Taking Vows to Save the Planet

Abstract

The events industry has a large environmental impact and carbon footprint. All aspects of events and event planning have negative environmental consequences. From the single-use products used (decor, dinnerware, and others) to the transportation needed by vendors and guests, the events industry continues to contribute to climate change. However, events are not going to go away. People will always want to gather together and celebrate, but if events are not going to go away, there needs to be a way to make them more sustainable so that they can continue being part of life. I propose that in order to make events more environmentally friendly, people must find creative ways to eliminate single-use materials (decorating with secondhand materials, reusing one’s own decorations, incorporating vintage dishes and silverware), and to support environmental organizations when reducing the specific event’s carbon footprint is not feasible.