Nicole Brandon and Welcome to our glass bride I am so thrilled and so excited for Today Show for maybe the past year to year that we've been doing these shows I've been so so so go to Cyrus to be doing the show on green weddings to start your life together and today's guest is a specialist in this field has green light guides and she's a G80 and environmental law and a master's for Miele environmental policy on cream wedding in 2007 and she wrote the best-selling green wedding book The Green bride guide I love that it's called the green bride guide how to plan

earth-friendly wedding on any budget fantastic in 2009 she found it, which is number one site for green weddings and then in 2010 which I have solutely loved she created the country's very first screen wedding professional certification class from Sky's parents and so this is really a passion of hers it's something that's in her heart and something that we can do you think I cannot imagine when you think about becoming a flower and something blossom into something beautiful and that's what your love is that's what you're married

with green wedding cakes and I'm so excited that you took time out of her

oh thank you so much for calling I just love the metaphor you just used about the seed blossoming into a file or feel like it's just so perfect for love and relationships and obviously is there a green as well as I will be stealing that in the forward to the audience cremation not just information but the very like the cherry on the sundae this is the best you can get and you really are that person this is your background just look at things I love to talk about is when somebody's little when you were little girl and people want to be miss American astronaut or whatever where you always

connected

you know I really was a definitely I wasn't wedding connected until I got engaged and I'm sure we'll talk about that concerned about it I mean I grew up in Connecticut on the ocean and a lot of people don't know this about wastewater treatment in all of the water from the storm drains and all of the water from the toilet everything goes into the same system and so when it rains here they actually can't process the amount of water that comes through and so throw the few days every summer with the the Long Island Sound where I would go swimming wouldn't be safe to swim in because of the Excellence in it and so has to wear that humans have an impact on the environment and not necessarily a good one so I I found it

greeny green kid from the beginning for sure

that's fantastic my God it's amazing because I love now that kids are so conscious of the earth and I just remember that I saw Julia butterfly Hill on a video on that line always always always stuck with me and I think the food stands are at a fast food places or even in the diner is a restaurant that you'll find at the airport since that we can do things that don't make sense and sell the things we can do and so I was looking at your website

and so tell me your journey you said that you got married and that you wrote a book on how to plan an earth-friendly wedding a guide and so headed to begin with it you fell in love and I don't care when you do this in a different way

environmental law & policy and I've always been looking for ways to easy and you have to be something that everyone feels like they can do and they're not sacrificing a lot to do it as something that was stylish and sophisticated and felt like really represented both our values and our resources than I expected and I really read everything I could find online there are a couple of old books that were out

and those products was very very time-consuming and I thought to myself very very dedicated to it I didn't have the time to do it I didn't have both the passion driving to do if I would have done it I mean I really just wanted to make it easy and fast and so ended up at the guidebook to help I think that's because my parents do you have a problem you write a book about stories and products and vendors all right there online instead of having to be nice to you but having it be more meeting option I thought would be helpful as well so I lost the website

that's incredible and so I wanted to ask you about some of the the tabs that were on your site and so you talk back

big kiss and a registry and soap and the patients which I just love the Recycled invitations and see if you can help us understand what that would look like because I think it's not at all it was I mean I think that you were safe and I've been in the business for quite some time now and I can be as elegant and is five star in as classy as he wanted to be in so I would just love for you to share that looks like

when I started so I got married in 2007 the book in the block and the availability of green products has absolutely exploded in the marketplace and what I see kids that are now getting married who grew up with that environmental awareness 5 10% of the population with integrated into something that over 70% of the population is interested in a green company that studying trends that has put that information out there and I think that's

today's by doesn't want necessarily one look for her wedding right there so many different styles and Seasons In Color display with a wedding and so the market and I say you know what it used to be that green was for the style of wedding you were having a green themed wedding and now green is really an approach and you can attend the wedding switch in your mind when you thinking green wedding but you're right it is a modality and a way of life not but everything is

exactly because there's some beautiful green green wedding invitations in registry near is really that every single part of a wedding from start to finish it has green substitution but are the same price or less many cases and that it's really fun and they look like and kind of an endless playground and a walk through the time I whatever you think makes sense for you

one of the times one of your blog that I think that showed out immediately to me and my heart was is your chocolate supporting child labor

yeah so enlightening for audience and so vital and important and so beautiful and something that each and every person listening to the show me the show that are married married 25 years are there in relationships and the quality of their life either still tools and techniques

this event has the beginning beginning so I like to start with the wedding website this is something that most people don't think of it as being a green choice and a lot of rides that but I really encourage 5 to set up a wedding website mywedding.com offers free wedding website that has eco-friendly matching invitations so if you want to have your own either way you set up a free wedding website that allows you to put all that information that would be printed and put inside an invitation like all that goes online right out of the gate you're able to save a paper birthday

and then when it comes to the invitation really thinking about your style again it's just going to be the driver so is everything from free electronic invitations some of which are quite beautiful your paperless post isn't free but they're very expensive and they are really quite lovely or an Evite if it's a very casual event really want that stick cotton paper with the Letterpress look there's Eco Couture Letterpress and that's made out of instead of regular bleach cotton it's recycled industry caused the paper itself is made out of recycled cotton and it's quite luxurious

wood grain paper the new one is very very thin pieces of fsc-certified Woodforest choices

credible next to exciting to know to actually environmentally safe thing to put on a website link to your registry on your wedding what side is socially acceptable

there are eco-friendly products again for the simple substitutions if you're getting sheet if you're getting pants you can get recycled metal pan and every every single part of the gift registry

you're getting things that you want to last through your lifetime anyway you were getting things for the last 20 40 60 years so you might as well pick things that are really high quality and I also sustainably made not recycled glass dishes recycled metal puzzles and they came back one day all of these ladles and instead of the spoons they were all green and they said no I don't want you to die for letting me stay at your house and I love

the fact that her gift

her spot was this is environmentally safe and it's safe for you and when p.m. love you and people that are coming to your wedding hopefully love you and Kaylee and of course they would want to catch a very best products that are the safest for you and for the world

and some of those are not So Glamorous that are super high functional so you're my husband and I registered for glass Tupperware and here we still use a glass Tupperware of it all the time and I love it when I had my milk a lot of you so it would like to thank our Auntie bought for us where and it doesn't reach toxins into the food so it was like when when when

absolutely cute pick and choose products from all over the Internet you can and you can put those products onto one day and then I also encourage guests that Brides to set up a second or third registry event and then traveled or experiencing a lot of people are getting married later you come to a marriage with two sets of dishes and instead of feeling pressure to register for those teacups that you're never ever going to use for my husband and dinner at our favorite restaurant and things like that

memories that will last a lifetime as well

it's great and I love it that's supporting your fiance really care about

that's really beautiful wonderful I know that we've talked to people about first-time home buying where people can donate for down payment for a house for you but I love the idea of putting the charity online I think it's at least some people will not want to put money into your house but their registry is it allow you to make it cuter like you're buying the things pictures you're buying right like you being a bit more concrete and again if that's what you really want that's wonderful

and I think the people do that isn't it heads up and I'll ask her whatever that organization that you can buy for Christmas like a cow or a baby llama and so I love that you can do that or even a people to come to your wedding and feed homeless child to the whales I think that that's a beautiful idea I really do the stever's it comes at the end of the wedding but when we're talking about gifts people by their bridesmaids and groomsmen

you know if your if you feel like it's the right match for your group of friends and your family you can give a donation in honor of the gas instead of a lot of really lovely physical things to give as well and maybe now is a good time for me to talk about some of those two are so many ideas

sure absolutely love to hear that

invitations and favors is for the two most popular things to say but he does that for favors I really loved to see the sort of see you or talk about the seed metaphor in the beginning and very popular in there so many forms I seen people give actual little see if you stop playing these beautiful bulb acting like a little gift box with a Lafayette ribbons are really quite as it seems heated paper that she did bookmarks and see that they're like ornaments for the tree and all sorts of different things

can be planted that you can write a note on the plants and garden sexy Wildflower areas and to all of those I really love you as well and I think this is great to capture the regional feel of the wedding so I love seeing something local at a wedding wedding New England in Fall a little people stare at the ceiling. The event is being held at the gas can go and enjoy afterward have you seen any of those

and I love the idea of the Season being able to plan something I think is so beautiful and so special and always a memory there is wonderful Organization for charity called Sierra and their logos and I don't know if he's going to t-shirts no love is ever wasted

yeah, thinking about you and so many people that gave it to you or give you the life light energy Beauty all the things that come with so I can get the fabulous idea

yeah I love all of those at the favors are really fun in there

it is so beautiful and they are also organic from something that the gas can use again or enjoy again like I went to a wedding this fall where the the bride and groom made their own little Europe before the flavored ginger syrup and then their signature cocktail at the wedding had that fear up in it and then they sent us home with a little thing of this year so we can make the same coffee so yes I did I love. I thought that was very sweet and something delicious

free item really like that that's a wonderful idea

I love and I love that you collected all of these beautiful gift ideas of these beautiful things I mean even though the wine from the region and and that you've actually created a place and they're so busy that they don't have time unless it's their fingertips even though the desire might be in there hard to think I should be at the world is giving me this great person to love

but the fact that you actually created this site in these books for people to be able to find this information and to give him the right ideas is just brilliant so good to see you

thank you. I try to make it very often do you know I have one of this the great frustrations I see in the wedding go anywhere whenever possible I try to have the picture connect something you can actually buy that is either the same thing or something similar because you know who has time to go down 12 to sell some of the most popular green products because it was just it was just easier to write that in there instead of sending them all over the Internet and links change and we actually represents 250 green Benders on this item I don't know maybe more it's been awhile since I checked in on the numbers but that's something that's really fun

it's working with the vendors to create cream products

you know that's not animal test

is that something every bride to do that something that every woman it's listening to the show can do it doesn't matter if she's been married 50 years 25 years has not yet met but being able to be consciously aware of and to know that there are really but she's beautiful Dunning products that are available

I'm so glad you brought that up this is one of my great Crusades and I always say when I leave Greenbrier kite eventually I'm going to go work for the environmental working group there are you that the average woman puts on a 12 or 14 different beauty products a day on average and the average man put on eight or nine but you're by the time he put on the the shaving cream and the deodorant and all the stuff and most of these products contain known carcinogen and talk to him because we don't ingest them they are not regulated by the Food and Drug use your skin absorb them so they're not going up to 70% more of what's put on your body and so the fact that we're putting on these think we know cause cause all sorts of health problems

so many wonderful fordable great-smelling beautifully made a few shows and so I really encourage all of your listeners to get out of another computer and go to the Skin Deep state of Base it's the environmental working group Skin Deep database and you can you can look up your beauty products and find out if they are on a scale of 1 to 10 which is totally upsetting thing to do is use their database to go find things that are a zero or one or two instead of the seven eight nine or ten which is what most of the beauty products at CVS and Walgreens are

it's really it's a great thing to do and and I'm cursed Brides beautiful on your wedding day this is a great opportunity to go out and buy nice things that will last a long time but are totally safe for you and then bring them to your makeup artist you know what are natural and good for your skin and good for the environment has it there's just no reason not to and it's so it's dangerous or something I worry about a lot but also you know moms that small kids my son's always kissing my face in the licking me and mercy for him for me and for the world

Sonic created by a little bit we talked about the easiest thing to Korean food and favorite more than half of the wedding budget is spent on food and some flowers but more than half chicken and the standard wedding fair but if you can funnel even a portion of the money that you're spending on food is over $10,000 on average in to local seasonal and organic food

Usher and it keeps better and it's less generic and it's more memorable and it's definitely more delicious so finding a caterer that sourcing locally or you're asking if you can include some of those elements when you're speaking with your caterer and see what you can come up with a pretty easy to do if there are flexible or dedicated at all

you know what else is on your blog that you had something about the fish sang farmed fish or wild caught fish for the wedding as well

yeah I'm glad you brought that up to so this is another one it's not so straightforward and it changes all the time people with sickle look and see where you are in the country and what year were in and what's going on with the fish populations Seafood Watch program and if you type in again Seafood watch into Google so actually bring you these Regional without the mask in the App Store and you can see what makes sense of for salmon it could be Atlantic salmon is the best and storm is the worst do you have a green yellow and red you know categories make it really easy for you for this quickly find good substitutions that are both being sustainably harvested or you know have

populations that without causing significant damage and exposure when you're eating a fish so I always recommend whether you're planning an event or just going out to dinner Sydney Kirkland sustainable fish choice for your wedding

this is credible and so are you kidding

yeah so you do a lot of things have hidden in pack a lot of Coco's is harvested by children and then a lot of Coco has significant amounts of pesticides on it and so there's a big issues with child labor and pesticide exposure has taken a pledge not to use chocolate that you know Wilson child labor but one of the companies that will not find that pledges her she isn't though there was a big push around Valentine's Day it's just fries awareness of the fact that her she's so you think I'm really hoping that the political pressure from

signed on and then I'll try to pull it up before the call is over

yeah that's it that's the same thing in flowers 80% of the flowers are grown men even look at houses and there's no regulation on the amount of rows to be perfect

shipped from Africa to hear and then all that travel the roses are literally doused in pesticides and fertilizers you know it's fungicides and all the stuff and then there are raised for hardiness shipped it off your refrigerated container and so again it's one of the workers that are growing the flower of the receipts that we don't see are you having miscarriages and cancer and really awful things that nobody wants to see you're really think about the good news is there a lot of local Growers that are doing a wonderful job and offering fantastic beautiful

and so I really encourage again like with food when you're speaking about flowers little bit outside the box and a little bit more in season so try to pick something that's going to be available of where you are and the time you are you can save a fortune by doing it my husband and I decided we were having a wedding and October New York and so we bought organic

instead of spending $3,000 on $5 so you can really save a lot of money by going green and it's better for the environment as well

I'm leaving again never thought about that actually just trying to hiring and arranger and being able so I can make that

idea and what a great way to save money and like you're saying and do something just because ocular in the process everybody loves

yeah yeah absolutely in and out to make sure wedding just look a little bit more unique and Twitter if it's facts hashtag her she's hurt is what it is. So it is that it's a lot of chocolate to use palm oil and put the palm oil plantations are destroying orangutan pops up if you really start to hashtag conflict palm oil or you can also find a lot of activity and information about the topic rainforest Action Network

blanket certified planner that was actually one of my questions to his all these things that you're sharing I definitely want you to give a shout out and how people can contact you and then do you have coaches or guys that helped them through the

yes so I often get asked if I plan weddings in the answer is no but I threw both the university and online and so if you're looking for a green wedding planner we have three which is just a very simple list by state on the move a few intended on staying and a couple of other countries that you can contact your wedding planner or professional lifting to be to have a green wedding professional certification course it's also a link off of the homepage will see there's a wedding planner certification course

professional of the know-how about going green not talk about it and they have companies that they build relationships with and work with that they can then work out you don't really try to make it for brides you want

great I'm sure it's really simple things are even just the basic water and the water bottles

yeah water bottles are available I don't mean it's right. A picture of water I'm in the same way that tap water is so if you use tap water and put in a slices of cucumber lemon anything like that and then orange is very beautiful water displays and it's much more environmentally sound in the plastic bottles are hypothetically recyclable it's much more ways than just going right from the obvious lie help you find a venue and work with the florist and work with a catering and really take care of all those details on the timing of the actual event you'll having a coordinator

something that's extremely helpful and I did not have because I had plans. What was going to happen especially around this at my wedding and we took a lot of care to reuse and recycle things I borrow these beautiful chargers for my brother's wedding that we reuse it going to the plate is gold metallic Chargers

Anna and ask for the wedding the cleanup crew put them they didn't know what they were to put the maid, these days with us and went to see people who cleaned up and said the cleanup crew didn't know where they were supposed to go and so they put them in garbage bag by the door for us to come pick up you're supposed to pick them up and I didn't know where they were and so they were garbage.

they got thrown away and so here with my supposed green wedding throwing away a hundred and fifty beautiful reusable Chargers financially it was upsetting I was sorry for my brother I like the waste management side of the wedding and the separating out cycling is donating donating your flowers ask for the event if you're donating leftover food to a shelter all of that for you and I got a loan it's worth having wedding planner for

that's great and tell us again your site so people can find it it's greenbrier.com and the easiest way to get in touch with me is just Kate Kate at Greenbrier five.com

perfect fifth grade and I'm one of the most extraordinary party screen mom

and said tell us even talk Susan paint when people painting their houses so they're Carpeting and you have newborn babies even if your pregnant affect the pregnancy play newborn infant Toddlers and the choices they play in the techniques and the fact that you have taken your expertise in your talent and your wisdom and that you care so much so you've actually expanded to the very next stage which is moms and babies and the future of Our Generations and so tell me about that because I said just to be extraordinary

yeah it was just a logical extension of what we are doing and I had my own son 3 years ago at his birthday was last weekend actually and I just found that I was facing those famous you do how do I how do I deal with diapering how do I do if feeding him how do I store the stuff you know is there a reasonable way to get clothing that is an $80 a t-shirt you know but it's still going to be good for him and good for the environment what about all the things I'm putting on him a database I was telling you about you'll discover that a lot of the Johnson & Johnson baby products already on the toxin to descale so just because something is geared towards baby doesn't mean it's non-toxic by any means and so I felt very

intimidated I think and overwhelmed again and I just really wanted to share some of the wisdom and some of the research as I was doing it about the toxicity a choice isn't really what are the greatest either the kids and yell as well to try to find some simple answers and substitutions for every day parenting decision and it's definitely more or hear from me but I'm more focused on

you know everyday living and how to navigate not making yourself insane but also having a safe and healthy environment for your kids are coming from you

I have contributors have some editorial staff and then some of the particular and now that I have a network of experts on the wedding fight everyday out there no craving you beautiful. I'm so glad that environment is your Forte

special specialist to be part of this world because really I just think that this site is so rich with information and so incredibly informative

thank you yeah I'll try just something I always working on improving the round of improvements to the internet gets better all the time and all the sites on it get better when people write the saying I write for a lot of other states more voices you have any more perspectives in the more eyes you have on something better

it's a scary things when you start digging in like what the flowers and Other Stories but that shouldn't be every choice that makes makes a difference and that there's so many easy guitar center so painful by the state until I saw my body I think that's true of a lot of Americans but you don't really think about the fact that wedding gown is made in China in a sweatshop

price of material it is supporting all sorts of things would probably rather not think about the wonderful alternative that's really been messaging

absolutely love the fact that you're on the road that you're on I think it's so wonderful and even his subjects for the kids he knows for the back to the toys to back to school and I think that's a little rainbow monkey hat and I think it was the cutest baby I ever saw in my life different and when you're starting your life together I just I can't imagine that any aspect of your life that you would want to come across the wall or close to her and so many times like you're saying dealing with a florist or dealing with some of these products and companies are the people that are handling your stationary Earth years silverware with anything that you have

this way or you don't have many choices and you have every choice has many colors are in a rainbow with many flowers there are things that we have accessible to us all of the colors all of the choice everything is is available and so you actually can create your own Fairy Tail and your own fantasy neuron happily ever after and really know that not only you created your own life and inorganic way the same way your love was created but the fate of your sharing it with your family and friends and people that you love and given huge industrial wedding companies that are producing things on that

Four Weddings like this poseable aisle Runners and then you contrast that with the company of an individual Artisan on SC Greenbriar Drive site that person who's making every ring by hand out of recycled metal to that person your purchase is their livelihood and allows them to have an environmentally friendly business in the United States that is letting them be an artist that is amazing to use your wedding buying power to support that local flower farm and then to support that local former industry Court you know that eco-friendly ring manufacturer like that it just feels really great to be able to work with these amazing vendors as well and they really cared take great pride in their work and you know that you're not just part of the wedding Melanie you're really stepping out in creating into the

to experience a beautiful experience and something that's going to be no good for you and good for the plan and good for your community

you're talking about the rings that if you think about the significance of the Ring being the circle of life

you know it's our planet from the very beginning and designed for you that represents all that is in the glass case

rhd and they allow you to send in jewelry and they'll melt it down and give you credit for it when they're passing something so I always loved the idea that you could take a chance like that one lost earring that you have from your grandmother and something from your husband side or your wife's side and and bring those pieces together and no openings for rings for both of you that you could have these many bits is Italy represent the two sides of the family I just think that's really very very cool and very special and much more interested in buying the store. Ring right

what is very special IDs I can't imagine

yeah I love it and there's another company we work with again I think I mentioned them earlier in the program past keeper and one of the products that they offer right now is your wedding flowers please send the flowers and I'll turn it into a wedding album with the flowers of your they mix it into recycle paper and make paper from your wedding flowers is everyone's like a wedding flowers and you have a driver that is disgusting upside down because you can use thank you notes for your wedding that you can use in the album things that are recycling and also saving you a lot of money in many cases and being good for the Earth

incredible vendors and I'm just so grateful to be able to support

thank you so much for your time today and for coming on the show and for all your information I love to have you on again because I love to actually keep the audience nature secret this is just to exchange information in such important information and I would love to be able to continue to share it with everybody because I really think that this is just such a special beautiful way to go and a way to start your life in a way that would do you know your life is going to flourish even has to be able to create a memories so thank you so much and we look forward to having you bring moms and bringing your environmental passion to the beauty and love around the world

well thank you so much for having me and I would absolutely love to come back on and I'm like I said let the listeners know that they're welcome to reach out to me directly at any time I can use the contact for my screen by 5, as well. I really am happy to answer any questions and I can easily talk for another hour. Thank you again and wish you a wonderful wonderful time thank you thank you and she said it now in my own heart I'm thinking but I get married that's exactly what I would want to do with the ring and with my wedding bouquet and now I have all these ideas floating in my own head and I'm sure that you do yours and even if you could married many many years everything that she said you can absolutely use and utilize and your own life so thank you Kate Harrison Greenbrier

I would still look forward to Chris Atwood and the passion test this is Nicole Brandon with our glass pricing you a wonderful week and may all your dreams come true