Eco Wedding Registry

After all those romantic Valentine proposals (my husband proposed to me, on bended knee, Valentine’s evening 12 years ago!), many of you are into full-on planning mode. Even if you’re not getting married, I’m sure someone you know is, so I asked our Green Wedding expert, Sharon Naylor, to show us how to make your registry a little more gorgeous.

Registering for gifts is one of those ultra-fun activities that you get to do with your groom right away, and keep doing throughout your engagement season (so it’s not too late if you’ve already started!) Whether you’re browsing in-store or clicking online to build your gift lists, you now have more opportunities than ever to turn your registry green – and by that, I mean signing on for earth-friendly items that aren’t just things you’ll own, but are things you’ll use to live a greener, healthier life for as long as you both shall live. Here’s the lowdown on going green with your gift lists.

First, some basics about registries. You can have more than one. In fact, the national average is two to three different registries established by brides and grooms, and guests don’t think they’re being greedy. There are just different types of registries out there, and why shouldn’t you get to tap into them?

Next, registering for green gifts is quickly becoming a hot new trend. According to TheWeddingReport.com, a survey company tracking everything in wedding world, 55% of brides and grooms say they feel strongly about choosing eco-friendly items for their gifts and favors. That number is picking up steam, with a far higher percentage expected next year….and we have a feeling you’ll be among them.

Now, let’s get your green gift registry started:

Green Gift Registries

A number of eco-friendly stores and sites now offer their own registries, which can be accessed online or in their actual shops. Since it’s always our goal to support local businesses and artisans, we encourage you to check your favorite eco-friendly shops to see if they have a registry plan, and if they’re planning to establish one. You might just inspire them to start their own registry and boost their business, keeping them around and thriving, serving your community for a long time to come.

One national green registry is Pristine Planet, which offers the handy option of comparison shopping by price, merchant and eco-friendly product name, giving you the choice of a range of products made with fair labor, organic or otherwise sustainable materials, local manufacturing, and other green standards.

I just checked Gaiam to see about their registry, and found that it’s under construction right now, but you can add Gaiam products – and other favorite green items (plus Sophie’s books!) to your list through an Amazon registry.

Other national online green registries to check out: Greenfeet, Greensage, and Branch, where you’ll find all manner of home décor and lifestyle-enhancing products to help you start your eco-friendly new life together.

Adding Green Items to Gift Registries

You don’t have to sign onto specifically green registries, but can instead add lots of earth-friendly, fair-trade and eco-smart items to your lists at traditional stores. Here are some of the top gift registry categories, and my favorite items within each:

· Linens: Ah….the soft, comfy feel of bamboo sheets. This popular type of ultra-sustainable fabric material now comes in high thread-count sheets, towels, throws, even curtains and tablecloths, so that all of your linen needs are met and your green karma soars. The same goes for organic cottons, which are ultra-luxe against your skin and – with bamboo – make great choices for His and Hers spa robes to add to your list.

Photo courtesy of Caneel Bay Resort, www.caneelbay.com

· Kitchen small appliances: Go for Energy Star™ appliances, and you help save the world. As well as your energy bills. It may be a cliché to sign on for a blender, but when your blender is an energy-saver and you use it to prepare your home-grown veggies into meals, your container garden herbs into pesto and other healthy treats, you’ve just made a smart registry choice. The same goes for a veggie steamer, also bearing the Energy Star™ hallmark. Sophie Recommends the following cookware for your registry: Lodge, 360 Cookware, and Chantal.

· Clean air items: Indoor air pollution is a true danger to your health, so add air purifiers and filters as well as an energy-friendly anti-allergen vacuum to your list. Steer clear of scented candles and aromatherapy items that are not certified organic, since the toxins in many commercial scent products are truly heinous. Sophie recommend the Blue Air Eco Air Purifiers.

· Décor items: From bamboo room screens to coconut shell centerpiece mats, mango wood platters and trays, and fair trade artisan vases and other decorative items, your world gets green-gorgeous with your registry additions of these earth-friendly focal pieces.

· Curtains for you: Insulated curtains made from eco-friendly materials keep the hot, blazing sun from heating up your home and taxing your air conditioner, and UV rays shorten the life of your floors and furniture. So click on those as well.

· VOC-free paints: That’s right…if you’ll be painting the walls of your home in your future newlywed nesting phase, register at Lowes or Home Depot for the guest-given opportunity to use healthier paints and home improvement supplies during your projects. If you don’t have a specific paint color picked, register for gift cards at these stores and pick out your own palette….as well as gardening goodies and composting kits.

· Bikes and kayaks: A registry at REI or other active lifestyle store lets you sign on for the bike you’ll use during local errands, saving on car emissions, as well as the kayaks you’ll use with your groom on your healthy weekend getaways.

· Green guides. Pick up Sophie’s books to help you improve your green lifestyle even further, shop smarter, whip up treats and make the world a better place for you to be married in.

Eco-Friendly Charitable Registries

If you’re already fully stocked with green goods for your home, or if you’re looking for a smart choice for that second or third registry you get to make, create a charitable registry at a site like IDoFoundation.org, where your wedding leads to donations supporting eco-friendly objectives such as those for clean water domestically and abroad, or protection of animal habitats. You get to choose your favorite causes and even put in a note about why you support it.

We’d love to hear about your favorite green wedding gift registry items. What did you sign on for? What’s your dream green gift? If you’re already married, what do you wish you registered for?