Sustainability is an important concept at the forefront of people’s minds as they plan events. But how can we keep our most important celebrations as green as possible? There are several ways that A to Z Party Rental can help you keep on track as you plan your elegant yet environmentally friendly wedding.
A great first step is choosing a location that conserves energy. A tented wedding, in addition to being beautiful and expressing your personal vision, saves resources in several ways. If your wedding is held during daylight hours and in the more temperate months, you are saving lighting and heating/cooling costs. If not, you are still minimizing energy use by only lighting/heating the tent itself, instead of an entire venue building. Holding the ceremony in the same location as the reception removes the energy and emissions of all of your guests driving from the ceremony location to the reception location. A beautiful outdoor ceremony and a tented reception go hand in hand as environmentally friendly options.
There are an overwhelming number of decisions to make when planning the reception. But who knows the ins and outs better than a pro like Martha Stewart? Her website informs us, “Rental companies enable you to host a party kitted out with elegant—and nondisposable—linens, plates, utensils, and more. Laundering and washing services are included in the rental price, making this route a win-win.” [1]
Renting china, flatware, and glassware is definitely one of the greenest ways to host an event. “All you have to do is rinse,” says Melani of A to Z Party Rental. “With our technology and volume, our industrial machines use far less water and energy than home machines. We also use all biodegradable soaps.” Rental companies wash and sanitize large amounts of inventory every day, so equipment is chosen very carefully for energy savings and water savings. Our conveyor machines recycle the hot final-rinse water into the next batch’s pre-wash cycle, which saves all the energy of having to heat up that volume of water again. In addition, by using rental items you are keeping things out of the landfill.
But you may not realize that renting also saves the huge amount of energy used to produce new items. For example, you may not think that one bamboo plate takes up a lot of room in the trash. But what about all the water and energy used to harvest or mine the materials, power and light the factory, make packaging for sale and also crating for transport, not to mention all the fuel and energy used to move that plate to your country, your town, your event. And this is repeated for every disposable item we use. Rentals simply sidestep that entire process, while providing you an exciting and elegant variety of patterns and designs to personalize your event, whatever your style and vision may be.
Renting linens has the same type of energy and water savings as renting china, and an even bigger savings when you consider the production and manufacturing costs of disposable linens, because more of them are used per person. As Wedding Planner Jennifer Brisman of Brisman Weddings New York has said, “One of the best things you can do for the environment is use linen cocktail napkins instead of paper.” She adds that she has to budget five to seven paper cocktail napkins per person—a “ridiculous number to go through!” There are also a lot more choices in rental linens than you will find with disposables. Brides who may never have visited a rental company are often surprised by the wide range of fabrics and colors available. A to Z has over 200 different linen color and fabric samples in our Design Center, ready to inspire your creativity! Or, just visit our website at atozpartyrental.net to get started on your elegant yet environmentally friendly wedding.
