"Ask Corina" Blog

from Briliant Earth

Recently, Ian Smillie, one of the leading conflict diamond experts and key architect of the Kimberley Process diamond verification system, declared his resignation to the Kimberley Process members. Smillie declared the system ineffective, and stated in an eloquently written letter: “when regulators fail to regulate, the systems they were designed to protect collapse.”

Despite having all the tools in place, the certification scheme continues to fail to address “issues of noncompliance, smuggling, money laundering and human rights abuses” in controversial diamond fields. In the recent weeks following Smillie’s resignation, multiple other groups have publicly announced their lack of faith in the scheme’s ability to adequately police the diamond trade.

Despite the problems with the Kimberley Process, there are ethical diamond options for conscious consumers. Consumers should look for conflict-free and ethical origin diamonds that are independently tracked from the country and individual mine of origin to ensure high standards of social and environmental responsibility. Canadian diamonds remain a clear choice as are emerging programs for responsibly mined, cut, and polished stones from Namibia. These diamonds have been carefully traced to ensure environmentally responsible and fair labor practices throughout their chain of custody.

Brilliant Earth will continue to carry only ethically sourced diamonds that are mined under strict social and environmental standards.

Read more at Brilliant Earth.

We just finished a two day “Green Wedding” shoot with Bloomberg News. Look for it to be aired near the end of the year, and of course we will post the link on our site as well.

The story will feature the wedding of Vivek and Christine who were so wonderfully gracious to let the camera’s in on thier unique, organic and locally inspired green wedding. Their special day was filled will the couples passion for supporting organic and sustainable products and service. Unique table arrangements of fruit and vegetables were the centerpiece of this wedding. You’ll see designer and florist Desiree De Lara in action as she places these beauties on each table.

The second part of the shoot was a trip around San Francisco visiting some of my favorite vendors in the green-wedding space. Eco-bling was featured by Brilliant Earth (of course) in spectacular settings and loose diamonds.  Co-founder Eric Grossberg was knowledgeable and forthcoming about the new and growing niche of conscious jewelry. You’ll learn a lot about what to look for when making this very important purchase!

I made sure we paid a visit to one of the most authentic and truly high-end sustainable caterers I know, LRE catering. Co-owner Kim Stevens shares with us that the companies sustainable choices are really “just part of their personal values” from the onset of business! LRE is committed to supporting local, organic,  agriculture and slow food, and does so in the most pleasing ways– through exquisite tasting and presented meals.

My dear friend Nicole Sillapere, founder of the famous Sillapere eco-event design firm in San Francisco, not only shares why she’s committed to going green in her business and the events she produces, but shows us some of her favorite eco-design tips! We called it her “Martha Moment” and she shines with helpful ways in reducing, reusing, and sourcing sustainable design for your wedding or special event.

And what’s a green wedding without carbon offsets? I took the Bloomberg team over to visit Jason Smith of LiveNeutral and ClimateCheck. Jason and I graduated from Presidio School of Management together and have had the pleasure of being able to continue to support each other through our mutal businesses. Jason rocked the interview, explaining carbon trading and offsets in the simplest and most meaningful way I’ve heard yet! You’ll begin to see why this simple step in greening your wedding is my #1 Green Wedding MUST!

Our last stop was a conversation with incredibly talented fashion designer Lily Achatz, who is starting a new line of eco-inspired wedding gowns in SF. Being sold at top eco-fashion store EcoCitizen, her green wedding gowns feature repurposed vintage dresses with additions of hemp silk and charmeuse. Lily was incredibly sweet to bring one of her newest gowns for the TV shoot, working around the clock to get it ready for us to see. Lily is a true artist, and you’ll be WOW’ed at the possibilities she brings to your green wedding gown choices!

It was an honor to be able to share these fabulous vendors with the Bloomberg viewing audience and to have them tell their unique and special stories as small green business owners. Talented, smart, and inspired, these friends of mine are the reason I love what I do. Together with the help of each green bride and groom interested in a green wedding that supports their values and beliefs; we are making a real difference and transforming this industry one (aisle) step at a time!

Thanks so much to Vivek and Christine, thier family and friends, Desiree, Eric, Kim, Nicole, Jason, Lily, Joslin of EcoCitizen, and mostly to the Bloomberg News producer Elizabeth Gould and her kick-butt crew who busted through six interview in one day. We’re so happy to be recognized for our work here in San Francisco and to inspire more Great Green Weddings around the country!

You’ve done a great job including eco-friendly options into most all aspects of your wedding, from the location to the flowers, from the gown to the gift registry. But now you’re left wondering “How do I green my wedding cake?”

Never fear, many options abound for a sustainable, organic, locally sourced (and not to mention healthy) wedding cake. Seek out a baker in your area that is used to working with natural ingredients like unbleached flour and unrefined sugar. Also ask where they source their products from, as most European bakers import their materials from Europe adding to the carbon footprint of your wedding. Finally, be sure the chocolate and vanilla are not just added flavorings, but sourced naturally from Fair Trade organizations.

Choosing the right cake for your wedding can be a fun experience, so take your time, go to the cake tastings (YUM), and get to know your options so you can make the right choice that meets your style expectations as well as your personal values. Everyone has their own motivations as to why a processed, refined cake just doesn’t cut it for their green wedding!

You have food allergies. Whether you’re gluten intolerant, diabetic, or just plain health-conscious, no need to worry. Bewitching Elegance in Burlingame, CA offers diabetic friendly cakes made with agave nectar. Short Street Cakes in Asheville, NC has delectable treats and wedding cakes in gluten-free and sugar-free options. Many bakeries these days can cater to special dietary needs, so just ask!

You’re vegan. Many bakers now have redesigned their recipes to replace anything animal-derived, and there’s no sacrificing on flavor! Sticky Fingers in Washington, DC promises to have even the pickiest guest’s mouth watering over their vegan creations. Dulce Vegan in Atlanta, GA also offers 100% vegan, organic, and unprocessed sweets. On the West Coast, try Sugar Beat Sweets in San Francisco, or Black Sheep Bakery in Portland, OR – both are uncompromising in their values and committed to providing 100% vegan confections.

You want it to be organic. With the growing awareness of pesticides and contaminants in our food, of course that extends to our special-occasion baked delectables as well! Tree House Pastry Shop in New Mexico specializes in all-organic creations, while Stephanies in San Diego focuses on nutritious, wholesome ingredients. Lotus Cake Studio in Philadelphia makes all organic couture cakes and “artful edibles.”

Sustainable environmental and Fair Trade practices are important to you. Consider the lifecycles of each ingredient in your cake – was that decadent chocolate produced by workers subjected to slave labor? Was that sugar harvested in a plantation that destroyed the local habitat? Though easy to overlook, these are serious issues as well. Sweet and Organic in Oak Park, CA creates wedding cakes using kosher, organic ingredients, and supports sustainable business practices. Hippie Chick Bakery in New Hampshire sources their ingredients locally and utilizes green practices themselves – they even use eggs from their own flock of free-range rescued shelter chickens!

You’re a raw foodist. Although most bakers do not have a “raw option,” you know as well as I do that a raw cake can be done – just as rich and heavenly as a baked one. Karyn’s, which blesses Chicago with a raw food cafe, conscious foods restaurant, and a day spa, offers gourmet raw wedding cakes upon request. Also try Mary’s Secret Garden in Los Angeles to special order a raw vegan wedding cake that truly nurtures mind, body, and spirit or Veggie Munn in Miami for raw, vegan, wheat-free, sugar-free, organic delights. Tried and true Cafe Gratitude provides scrumptious raw wedding cakes for the San Francisco Bay Area.

What is the most effective way to let event attendees know the special event is green?

Great question, and one of my current favorite’s to help clients produce! Recently I commented to Teresa’s blog post on a wedding invitation she recieved and her concern over the sustainability of the food on the menu she had to pick from– beef, fish or vegetatrian. Her post is a great example of a guest that have sustainable values, and wants to know you’ve considered the future of the planet in the poduction of your special event.

So, to get the conversation rolling that you are having a green special event start with the invitation– the first point of contact. Be sure to include that is is printed on recycled paper, or has plantable seeeds embedded. Guests will be looking for this information– I’m telling you!

Next, if you are serving an organic and seasonal feast, let them know — “We’re proud to serve you a variety of seasonal and local organic foods at our special event…”. And because fish populations are dying around the world do to over fishing, let your guests know you and your caterer are serving sustainably sourced seafood! It will give everyone some peace of mind when making their selections.

Next, post it on your web site. Be sure to include a section of your site that lists your commitments to greening your special event. Consider linking to local resources for more information or to nonprofit organizations that inspire you to care for the planet. It’s important to engage your guests in who you are and what you care about!

Next, include in your program some language that you have greened your event. I like to have a heading that says “Greening Graduation” — if it’s a graduation I’m producing. You should include any sustainable vendor names that you feel deserve recognition, and list all the ways you integrated organic, local, seasonal, and carbon offsets in to your event.

Next, if you are having a program of some sort, or at the wedding reception, consider making a public announcement — “To showcase our values for the future of the planet we’ve created an event that is zero waste, has a low carbon impact, and is water conscious….”. Encourage guests to do that same at their next event and through out their lives– this is where your thoughtful “green favor” will come in handy!

Finally, display a plaque at your buffet or at your check-in table. Show all your guests that this is something meaningful to you and important by displaying it in the open. It is amazing how many people read these plaques and have side conversations on how cool it is…I’ve seen it, many times!

Have fun sharing your values and commitments to a healthy and vibrant future we all desire! Let me know if you’ve done something you thought was unique others should try.

Are you shopping for that eco-fabulous gown you’ve always dreamed about? You’re not alone…and thankfully the designers are catching on! The ever-so-savvy eco-bride these days seeks a gown that’s truly a perfect fit — not only physically, but one that reflects her sense of style, and most importantly, her personal values. A bride’s gown makes the ultimate personal statement, and thanks to the incredible array of dress styles, fabrics, and creative resources available now, there’s no reason to sacrifice style for going green at your wedding.

So, what does your wedding gown choice (and any clothing choice, for that matter!) have to do with the planet? A lot. From the growing or making of the fiber, to the toxic chemicals used in bleaching and dying of the fabric, to the discarding of products after their useful life has ended, textiles leave a significant environmental footprint. For example, Environmental Health Perspectives claims that cotton accounts for a quarter of the pesticides used in the USA. According to MoreThanWaste.com, in 2006 the UK textile industry produced 2 million tons of waste, 3.1 million tons of CO2, and 70 million tons of waste water. We are all hopefully aware by now of sweat shop labor, which still poses an issue in our clothing choices. Read more about the environmental and social impacts of the garment industryon their site!

Thankfully, a range of new (and “old”) options offer you the chance to reduce the environmental and social impact of your wedding dress, through reuse, reconstruction, or new eco-effective designs.

For a new, yet perfectly eco-fabulous option, Natural Bridals offers stunning gowns made from hemp and silk. We love the Alyssa, a full Princess gown with beautiful layering to create a sexy, unique look. Designer Morgan Boszilkov is committed to offering designer label green gowns, while contributing 5% of her profits to organizations that support that environment.

If you’ve always dreamed of that Vera Wang gown for your wedding, don’t fret- you can still be an eco-savvy bride. Scope out Bellancora and PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com for “worn once” designer gowns at affordable prices. If you do decide to purchase a new gown, be sure to go socially responsible…try Bridal Garden, a not-for-profit bridal boutique who donates to the education of New York City children. Dresses are donated to them by top designers, stores, or individuals and prices are up to 75% off original retail. After you’ve enjoyed your gown, sell it again, and give your dress more chances to shine in its life cycle.

For an eco-couture approach, Annatarian works with brides to develop their custom dress, using vintage and organic fabrics to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art. With an obvious passion for the planet, designer Anna Mkhitarian utilizes “eco-effective” design, which is based on giving back to the environment, and creating no waste in the production. Check out more of her reconstructed bridal designs online.

If you need some assistance, Vibrant Events has customized green wedding packages you can choose from now. Contact us for a conversation about how we can help you create a celebration that truly reflects your values and your style!

Hot off the press! Introducing E-Clips, the coolest and most interesting way to announce your event.

These are short video clips customized into a unique invitation for weddings, showers, birthday parties, announcements, and more. As internet connections get faster and technology matures, online videos are much easier to watch than ever before. With music, a cute story, and creative techniques, E-Clips helps convey a feeling to invited guests in your own words and narrative. When you send your save-the-date or invitation video clip via email or post to your website you’ll not only invite your guests into your unique story, you’ll also save valuable resources like trees, energy, and water. The folks at E-Clips have done a great job making the case for their product, posting important facts and figures on the paper industry online. For some great examples of E-Clips videos, click here…we love Beata’s Birthday video. How cute is she!?

If you’re planning on making your wedding green, you’re probably already thinking about using eco-friendly invitations. But you may not be aware of all the latest and greatest green invite options that have popped up latley!

Traditionally, wedding invitations include an outer envelope, inner envelope, the invitation itself, a reply card, and directions to the venue – that’s a lot of paper! Paper manufacturing is extremely resource intensive, requiring huge amounts of water and fossil fuels. In fact, The Federal Network on Sustainability states that the pulp and paper industry is the second largest consumer of energy! Then there’s the printing industry, which uses millions of tons of ink, toner, solvents, coatings, and adhesives derived from non-renewable petroleum. Waste products from these processes cause great harm to surrounding ecosystems. Consider this – according to Green Print, production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 2,278 lb of solid waste!

There are many ways to incorporate all of the usual functions of a wedding invite, and still tread lightly on the planet in the process. Here are some of our favorites!

Looking for a well designed invitation with classy appeal? Earthly Affair– who’s latest designs are featured above– offers gorgeous, eco-friendly invitations in two paper options – 100% Post Consumer Waste (considered the most environmentally efficient option, using no new trees) and cotton, which is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified for responsible forest management and consists of partially recycled content. Earthly Affair is committed to recycling, reusing, or composting everything in the studio. They even keep track of their shipment to you and will offset the co2 emissions through the nonprofit CarbonFund! Stay tuned for the option to custom design your invites in the next few months. Vibrant loves: the modern, yet earthy “Daffodil” collection.

For a more DIY approach, InviteSite offers a huge variety of luxurious tree-free and 100% postconsumer recycled invites. You can print them yourself, or have them do it w/ their own vegetable based inks. InviteSite is dedicated to promoting alternative fiber papers such as mulberry, latka, and milkweed. Vibrant loves: the 100% eco “Lily.”

Want to go paperless? You know about Evite– but maybe you haven’t thought about using it for your wedding because they are usually lacking in elegance. That’s where Pingg comes in! Stylish, sophisticated, and deeply customizable – these invites have it all. Advanced, yet easy RSVP management, gift registry integration, and even the option of printing and mailing – because some people just want an old-fashioned invitation. And unlike Evite, guests can conveniently RSVP without going to the website. We think Pingg is a great option for your green wedding invites - without sacrificing in the style department!

Still need some help? Vibrant Event is a full service green wedding planning company. Give us a call now to find out how we can support you with customized eco-invitations that don’t skimp on style! There are many local and green options available, if you know where to look. We’ll help you find the best in your area.

I understand that corporate events are often challenging when it comes to “ooo’ing” and “ahhh’ing” the guests (partly because they are used to attending events), but when I read the recent online newsletter for Special Events Magazine, I couldn’t resist posting my response to showcase why green events matter.

The highlighted event, the BASF Pack.it meeting, featured a building that was literally wrapped entirly in plastic wrap! The idea was to use “packaging” as a theme and to artistically express that throughout the event because the client, BASF, produces plastic for packaging. It’s a fun idea to want to wrap a building in plastic for sure…they even went as far as wrapping the surrounding trees as well (symbolism anyone?)…but I can’t help ask isn’t it a bit of a waste? — did anyone think about the wasted resources (plastic is made from precious, non-renewable oil) and where it would all go after the event?

Not only did they wrap 13,000 square feet of the building and the trees to showcase the “power of packaging,” but they also served a 10-course meal in individual wrapped dishes with their own “distinctive packaging.” (A green event no no!) Impressive as it must have been to be surrounded in packaging, I can’t stop myself from having a reaction here. WOW! It seems like the underlying message was “produce lots of plastic packaging.” Is that really what consumers want?

Packaging is a major player in the dilemma’s we’re now facing in keeping a sustainable planet, one that works with nature, not against it. Think about it…how often are you confident that your plastic packaging is getting recycled, or how often do you even know what plastic packaging is recyclable? I know I’m confused a lot, and I live in Ecotopia (Northern California).

Wal-Mart is even behind an initiative to reduce packaing. They are forcing all their suppliers to follow a Packaging Scorecard so as to reduce the amount of weight in trucking and emissions in the air. In fact, in 1991 Germany instituted the Green Dot System, specifically targeting reducing packaging waste by making it all recyclable—well designed packages got a green dot. (It’s funny then that this event took place in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where BASF is headquartered.)

Though the article didn’t say explicitly what happened to all this packaging after the event, I’m left concerned. Special events are meant to be impressive and inspiring, but without conscious thought to the end-of-life of a lot of the products used in producing large scale special events, they can be extremely wasteful. This is why I’m dedicated to inspiring a “sustainable” transformation within this industry, and why I believe green events need to happen!

Happy love day everyone! It’s been awhile since I last posted…oops. But I have a good excuse…I’m writing a book! “The Sierra Club Guide to Green Weddings” will be out later this year, and full of great green tips, green wedding planning advice, and amazing expert help from so many of my friends in the emerging green event space.

I’ll be posting periodically parts of the book to share with you, and hope to see you out on the book tour as well, where you can see me and hopefully experience some of the vendors I rave about. More on all this soon!

In other great news we’ve had some wonderful green weddings and super fabulous green events happening here at Vibrant, and there has been tremendous movement in the green events industry (YAY!). I’ll be posting those photos and coverage of the latest and greatest at Vibrant Events soon as well.

Yesterday this great article was published in Weddings Houston (thank you to the best green PR guy around, Michael Straus) featuring Meghan Meyers from Portovert, Gerald Prolman from Organic Bouquet, and I. The reporter, Natasha Garber, did a great job weaving all our perspectives together into a pretty fabulous feature on Green Weddings. I love how she’s captured the essence of this movement in the first paragraph:

“Your wedding celebration is an occasion for elegance, opulence, even decadence. With all that beauty and bounty, it’s also a potential opportunity for excessive energy consumption and wastefulness. But what if there were a few simple, sensible ways for you to keep your wedding clean and “green” without sacrificing one ounce of style or sumptuousness? In fact, there are countless ways to reduce the environmental impact of your wedding, from floral to favors to footprint—carbon footprint, that is.”

After writing a book for six months, I’ve come to admire greatly the craft of writing well!

For now, I hope you all are enjoying the bounty of love and beauty that surrounds you! Happy, happy love day!

Be back soon!

With summer upon us, I’m planning on hosting a lot of BBQ picnics. What suggestions do you have to make it a family and earth-friendly day?

BBQ picnics are a great way to gather friends and family for a great time, but many people are unaware of the environmental tolls these events have on our planet. The thousands of paper plates, plastic forks and vinyl table cloths that get trashed each year is a huge waste of resources and takes it’s toll, unnecessarily, filling landfills. Here are some things to consider when planning your special event this summer:

• One of the most important things you can do is stay away from charcoal lighter fluid. It is full of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) that evaporate into the charcoal and help get it started. But then when you cook your food over it those toxins go into the food and then eventually into your body. This causes health problems, especially in children, but when the VOC’s escape into the atmosphere they become one of the primary contributors to the creation of ozone, trapping heat in our atmosphere, aiding in global warming. Instead consider a charcoal chimney, which uses newspaper to heat your coals instead of lighter fluid. And of course propane BBQ’s are a better way to go as well.

• Eat organic, and when you can’t, buy local! This reduces the amount of pollution causing pesticides and promotes healthy soils and agricultural practices, and reduces pollution caused by shipping your food from locations far from your home.

• Eliminate paper napkins, plastic garbage bags, cups and cutlery. Cloth tablecloths, silverware, and glasses always add a touch of class to your event, and can be taken home and washed – always the more environmentally responsible choice. But if you must go with disposable, why not consider purchase biodegradable bags, plates, cups and cutlery made from cornstarch and can be composted after your picnic. These new eco-innovations can be purchased online at GreenHome.com and the price is coming down all the time!

• Keep the bugs away with non-toxic insect repellants this summer. Toxic repellants have endocrine disrupters and powerful chemicals which have long term effects in the human body. Choose new improved natural repellants that don’t make you sick, or harm your body like Orange Guard, or Battle.

Whether you BBQ just over a holiday weekend or at anytime of the year, these tips are universal. And if you feel you just can’t get to all of this, just bringing an environmental awareness to your event by not over purchasing and keeping waste of resources to a minimum will contribute a lot. Just don’t forget to enjoy your green event and your summer!