eco|stems ~ an environmentally and socially sustainable flower shop in toronto: Vase and Pot Amnesty!

eco|stems ~ an environmentally and socially sustainable flower shop in toronto: Vase and Pot Amnesty!

From a Sustainable Florist in Toronto (Queen East)
"Here at eco|stems we are always thinking of ways we can lesson our collective impact on the environment and get our customers involved. With that in mind, we wanted everyone to know that we will happily take any used vases and/or pots you've got collecting dust. Bring them in and we'll trade your vase/pot for a flower. Cracks, chips or scratches are no problem, we'll take those too! Metal, glass and ceramic etc. are all accepted.

We'll put them all to good use and keep them out of landfill. Give us a call if you have larger quantities and we'll arrange to pick them up. A big thank-you goes out to those individuals who have already brought in their vases and pots for reuse!"

Make your own wedding ring in 2 days

(cross-posted from elopenewyork) Why not make your OWN rings, from recycled gold and other metals?
"Spend a day in our fine jewelry studio learning to make your own wedding rings. Our professional jewelry workshops allow you to make meaningful custom wedding rings with your own hands while you enjoy the fun experience of being a goldsmith for a day. Create your own wedding rings with 100% recycled: gold, platinum, palladium, or mokume gane... Most of the custom wedding rings (on this site) were hand made in one session by a client with no prior metal-arts knowledge". This studio is downtown in NYC on Maiden Lane. They now have a sister site in San Francisco.

Recycled (remelted) family jewelry in your ring

Portovert has an intriguing post about recycling gold into a new ring. They suggest collecting gold from your relatives (old jewelry and rings) and having your jeweler refashion the existing gold into new rings. As they say: Experts say there’s enough gold currently above ground to supply the jewelry industry for the next 50 years. Translation: Gold mining and extraction, which exposes workers to toxins like cyanide and mercury and wreaks havoc on the environment, isn’t necessary. By using what’s available to you, not only are you gaining a responsibly produced, handmade heirloom, you’re also saving about 75% of the cost of new rings.. See the post above on making your own rings.

Vintage clothing treasures

Many brides we meet are looking for vintage clothing from the 50s for a stylish wedding. I sometimes find great sites with clothing from earlier times and simply enjoy window-shopping. Here is an Edwardian lace dress from a great Vintage Textiles, in NH. This site also has men's embroidered shoes, Victorian wedding dresses, 18th century shoes, and wonderful embroidered purses, shawls, and accessories.

Beautiful Recycled Lace Dresses

JanaStarr makes dresses (and headpieces) out of antique lace. Here is a dress made of Belgian lace from the 20s.
"These magnificent, one-of-a-kind wedding dresses have been redesigned from one hundred year-old, handmade European lace from Victorian and Edwardian periods. They are the perfect choice for the discriminating bride. Most of the laces and embroideries had been created by women and children a hundred years ago. Jana Starr considers it a privilege to give this remarkable craft another “go around” as the centerpiece of a woman’s most special day. Her creations are unique and deserve to be passed on to future generations". Location: New York City, by appointment.

More invitations

Mail: "We've specialized in eco papers and letterpress printing since 1995. See our treefree and 100% postconsumer recycled paper designs at: Eco-Wedding Invitations
"Our designs are sold as kits, which customers can print or we can print, but they assemble. We include all the tools, as well as diecut and format to make the process easy as possible".

I've added it to the invitations category.
Yep. Send us your stuff. If we like it, we'll post it.

Eco wedding paper suppliers - recycled, tree-free, post-consumer

Here is the original post (on World Water Day) about using recycled, post-consumer, or tree-free handmade papers. Many offer the imbedded flowerseed paper for invitations. Most of these companies also buy carbon offsets, or run off the grid, on wind, etc.



Here is a list of ethical paper suppliers:


* CustomPaper Handmade paper, seed paper, ribbon, flowers. WA [Note: This company includes: Oftheearth,Earthinvitations,
Flowerseedpaper, HannahSilkRibbon, and others.]
*Greenfieldpaper Flowerseeds, San Diego. Tree-free paper.
{Update: DO NOT USE flower-seed invitations. Many use invasive species and should not be replanted}.
*Twistedlimb Bloomington, IN. Recycled, invitations, handmade
*SealandSend Envelope-free. Recycled invitations.
*Paporganics Tree-free recycled hemp paper. Nice patterns. Wholesalers with store location list.
*PaperMojo Bright and pretty, see the gift wrap of tree-free natural fibres. Could be used to decorate, it's so lovely. No info on FairTrade, or sustainable production, tho.
*Paper Choice (BC, Canada)
*Botanical Paperworks Winnipeg
*InviteSiteTree-Free, 100% Post consumer, Pasadena.

Recycle a wedding gown - buy and sell

Here are places to find a recycled gown, and where to recycle your own (I've now separated out the specialized vintage retail sites). Don't forget EBay, the Salvation Army, Goodwill, ValueVillage and your local thrift-shop-for-charity. We have also listed a Quebec company, Ouijelevoeux, that combines multiple gowns to sew new ones.

If you're in the UK (or visiting), you can shop the great OxfamBridal shops.

Bridesagainstbreastcancer
bridgalgown.org NY, NY (samples/overstocks)
Recycleagown List your gown online, registration fee (New Brunswick, CA) [seems to be defunct at present]
Ouijelevoeux Buys your gown and recrafts it (Quebec)
Pre-owned wedding dresses, from $250 specials to Vera Wang. US and Canada (and "other"). You can sell here, too.
VintageIndie A shop on Etsy

A new idea (which came to us in the comments):
WeddingRecycling.com, started by Kyle. Her slogan is "Pass it Forward". They've just started, so jump in and post a few things and get them off the ground.

Vintage Wedding Gown Retail Sources

It became obvious that I'd need to separate the specialist Vintage Gown suppliers from the general clothing recyclers and the specialist designers who recreate (and rework) vintage dresses.

So this will be a list of Vintage Gown Retail sources, and see the other lists on this site for more ideas about indie designs, recycling, etc.

This is a very localized, specific industry, as items are one-of-a-kind. There seem to be more vintage bridal stores in the UK, and only a few ship internationally, but I'll post some retailers as they are always good for ideas. The US sites (many of which seem to be in Texas) also have 'vintage' reproductions of historical styles, called "neo-victorian", "neo-edwardian", etc., so watch the real date of the dress.

FYI, this is my Irish great grandmother, Alice, on her wedding day. Remember: until the 20s (dropped waist) most vintage gowns had 22 inch waists. So here is a link to organic corsets!

Some places to check:

VintageWeddingGowns Victorian, Edwardian and 20th century (FL)
VintageVixen Online only, have some nice satin selections.
PoshGirlVintage S.California, but sell online only. Lots of 50s-60s
WoodlandFarms Very nice collection, reasonable. TX
DavenportandCo A nice site, reasonable prices, Springfield MA
StitchesinTime OH. Some nice pieces, reasonable, but seem to be squished in a closet together?
TheFrock Vintage Designer - Dior, not your grandmother. Expensive, but fun to browse. They've got Xena's corset.
BobbyDene Whoever Bobby is, he's got a nice collection of vintage satin, (though he seems to photograph the dresses by the recliner in his living room in Texas...) Have fun.
DandelionVintage NJ (online only). Small selection, accessories
Gulden and Brown A 'megastore' for Vintage gowns, in HAWAII - but they ship UPS to US. Funny tacky website - look around.
CherishedBride They spell Jane Austen with an I (like Texas) and some of their stock is quite funny- I can't actually tell where they are located, though - odd site.
Antiquedress another funny site, but they seem to get museum de-acquisitions (and celebrity clothing). Fun for a look, and some ideas
A Very Merry Seamstress A historical gown maker in NY, this company also makes historical undergarments, including boned stays. Nice company, nice family blog, too.
Vintage Textiles, NH. Early 18th through Edwardian pieces, very lovely.

Organic, natural wedding dresses

Here is the original article on organic, natural dresses on ethicalceremonies.com.

The picture is a dress made of toilet paper - just for fun. (I think the paper is bleached, though -LOL).

Here is our list of wedding dress suppliers so far. These sites are meant to be for inspiration as well as for retail purposes.

Conscious Clothing Santa Fe, NM
Rawganique BC, Canada, Portland OR, & CA
OliviaLuca Portland, OR
TaraLynnStudio VT
Threadheadcreations(tennesee?)
AnnatarianCA
Wholly-Jo London, UK
Puridee.com Peace Silk, LA
Isadora Bridal, BC, Canada
Rene Geneva mostly bridal corsets, but some gowns.
Consciouselegance Another extravagant seamstress - once located in the UK, now in State College, PA, only a few hours' drive from New York.
They get lots of extra points for their thoughtfulness, including labour and packaging:
"Our eco-friendly fabrics are completely sourced from sustainable materials and are 3rd-party certified organic by Control Union World Group (formerly SKAL). We at Conscious Elegance earn a fair living wage and no child labour or sweatshops are involved in any facet of our dressmaking. Our biodegradeable packaging is purposefully chosen to have minimal impact on the environment and we ship our gowns through eco-friendly couriers."

Cheaptux.com PETA recommends them as a "non-wool" Tux supplier - but that means polyester, and you still have to pay for carbon-intensive shipping. Perhaps you should visit a good vintage shop for a vintage tux!

UPDATE: Here is a useful post on the possible 'greenwashing' of the 'sustainable bamboo' fabric industry:

Please let us know of any additions, recommendations, or discoveries. Check Organic Consumers clothing suppliers for more ideas.
and here is another really fun paper dress from the Craftzine.com blog

Poetic Justice has a wedding section, (tip to Matthew). North Carolina. Very nice traditional dresses.