If you are planning an eco-friendly wedding outside your home town then you might be interested to know just how eco-friendly your chosen destination is. Here at Ecoura we did a little research and discovered the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index report. This covers the USA and Canada and looks at a variety of factors to determine just how eco-friendly each city is, including energy use, green spaces, transportation and sanitation.
In the top 10 there are 7 cities in the USA and 3 from Canada. New York was the highest ranked city on the list, coming only second to Vancouver. Next was Boston in 5th place, followed by San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Denver and Los Angeles. Here are just a few of the venues that you could consider.
New York
Finding a great eco-friendly wedding venue in New York is easy. Take a look at Mohonk Mountain House. The building itself has been designed to offer a range of environmentally-friendly measures and there is a great spa where you and the wedding party can relax either before or after the big day. For the wedding you can opt for organic and locally-produced food and even arrange your wedding flowers from the venue’s own greenhouse.
Boston
Just north of the city of Boston is Ferncroft Country Club, which has recently added a rooftop deck ideal for a wedding reception. The grounds are ideal for the wedding photos and the venue has implemented a number of eco-friendly measures including an initiative to reduce food waste to zero.
San Francisco
Head over to W San Francisco where you can take part in the ‘Make a Green Choice’ program. The hotel offers a rewards program where you can refuse to have daily housekeeping in your room and earn points that you can use at other hotels in the future. Fewer housekeeping visits will save water and energy and you will also get a green welcome amenity when you arrive. The hotel also offers discounts on a bike share scheme, making it easier to explore the city without adding to your carbon footprint.
Denver
The Warwick Denver hotel is rapidly becoming a very popular wedding venue in the city. One of the main attractions of the hotel is the great views of the city’s skyline. The hotel offers a complimentary bike hire service to guests, providing an eco-friendly option for exploring the city. Alternatively the city is also home to the Castle Marne venue, where you can choose from indoor or outdoor weddings and where there is a solid sustainability plan in place. Every section of the venue plays its part in creating a much more eco-friendly environment. To date the hotel is actively aiming to reduce energy consumption, has introduced a number of recycling initiatives, grows a large amount of the food used in the restaurant, rents out bicycles and trains staff on the various sustainability programs.