Sustainability (aka green is good and gold)

Each weekday, I receive a round-up of the day's business news headlines from Mainebiz, a statewide business paper I subscribe to, and sometimes freelance for (click here to read the piece I wrote for them last spring about how the recession might impact Maine's wedding industry). In honor of Earth Day, Mainebiz posed an eco-question to the readers of this Daily briefing: Has the recession made it more difficult for your business or employer to pursue green business practices?

This got me thinking about the ways Samantha Warren Weddings has (or hasn't) become more environmentally-friendly this past year. I think it's misleading to assume that going green means you have to give more green. As I discovered when considering my own business practices, what's best for the planet is often pretty darn good for my clients as well! What's more is that many of the actions I've taken to make Samantha Warren Weddings more efficient as a small business have serendipitously lessened my impact on my bottom line and on the environment! Those two tracks are not mutually exclusive and continuing to insist that they are will only prevent us from truly embracing sustainability.

While our branding colors may be lavender and white, here is a sampling of how Samantha Warren Weddings (in addition to working from a home office, recycling, using recharegable batteries, etc.) has gone green (and why it's good for you):

•I offer completely paperless booking thanks to ShootQ, an online studio management program that allows clients to book their package, fill out their contract, pay their retainer and share their wedding day details with me all electronically. In addition to allowing me to be more organized and confident that payments are where they are supposed to be, this was a move I made to streamline and simplify the booking process for my clients, about 80 percent of whom live out of state. And never again does a potential client loose-out on having me photograph their wedding because their contract got lost in the mail!

•The album company I use to print my signature albums offers vegan cover options featuring faux leather and suede materials that look and feel as good as the real thing. And albums are always shipped in green packaging, wrapped in paper made from recycled pineapple leaves and ribbon made from beautiful recycled mulberry leaves (sounds weird, but anyone who has received an album from me knows how fantastic it looks).

•I shot my first green wedding this past fall at the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor and worked with Sara and Dean (the green couple) to educate other couples and vendors about eco-friendly weddings. This was done through a trendspotting entry on the blog about the growing green wedding movement; a Bride's Side post by Sara on realistic ways to go green; a spotlight on green weddings in the trends section of the 2009 Real Maine Weddings magazine (see item 3 on page 33); and a Real Green Weddings feature on the Green Bride Guide. As a way of celebrating Sara and Dean's commitment, I offered them complimentary rehearsal dinner coverage. You can see the slideshow of that emotional rehearsal and their wedding day and get some easy (and often cost-effective) ideas for your own green wedding here.

•Every photograph I take is digital and instead of paper proofing, I post all edited images online for client (and friends and family review) via Pictage. This saves me (and thus my client) money for printed proofs as well as the time for me to order them and my clients to sort through and then store them. Clients can then decide from there what prints, albums and other products they'd like to order, ensuring nothing that is printed will not be admired and adored.

•And finally, once a month, we have Green Clean Maine, a local earth-friendly cleaning service, come work their magic on our house/home office. In between cleanings, we use Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Home biodegradable lavender line to clean our home. In fact, their colors were in part what inspired Samantha Warren Weddings new look last summer! And, I especially recommend the dryer sheets (hint- once they've done their duty in the dryer, use them to dust with)!

As always, I am always eager to learn more ways to lessen my impact on the environment and promote sustainability. If you have any suggestions or stories to share about how you've gone green, please leave them in the comments section. And if you are planning on having a green wedding, please contact me! Anyone who books a green New England wedding with me through the end of May will receive a complimentary engagement session in support of your sustainability commitment. Go green. Save green.

(Image above from Katie and Andy's Searsport Maine wedding in the fall of 2007. Not a green wedding, but they do lots to support sustainability and I am loving the beautiful green leaves in this image. Plus they referred me to my green couple, Sara and Dean.)