Sustainability and eco-friendly practices for your wedding or event
The omelets we serve are made from eggs we collect fresh daily from our chickens.
Pump House
Create your Eco-Friendly Dream Wedding with Pump House Weddings. We’ve come a long way from the days of pumping fossil fuel through the earth, towards creating a carbon neutral facility. The Pump House has its eye on the future, and installed solar panels in the summer of 2016. They supply energy for the entire property, so every light and every outlet are powered by the sun. We switched to using electric cars for getting around and buying groceries, a golf cart for getting around the property and a fleet of electric yard maintenance equipment, again, all solar-powered. In addition, we are avid recyclers and use a single stream system for most recyclable waste that gets created here. We compost and send table scraps to a nearby farm and also have a local source for recycling styrofoam packaging. Our gardens are ever-expanding to provide fresh produce, herbs and fruit for our guests. Honeybees have been added to pollinate our orchard and add a touch of sweetness to your tea with their fresh honey. The omelets we serve for breakfast are made with eggs we collect fresh daily from our chickens. The list of sustainable practices we employ is ever-growing as we discover new ways to put the environment first. We sincerely hope that we can inspire you to bring this same attitude to your wedding planning and maybe even home with you when the party is over.
We’ve added honeybees to pollinate our orchard and produce fresh honey for you to enjoy.
Ways to plan your eco-friendly wedding or event:
Go Local
Select a caterer who uses locally sourced food, or has a farm-to-table system. Such as Blind Pig Kitchen choosing a menu, limit the number of meat-based dishes that will be served. Consider which fruits and vegetables are in season and locally available.
Rent Reusable Items
Instead of using disposable or “compostable” plates, opt for real, reusable china silverware, and glasses. You can even rent vintage for unique and attractive place settings (try Simple Gathering LLC, Knot 2 Shabby, or All-Occasion Rentals. Another option is to create personalized glasses or mason jars that guests can use for their drinks and then take home as party favors.
Smaller Guest List
Remember, you don’t have to invite everyone! Reducing your guest list puts fewer cars on the road and reduces the amount of resources that get used for your wedding. From our experience, we find that smaller weddings are often more intimate, special, and fun, so maybe that distant cousin you haven’t seen in years doesn’t have to make the guest list. At the end of the day, it’s your party, and you aren’t obligated to invite anyone except those who are near and dear to you.
We’re constantly evaluating new ways to conserve water and the energy used to heat it.
Big drinks in bulk
For drinks, it is better to rent kegs of beer or soda instead of buying them in bottles and cans. (Local to us, the Catawissa Bottling Co. and Honey Bee Mobile Brews have affordable rates for kegs.) Go for boxed wine instead of bottles, as less material gets used per glass and any leftover wine will keep for much longer.
Wedding Ring
For your wedding rings, consider that diamond mining takes an ecological and humanitarian toll. Opt for vintage or antique rings, or rings made from reclaimed stones. Wooden rings are also an option; some couples even decide to get ring tattoos
Opt for in-season flowers and potted plants
We installed solar panels in 2016 and use electric energy whenever possible—even for our lawn maintenance equipment.
Flowers and decorations — Much like caterers, consider using a florist who sources their plants locally and sustainably. Choose flowers that are in season and local. Let the spirit of the Pennsylvania woods and the season of your ceremony date shine in your decorations. Instead of the green oasis (aka wet floral foam) often used in arrangements, which is not biodegradable, consider choosing vases and arrangements that don’t need it. Take the DIY approach and use flowers and foliage you pick yourself. In the spring, the Pump House is filled with wildflowers including forsythia and lilacs.
Rent or Reuse Decoration
For other types of decorations, choose items that can be reused or recycled. Avoid buying new things or one-time-use objects, especially things made from plastic. Instead, consider a creative reuse of something that already exists, or a vintage rental service. Cloth aisle runners usually end up in the trash, Try laying flower petals, find second-hand rugs, or just let the beauty of the forest floor speak for itself.
Carpool and Shuttle
Ask your guests to carpool to our venue. A great idea is to share the guest list with your guests so they can try to make arrangements to carpool with each other. Our guests will also often hire a shuttle bus to bring people to and from hotels.
All of our lightbulbs are LED bulbs, which use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.
Consider edible decorations
such as bright, colorful candies, or dark, elegant nuts. The problem of disposal is eliminated when they have been gobbled up by the end of the night.
Mindful Disposing
Be mindful of disposing of things properly. We organize it into three simple categories: Recyclables, Compost, and Landfill.
All paper, cardboard, rigid plastics, and glass must be recycled. Look for recycling containers around the venue. For your convenience, The Pump House has blue containers.
We compost all organic material, including food scraps (including meat and dairy) which goes into our tall green compost containers. These go to our chickens. Non-edible organic waste, such as flowers, should be set aside for us to compost here in our woods to create soil. Please do not throw away trays or platters of unwanted leftover food. We’ll find some use for it. (even if it ends up reading the chickens).
Anything else can be thrown away into our landfill containers. If you are unsure about whether or not something should be recycled or composted, find a staff member and they will be happy to talk through it.
We ask that you encourage your guests to pay attention to this system as well. It makes a huge difference when everyone is on board.
We practice single stream recycling, which means you don’t need to worry about sorting your recyclables.
WEDDING PLANNING & ADVICE
Planning eco-friendly events is easier than you think.
Here's How to Eliminate 8 Single-Use Plastic Items From Your Wedding Celebrations
There's no doubt about it: Plastic has a deleterious impact on the environment and our health. Studies have shown that when plastic enters an ecosystem, it can harm animals, damage habitats, and potentially transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans alike. In fact, according to a recent PEW report, "the rapid increase in plastic pollution in the past few decades is due in part to an increase in single-use plastic consumption and a growing throwaway culture."
That's why, these days, so many couples are looking for ways to reduce plastic consumption on their big day. To help, we asked wedding professionals, including Heather Rouffe, Heather Jones, Mary Angelini, Joan Wyndrum, and Kristen Gosselin, to identify common single-use plastics used at weddings—and the alternatives they suggest turning to, instead.
18 Ways to Plan an Eco-Friendly Wedding
Balloons
Skip these helium-filled decorations for your party and opt, instead, for decorations made from recycled paper. You can still get the same pop of color and celebratory feel from large paper lanterns, tissue paper orbs, and environmentally friendly pieces, note our experts.
Disposable Plates, Glasses, and Flatware
It may be tempting to purchase a bunch of disposable products for your guests at one-time events, like engagement parties, bridal showers, or bachelor and bachelorette celebrations, but the waste will add up quickly. Instead, consider renting glass or high-end plastic products. It will cost a little more than disposable (and require more cleanup), but will be significantly better for the environment.
The rental company that provides your tables and chairs may also offer a cloth alternative to plastic covers. As a bonus, most companies will launder them for you, as well.
Plastic Bar Cups
If your reception venue serves its bar drinks in plastic cups, ask if you can provide your own glassware for the event. You can upcycle antique goblets and barware, and have guests take them home as favors. Consider having the glasses personalized or adorned in a way that allows them to speak to your big-day theme.
Plastic Favors
It's no secret that, eventually, many plastic favors will make their way into a landfill. Instead of giving your shower or wedding attendees parting gifts made or wrapped in plastic, try a plantable option, like seed packets or potted plants.
Exit Toss Materials
Most couples have an elaborate exit toss planned for their late-night send-off. Traditionally, guests throw rice—but duos might offer anything from confetti to bubbles. Swap any plastic options for a biodegradable product or birdseed; avoid rice, though, which can become squishy when wet and impact local avians.
Plastic Straws
These once-ubiquitous drink garnishes are now outlawed in some jurisdictions. If your wedding is taking place somewhere that still allows them, we suggest replacing the plastic ones with paper, stainless steel, or even silicone. Just remember that the venue will likely ask you to foot the bill for the alternatives.
Foam-Anchored Floral Arrangements
Ask your florist to swap arrangements that require the use of floral foam for ones that don't require additional support. If your heart is set on a centerpiece that does, ask them to use fillers (not foam!) that can be reused, like seashells, glass beads, or pebbles.
Water Bottles
It may seem like a challenging party staple to get around—especially if you're hosting a backyard pre-nuptial event, like a casual engagement party—but there are plenty of alternatives to plastic water bottles. For smaller gatherings, for example, fill a pitcher of water and offer a selection of cups for your guests to self-serve as needed. By Lauren Wellbank Lauren is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com. Published on September 23, 2022
