Green Weddings, No Nukes

Hey Mr. Green,

My longtime boyfriend has been saving up for a (conflict-free) engagement ring for a while now and I know The Question is coming soon. That said, for those of us looking at planning a wedding over the next year or so, what are some great green ideas that can turn this memorable day into an environmentally friendly event and maybe inspire some of the guests as well? Could you give some ideas that work for larger-budget weddings as well as some for those of us working on a grad student’s budget? Thanks!

–Cass in St. Paul, Minnesota

Thank you for rescuing me from the brink of madness, because I’ve been struggling for two days trying to figure out how much nuclear power really costs per kilowatt, whereas your question has already been nicely answered by one of our fine sister organizations, the World Wildlife Fund. WWF has a wonderful list of 16 ways to green your wedding. Among their suggestions are providing vanpools for out-of-town guests and choosing locally grown flowers.

If you really want to go for all-out environmental zeal, they even have a registry that can enable your guests donate to WWF in lieu of buying gifts. Imagine, instead of dumping unwanted presents, you can help save God’s beleaguered creatures.

And if you really want to dramatize, go ahead and wear a green wedding dress, have green frosting on the cake, make the officiant wear green, and give an environmentally cool door prize. But whatever you do, promise never, ever to ask how many kilowatts are contained in the average prolonged kiss.

Mr. Green is busy on his world-wide publicity tour for his new book. In the meantime, here's a Mr. Green classic column from June 2007.

Hey Mr. Green,
I usually get 47 to 50 miles per gallon on my 2005 Prius and pay between $2.50 and $2.75 per gallon for gas. Is it cheaper, or better for the environment, to charge gadgets like my cell phone, iPod, and laptop in my car or in my house? I'm in the car about two hours a day. —Joe in San Francisco

I could be lazy and simply tell you to worry less about your toys' relatively small energy use and more about their toxic guts and batteries--and to make sure you safely recycle them. But this is such an intriguing question I couldn't resist poking around for an answer. Though off-the-grid energy production appeals to Americans' do-it-yourself spirit, it turns out that a gasoline engine is not a very efficient device for such efforts.

Using your Prius to charge your cell phone will cause you to emit about 80 percent more carbon dioxide than plugging in at home. (The cost is slightly higher too.) There is, however, one exception: You can get "free" energy if the car's battery is fully charged and the braking system is generating enough power so that the gasoline engine doesn't have to run the alternator to charge the battery. Though this is generally not the case, it might occasionally occur as you roll down the famously twisty Lombard Street or one of your city's other steep hills.