We applied for the Earth Hour Awards and although we did not win this year I thought we would share our answers as it is a good insight into what Paperless Wedding is trying to achieve.
Can you describe what actions you have taken to reduce your environmental footprint and how you have inspired others to take action? (250 words)
Think of all the paper which goes into a wedding invitation. Not only is there the invitation itself, there's also all the info to include: maps, accommodation details, gift registry - all in a paper envelope. Multiply this by the number of guests and a couple could be using more paper than they might do all year! Plus there's the emissions from delivery, especially if they have mates to invite from those fun years in London, or pals who have moved abroad.
Paperless Wedding was formed with the aim of cutting the paper out of wedding invitations. We deliver smart invitations digitally, which cuts down on the mountain of paper used and the emissions used for delivery. We also have tips on our site, plus we blog and tweet links to inspire couples have totally eco-friendly nuptials.
We at Paperless also use this philosophy to back our business:
- Our servers are wind-powered
- We offset our emissions using a tree-planting scheme
- Paperless Towers has no air-con
- We don't drive to work
- We recycle as much as possible
- Apart from those pesky legal documents, we're paper free.
2. Tell us what impact this has had. Please be as specific as possible, for example, tell us the number of people reached or the total waste avoided. (250 words)
Paperless Wedding has only been operating for a short time (since September 2009 in NZ and April 2010 in Australia), but we have already delivered over 10,000 digital invitations to all parts of the globe. Including all the extra paper needed and RSVP cards, we estimate that this is the equivalent of 100,000 sheets of paper, the equivalent of 12 precious trees saved. When emissions from delivery and dealing with waste are factored in, it is estimated that 20 grams of C02 are generated from every letter delivered, so that's around 400,000 grams saved already.
3. Tell us how might grow this action to inspire more people and have an even bigger impact. (100 words)
Every time a digital invitation is sent by Paperless Wedding it will inspire other couples to do the same for their weddings and show that, while you wouldn't use Facebook, you can use a well designed smart wedding invitation site. We have already seen many couples who are signing up because they were invited by Paperless Wedding and want to do the same.
4. If you were the CEO of WWF, what would you do to inspire people to Go Beyond The Hour? (100 words)
Create an eco-friendly standard for products (including websites like Paperless) and appliances, which would then receive a globally recognisable WWF badge. A trusted brand being used in this way would enable people to be sure that they are not being green washed.
Many congratulations to the winners of the Earth Hour Awards !!
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