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Bright Ideas for a Greener Celebration: Eco-Friendly Wedding Firework Displays
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Summary
Wedding fireworks are a dazzling way to celebrate your big day, but they can pose sustainability challenges. From choosing ground-level and low-noise fireworks to ensuring proper cleanup, this guide explores ways to reduce environmental impact while still enjoying the spectacle. Learn how to balance tradition and eco-consciousness to create memorable yet planet-friendly wedding celebrations.
Once you’ve officially tied the knot, all that’s left to do is celebrate with your family and friends. Your wedding reception is a chance to let your hair down, chat to your guests and watch your chosen entertainment unfold – it’s an exciting part of the day that is typically more relaxed than the formal moments.
Many couples opt to start married life off with a bang, choosing a bright and colorful firework display as part of their evening. Whilst there’s no denying that these shows can be a fantastic spectacle, for the eco-conscious, they’re a sustainability challenge. They can release harmful pollutants into the atmosphere, as well as scaring and subsequently harming wildlife and pets who live nearby.
Whilst there are some alternative firework options such as a drone or laser show, they don’t offer a like-for-like alternative. If you’ve got your heart set on a traditional display, here are some ways you can reduce your impact.
Ground-level firework displays
By choosing fireworks that operate lower to the ground rather than shooting up into the sky, you can better control the area they affect. Your venue may already have a space that is clear from wildlife and plants, and as ground-level fireworks stay in the same place, they’ll be able to easily find and clear up any debris the fol lowing day.
Having ground-level fireworks will also make the job easier for your photographer. Since they won’t have to switch between photos of the sky (far away) and people’s reactions (close up), they’ll hopefully be able to grab plenty more shots.
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Low noise fireworks
With traditional fireworks operating at up to 150 decibels, there’s a danger that animals will be spooked, suffer hearing damage or even suffer disruption to their nesting behaviors. Loud noises can also be disruptive to your guests, so opting for a quieter version is just more friendly all-round.
Sometimes called ‘silent’ fireworks, these displays aren’t truly silent, but rather a much quieter version. They contain less of the ingredient that makes the “bang” and so provide the same beautiful show of colour, making them an easy alternative.
Clean up properly
Most couples will opt to book professionals to run their firework displays, who will also handle the cleanup operation. But if you’re going for a DIY approach, then you should:
Ensure that all spent fireworks are submerged in a bucket of water
Drain the water into the toilet, rather than pouring it off on the ground
Place the fireworks in a sealed bag and place in the trash
Unfortunately, most fireworks aren’t recyclable, despite containing paper and cardboard. It’s important that they’re disposed of properly, so that materials have minimal chance of being swept into nearby habitats and causing harm to animals, plants and aquatic life.
Take care of the planet on your big day
If you are going to opt for a traditional firework display, it’s important to do what you can to minimize the environmental impact. By taking the steps we’ve talked about, you can have the day of your dreams without sacrificing the planet, starting your married life off in a greener way.
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The SustainabilityX® Magazine is an award-winning, digital, female-founded, and female-led non-profit initiative bringing the environment and economy together for a sustainable future through dialogue, and now transforming the environment and economy for a sustainable future through the power of women's leadership. Founded on May 8, 2016, and inspired by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals by Canada's Top 30 Under 30 in Sustainability Leadership awardee, Supriya Verma, the digital media initiative focuses on approaching the world's most pressing challenges with a holistic, integrated, systems-based perspective as opposed to the traditional and ineffective siloed approach with a single lens on interdisciplinary topics like climate and energy. This initiative ultimately seeks to explore how to effectively bring the environment and economy together through intellectual, insightful dialogue and thought-provoking discussion amongst individuals across sectors taking an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to untangling the intricate web of sustainability while championing women's leadership in sustainability.
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