万花筒 2007-09-18&09-19, 我结婚，我环保（在线收听）

Finally in this popular month for getting married, a look at white weddings that are going green. Eco-friendly concerns have now become a big part of the big day for many couples. Here is NBC's chief environmental affairs correspondent Ann Thompson.

For Kristi Papenfuss and Joshua Houdek, being green is a way of life.(well, these are the Ecuadoran ones) They buy organic. (let’s try this one)he bikes to work. She tends a garden of native plants that they water from a rain barrel.

So it is no surprise that on their wedding day, their love for each other would reflect their love for the earth. When we first were planning our wedding, we didn’t even know of the term green wedding. (Yeah) We just wanted to have our friends together and do it in a sustainable way.

Starting with their invitations on recycled paper. Rings of recycled gold. Pesticide-free flowers. And at the reception, an organic menu. Fair trade wine, biodegradable utensils, even solar-powered music.

If you like to play in it, you'd like to be in it. Then there is a responsibility for helping maintain it. (It’s true)

A walk down the aisle leaves a significant carbon footprint. The average wedding creates 14.5 tons of carbon dioxide, that’s two tons more than the average person does over an entire year. The 70-billion-dollar-a-year wedding industry offers many shades of green. There are websites to help you find everything form eco-friendly gowns and diamonds to honeymoons and your first house. Six years ago when Gerald Prolman started his company organicbouquet.com, weddings were just a tiny fraction of his business.

Now we get calls every day from brides and event planners and florists who want organic followers for their weddings.

The industry insists this is not a fad, going green is becoming as much of a tradition as having something borrowed and something blue. But beauty has its price. Wedding planners say going green can add 10-20% to the average wedding which already costs nearly 2,8000 dollars. So how does a couple balance their budget while being kind to the earth? Kristi Papenfuss says it’s about trade-offs.

Organic food is a little bit more expensive, but the dress that I bought is a sundress that I can wear over and over and over again. And that was less expensive. Kristi and Joshua’s wedding on this their most special day, a reflection of the values they live everyday. Ann Thompson, NBC NEWS, Minneapolis