Guest article by Suzan St Maur.

Not only do weddings represent substantial expenditure (the average spend in the UK is around £19,000) but also they can involve huge amounts of waste that can have a crippling, rippling effect across the environment and into far-flung communities which are anything but “fair-trade.” Here Suzan St Maur, author of “How To Get Married In Green,” gives us her 12 top tips on how to make a wedding much greener – without compromising on style.

1.       Rings. If buying a new diamond, ensure it was mined in Canada or other fairtrade location. Consider a man-made gemstone instead. For wedding rings, buy secondhand or have new ones made from recycled gold. You can even have wedding rings made from reclaimed wood!

2.       Hen and stag celebrations. Organise your party as close to home as possible, and if you are travelling abroad choose overland transport rather than flying. Avoid activities that involve burning fuel or other forms of pollution.

3.       Location. Choose a location that involves a minimum of travel for you and guests, and a reception venue that has a decent recycling policy. If you’re having a civil wedding, have the ceremony and reception in the same place.

4.       Communications. Do as much communication as you can by email / a wedding website, and ensure that what printed material you use is done by green printing techniques on recycled or sustainable- source paper.

5.       Wedding dress. Don’t buy a brand new dress before checking out hire, buying secondhand, borrowing, etc. Ensure all wedding outfits, if bought, can be used again afterwards, and choose natural, washable fabrics to avoid the pollution of dry cleaning.

6.       Wedding gifts. Ask for gifts made from recycled and/or ethical sources, and remember that money may not be PC but is actually quite green! If you don’t need gifts ask guests to make donations to a charity or eco-activity instead.

7.       Flowers and floral decorations. Avoid commercial floristry that uses flowers from non-fairtrade countries, imported by air. Try to use organic, locally produced flowers and greenery. Consider potted plants, topiary, dried or fake arrangements instead of cut flowers.

8.       Reception. Have yours in daylight hours to cut back on energy used for lighting. Avoid disposable crockery and cutlery – china and metal are greener. Make sure your wedding favours are “green” in nature – e.g. small potted plants – and ensure as much as possible afterwards is properly recycled.

9.       Food and drinks. Choose organic and/or locally produced ingredients for your wedding food wherever possible, preferably using only fresh foods that are in season. Choose organic, fairtrade, sustainable, biodynamic and British-produced drinks. Ensure your tea and coffee are fair-trade, too.

10.   Photography. Ensure your photographer uses digital systems as traditional film involves harsh chemicals. Do not offer guests disposable cameras at your reception. Keep prints to a minimum; choose online viewing of your pictures wherever possible.

11.   Transport. Avoid gas-guzzling cars to transport the wedding party, and try to minimise motor vehicle use amongst guests. Consider horse drawn transport or pedal power, but don’t sacrifice clothes, hair makeup etc. just to save a few litres of fuel!

12.   Honeymoon. Remember that the closer to home you honeymoon, in general the greener it will be. If you must go abroad, use a reputable carbon offset scheme and consider a location of eco-tourism. At all costs avoid cruise ships which normally are very “dirty.”

Excerpted from “How To Get Married In Green” by Suzan St Maur, published by

How To Books, £8.99.

From all good bookshops and on Amazon - link on right!

All great tips there, and I’m sure some are adaptable, it’s all about looking at things in a different way!

Huge thanks to Suzan, who has hinted that she may be back with more for us! 

Yes, in green. Or rather in a greener way.

How to get Married in Green by Suzan St Maur landed through the letterbox about a week ago, just begging to be passed around some friends, drooled over and then reviewed.

As the whole "green" subject becomes more and more complex - combining environmental, ethical and organic issues, some of which can be conflicting - it’s getting progressively harder to work out how to make your wedding eco-friendly without ending up with a glorified mudbath. Yet, quite rightly, many couples now want their weddings designed to help keep our planet, environment, agriculture and employment ethics as healthy as possible …without compromising on style, glamour, quality and, of course, fun. A tall order? Not now, with "How to Get Married in Green."

In this book, Suzan St Maur (also author of "Wedding Speeches For Women" and "The A to Z of Wedding Worries and how to put them right") neatly unravels the increasingly tangled web of green issues relating to weddings; so that you can: choose from a range of options depending on how far you want to pursue your green approach; see how these options work across all key areas of your wedding; get some clever, effective ideas on transport, decorations, clothes, catering, entertainment and more; learn how to make those ideas work for you with style and panache; understand just what an appreciable difference these measures will make to our planet and wellbeing; and, enjoy your wedding (and its planning) even more, because you know you’re making a difference.

That’s the synopsis from Amazon.  

Despite the emphasis on getting married, this book is just plain brilliant for organising any large gathering! From clothing to makeup, shoes to stationary, food and flowers - whatever you might need for your wedding, Suzan has found a greener alternative. But you can still have a white dress, you don’t actually have to get married in green …… However, you can get married (or do a civil ceremony, blessing, handfasting, or any other ceremony you prefer) in lots of style, with huge impact but with little harm done to the environment. You can have a fantastic day and feel even better at the end because of all the differences you made. It’s a shame I’m single really, but I’ll definitely be dipping into it for ideas when it comes to book launches and parties in the future.

I’d love to see a book in this series for general party planning, maybe eco-friendly kids parties?  What do you think Suzan?

Having written a number of articles about the benefit to both the environment and ourselves in buying organic cotton. I feel that some of the benefits are negated if for the remainder of the garments life it is washed in detergents and chemicals which may be almost as damaging. So I would like to share with you some of the eco friendly non toxic methods of stain removal I have researched. Some may have been well known to your grandmother and she may have passed it on but some will be new. But please I would urge you to check labels and use your own judgment before you proceed willy nilly with some of these suggestions. One important tip to remember if you have treated a stain and put it through the wash is to check if it’s worked before you dry it. Once it has been dried it will be almost impossible to remove
For the removal of oil or fat stains even tomato sauce if it is dry try cornflour rubbed into the stain and left for about 20 minutes then brushed off with a soft cloth or brush. This may need several applications for a good result. Speed up the process if you wish by placing a paper towel above and below the treated stain and running a hot steam iron over it. Stains from fruit including wine and tomato sauce disappear when boiling water is poured over them in a bowl. Ball point ink stains can be tricky but soak in milk it may take a while and need a top up but it does work. Apparently this also works on chocolate and even blood. Rust stains can be cleared with application of a layer of salt and lemon juice squeezed over the top and then rubbed in.
Vinegar is the tops when it comes to multiple uses. For wine spots on cotton treat within 24 hours with white distilled vinegar applied directly to the stain and rubbed. Then clean in accordance with instructions on the label.
This next is not exactly stain removal but it is a good tip. To freshen baby clothes add one cup of white distilled vinegar to each load of baby clothes during the rinse cycle, it will naturally break down uric acid and soapy residue and leave the clothes soft and fresh. This treatment helps any clothes to rinse better it does not harm the fabric but will dissolve alkaline in soaps and detergents. To remove chewing gum pour straight vinegar over it to saturate this works even better if you heat the vinegar first. Another suggestion is to use basic hair shampoo (without inbuilt conditioner) on stains on washable materials, work it well into the fibres, but carefully if it’s delicate. Follow up with your usual wash. Of course one thing which is great for nappies and whites is natural sunlight which helps to bleach out stains but this is a summertime only solution here in the United Kingdom. I hope that you will find some of these tips helpful.

Of course we would add soap nuts as the gentlest laundry detergent in existence………… 

Reproduced with the kind permission of Linda Sones of Sones UK.  Suppliers of the finest organic cotton baby and children’s clothing, personally selected and endorsed by Linda Sones.

Our skin is the face we show the world isn’t it?  By using soap nuts we can start to control the amount of chemicals our skin is exposed to all day every day. Some of us might want to think about a more natural source of make-up too. More on that another day but if you’re interested then a visit to Janey Lee Grace’s Imperfectly Natural forum will yield plenty of information for you!

When things aren’t quite right in the body then symptoms are often expressed through or on the skin and this does tend to lend itself to a holistic approach in treatment.

This Article comes to Ethics Trading courtesy of Fiona Dilston, a qualified Homeopath.

Skin and Homeopathy

The skin is the largest human organ of elimination and it is our interface with the world as well. Skin complaints unlike other ailments are immediately visible to those around you particularly if they are on the hands or face which can often be prime sites for their eruption. The skin will seek to push out any toxins in the body and this is acutely obvious with teenage acne and as well with food and other reactions in some individuals.
Sometimes though there can appear to be no real reason for a skin complaint and if after trying the usual avenues of looking at washing detergents ,skin care regimes,diet and the fibres in the clothes you are wearing there is still no change there is frequently a sense of despair.
Homeopathy can help often where other treatments fail or merely give partial relief. A major factor in skin ailments is often stress or emotional upset which can trigger a low level seemingly manageable condition to the point of major aggravation. The Homeopath will seek to identify the things that worsen and ease the condition and take an individual approach asking about effects ranging from food to family to weather and the particular time of day or night that the skin is at its best or worst. It is an individualised approach that the Homeopath takes to choose from a range of suitable remedies and match them up to get what is the most appropriate for the case.
One particular case which I will mention is that of a mum of three small children who had the most awful eczema on her hands to the extent that doing even the most basic of things around the house and for her children was virtually impossible.The eczema was on her palms and causing the skin to tighten. When she approached me it was as a last resort and she was not finding life easy at all.Her telephone consultation with me revealed that the problem with her hands had come on after a family row where she had experienced lots of grief and upset. I explained to her that the hands can often be a prime site for “emotional release” as the hands are very connected in terms of energy flow to the heart which is where we feel emotional hurt and grief. It is also the hands with which we connect with others and can be affectionate ie holding hands. I found myself in fact looking at remedies more associated with the heart than with the skin and it was with a “heart remedy” that this lady found relief from the painful condition. She now enjoys lots of knitting and says “I couldn’t move my hands never mind do stuff I would never have been able to knit before having treatment.”

Fiona Dilston is a homeopath and counsellor based in Scotland she offers homeopathic treatment by phone and internet . Her website can be found at http://www.moonlightessence.co.uk .

Fiona Dilston - Homeopath, Healer and Intuitive Counsellor
BA LLCHOM
Cert Couns.
Dip ITEC
Reiki and Seichem Master
tel 01309 641221
http://www.moonlightessence.co.uk

Thank you for that Fiona. If anyone wants more information on Homeopathy then please get in touch with Fiona.

Welcome to the new Ethics Trading blog where you’ll find articles, information, hints and tips on living in a more Earth friendly way. You might find ways to use soap nuts, uses for essential oils or information about holistic remedies. You’ll also find product announcements and news, advice on recycling, reducing waste and managing a more sustainable lifestyle in this modern, high speed world we live in. 

We will also be featuring Guest articles from time to time so please do get in touch if you think you have something we might like to use.  

So, a very warm welcome to those who found this early and as soon as the new design of the Ethics Trading site is complete and this blog is fully integrated, I’ll be posting more.

Regards,

Sarah