possible.
One of the easiest ways to green one's wedding is to make it small, but we have so many amazing loved ones that we can't wait to have in one place to share our special day, we can't stand the thought of not inviting as many of them as we can. This means a lot of carbon dioxide is going to go into the atmosphere as the you all travel to get to us. We would like to suggest that you consider purchasing carbon offsets for your trip.
There are several arguments against carbon offsets: the money is spent on programs that would have been funded regardless of revenue from carbon offsets, the projects funded are actually more detrimental than beneficial, carbon offsets make it seem like continuing to behave and pollute the way we do is excusable.
Still, I think that if done right, carbon offsets can be a good thing. If you buy them in addition to doing other things in your life to reduce your footprint, like driving less and having one vegetarian dinner a week, then you're not just pretending like you can buy your way out of hurting the environment.
I've done some research and picked an organization that I think is reputable: Native Energy. You can use their Native Energy Travel Calculator and then buy offsets from them that will be used to fund the Wewoka Biogas Project, which converts methane from a municipal landfill in Oklahoma into energy for a brick factory next door.
For more on the pros and cons of carbon offsets, please see Offset Consumer, and this article by George Monbiot, "Selling Indulgences."
Another thing we'd like you to consider is your mode of transportation once you arrive in the Bay Area. You can rent a fuel-efficient car from Hertz, which has a pick-up location at the Oakland Airport. The day of the wedding, you might be able to carpool to the venue with other guests you know. And while you're in the Bay Area, you can travel by public transportation: our BART train system is a fast and easy way to get from the East Bay to San Francisco.
Another thing we'd like you to consider is your mode of transportation once you arrive in the Bay Area. You can rent a fuel-efficient car from Hertz, which has a pick-up location at the Oakland Airport. The day of the wedding, you might be able to carpool to the venue with other guests you know. And while you're in the Bay Area, you can travel by public transportation: our BART train system is a fast and easy way to get from the East Bay to San Francisco.
