Last week, I was at the second meeting of the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance. This is a group of wedding vendors who are all committed to environmental sustainability and social responsibility. The official mission statement is:
Chicago Green Wedding Alliance is established to encourage mindful weddings, commitment ceremonies, and social events by connecting a community of environmentally and socially responsible vendors with the conscious consumer. Members are united in their effort to continually grow and inform their responsible business practices through the support of their like-minded peers.
This group is still quite new but it’s an exciting group of people. Watch for more information on a vendor list at their website and some upcoming events.
Compostable disposables are a great idea for an eco-friendly party, right? Well, maybe.
But let me back up a minute, first. What is a compostable disposable? Well, plastic (like, for plates, cups, silverware, etc.) can be made from petroleum. That kind is definitely not compostable and you have to throw it out. Plastic can also be made from corn, and dishes and so on made from that kind of plastic are marketed as being compostable.
Technically, yes, it is possible to compost corn plastic. But the best authorities I can find (Smithsonian Magazine, for instance), say that it can only be composted in very hot, commercial composting facilities. Being curious about this claim, my husband and I tried some experiments, with the help of a friend who has a very good home composting pile. We took some cups and lids from my husband’s coffee roasting business to our friend. The cups were paper lined with a very thin layer of corn plastic. The lids were somewhat thicker plastic, but thinner than a plastic water bottle, and far thinner than a plastic plate.
The cups were shredded (with the assistance of the friend’s gentle pit bull) and put in the pile. The lids went in whole (since the dog wasn’t interested in them). In a reasonable amount of time (a few months, I believe), the paper and thin layer of corn plastic disappeared into the pile. So far, so good. That was last summer. A few days ago, we were back at the friend’s house, and she handed us a lid that had been in the pile for about 9 months. It was intact, whole, undisturbed. Even her warm, active compost pile had not been able to digest even that much corn plastic. Apparently, it does take a hotter compost pile to compost them.
Here is the lid after sitting in a nice, warm, active compost pile for almost a year.
But where do you find a commercial composter that will take corn plastics? You can search for them at Find a Composter. Search by state and then under “Paper and Compostable Products.” You will find that they do not exist in every state. For instance, while there are nine commercial composters in the state of Illinois, not one of them takes compostable plastic. Connecticut, on the other hand, has one such facility; California has fifteen. You might find, however, that many facilities do not take composting materials from households.
What is the solution, then? If you are throwing a party and want to keep it as eco-friendly as possible, use ceramic dishes. Rent them from a nearby rental house to reduce transportation waste. If you have to use disposables, consider paper. It is a renewable resource, like corn, and is much more compostable. And, as we discovered, paper cups lined with corn plastic are actually compostable, even in a home compost pile. If you need disposable utensils, though, there aren’t any really good answers. Something is going to be thrown away, whether it is corn plastic or petroleum plastic.
So, be wary of the claims of compostability. This is new territory and there are still a lot of questions to be answered.
Together, we plan even the smallest detail. Courtesy of sprungphoto.com.
Sometimes it takes someone else’s chance comment to point out how one is different from others. I had that experience this week when I was chatting with the owner of a very nice event space. She asked what services I offer my clients, and when I described what I offer for day-of event coordinating, she couldn’t help saying, “That sounds like a lot more than day-of coordination!”
Here’s what I offer besides coordination on the day of a wedding: one planning meeting at the venue; a two-hour rehearsal; confirmation of all vendors; timeline for the day; floor plans, if needed; vendor referrals; and unlimited phone calls and e-mails. Also, unlike some others, I am happy to book a year in advance. What this means is that when you hire me to do day-of coordination of your wedding, you also get a consultant who will work with you through the entire process. By your wedding day, I am thoroughly familiar with what you want to have happen and I have been able to think it through. And for all that, I think my prices are quite reasonable, too.
Why do I offer so much for so little? I like to offer my clients the highest level of service and value for your money. In order to be fully prepared to coordinate a wedding, it is well worth my time to get to know my clients and get to know what you want and what you expect. And for a minimal investment of time, I can help you to refine and improve your plans so you can actually have the wedding you want.
Would you like to find out what I can do for you? Get in touch and I’ll tell you.
I have another part of my business besides wedding and event planning. I also make handmade lace wedding accessories. Lace wedding garters will go on sale very soon.
Pale blue wedding garter with handmade tatted lace
Above is a photo of a garter. The lace is all made by hand (by me, of course). Tatted lace is made of thousands of knots on very tiny thread. Each garter contains about 17,000 knots! The lace is attached to satin ribbon, and the garter has a soft cotton backing. The garter is entirely constructed by hand.
Here is a close-up:
Close-up of handmade lace garter
These garters are unique wedding accessories, unlike anything else you will find, anywhere. If you are interested in these garters, please contact me at Lace<at>LisaGordonEvents<dot>com. I will have more information available soon, so check back.
Back in January I was interviewed for a green weddings segment on the show called “Save My Planet” on the Live Well HD Network. Well, it has finally aired and is available on their website. It’s a fast-moving overview of ways to make your wedding environmentally friendly. You can watch it here:
There was no payment for referral of this vendor! Photo by Magical Moments Photography.
The other day I was talking to Howard Kier of Magical Moments Photography about an upcoming job we are doing together. We got to chatting, once business was done, and started to talk about some of the scams we have run into in this business. I told him about the owner of a small, second-rate venue who had leaned on me to pay him 10% of my fee any time he referred a client to me. Howard told me about the time he walked into a venue to start shooting photos for a wedding when the owner hit him up for a $100 fee just to work there.
And then he told me about some new rules put out by the Federal Trade Commission that regulate payment for endorsements. He has even gone so far as to call the staff contact at the Bureau of Consumer Protection (a bureau of the FTC), one Richard Cleland, to clarify what effect the new rules have on the wedding industry and on the kind of payments that occur routinely.
As you may know, it is common for a vendor to pay a planner a percentage of their fee for a referral to a client. Some venues also charge vendors a fee or percentage for the privilege of being on their preferred vendor list (or sometimes require them to advertise in their in-house magazine at the usual rates). Under the new FTC rules, these transactions are legal ONLY IF they are disclosed to you, the client and consumer.
Here is how Howard described his conversation with Mr. Cleland:
Richard said when a venue provides a preferred vendor list, it is an endorsement from a trusted source. Any payments made by vendors to be on that list do fall under the endorsement rule and will have to be disclosed.
As I understand the rules, your wedding or event planner, is also a “trusted source” and should, therefore, also disclose any payments made by vendors for the privilege of a referral. So, you have the right to ask whether there have been payments for referrals and you have the right to receive an honest answer. (And if you have evidence of any funny business, you can complain to both the FTC and to your state’s Attorney General.)
In my experience, most vendors are honest folks who play by the rules. Some of them may not yet be aware of the new rules requiring disclosure of payments. And there are a few who are not to be trusted. Use your best judgment. And, as always, you can count on some of us, like me, who say up front, “I do not take payments for referrals. Ever.”
Chicago Green Wedding Alliance is established to encourage mindful weddings, commitment ceremonies, and social events by connecting a community of environmentally and socially responsible vendors with the conscious consumer. Members are united in their effort to continually grow and inform their responsible business practices through the support of their like-minded peers.
Technically, yes, it is possible to compost corn plastic. But the best authorities I can find (
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