Make a better choice when choosing your wedding dress
When you select the attire for your wedding day, think about the impact the choice you make will have. And avoid clothing that is made in unhealthy, unsafe working conditions. According to the World Health Organization, 20,000 people die each year in developing countries as a result of the chemicals sprayed on non-organic cotton. U.S. farm workers suffer from approximately 300,000 pesticide-related illnesses each year. Five of the top nine chemicals used on cotton in the U.S. are known cancer-causing agents. A problem both in the U.S. and abroad, consumers can really help make a difference. Just refuse to buy anything that was produced by a "sweatshop." You can get more information at different websites like organicplus.com, infomat.com (fashion industry information and search engine), earthspeaks.com, and atoexpo.com (all things organic). Believe me, if you saw some of those places where wedding clothes are made, the pretty white dresses dancing around the bridal magazines would really start to look pretty drab. So keep the spirit of your wedding joyful, and don't add to the sorrow of other less fortunate people.

Reduce
• Say no to white: Get a dress in your best colour and truly dazzle with your unique flair. Did you know that those super-white wedding dresses got that way from a toxic chemical process? Opt for not-quite-white and get a wedding dress made from non-chemically treated, natural, earth-friendly fabric; soy, hemp silk, organic silk, organic cotton, organic wool, tencel and bamboo are the main fabrics available.

• Support fair trade: Purchase your gown from a company that practices fair trade. (Fair trade practices include: good wages for workers, adequate employee benefits like healthy work environments, fair hours, and health care.)

• Keep it simple: Get a simple dress and add the pretty details yourself.

• Buy local: Support a local designer or dressmaker in your area, and there will be little or no cost from transporting the garment from overseas. (Plus, you'll be feeding money back into the local environment, which is a main tenet of eco-consumerism.) Look into local design programs -- you might be able to find a student who will create your gown for you at a mere fraction of the price you would pay for a retail dress. You can be sure that no one else will walk down the aisle wearing the same thing as you.

• Don't buy sweatshop: You can do research online at sites like sweatshopwatch.org or consumerreports.org to see if your designer has sound business practices.

• Spend less: Keep the amount you spend on your dress to a minimum, and you can reallocate your funds elsewhere, like toward a down payment on a house!

• Look for sustainable fabric: Look into finding a dress made from sustainable fabric -- such as hemp silk, hemp cotton, organic cotton, organic silk, linen, soy or tencel. These fabrics are becoming more available and many top designers are integrating them into their looks -- Oscar de la Renta has even fashioned a couture dress out of hemp silk and sent it down the runway.

• Support a charity: Do more than just reduce your impact, and buy something to spice up your wedding duds with cotton flowers made in conjunction with Citta and women in Nepal, who use the money to provide health care and education programs for their community (citta.org).

• Be creative: Turn your bridesmaids into walking decor by having them carry pretty parasols or paper fans with flower motifs, and then they can all wear their own dresses in matching colours.

• Ask the right questions: If the guys do wear rented tuxes, look into the dry cleaning and storage practice of the rental company -- is it healthy? Do they use toxins that are harmful to humans and the environment? Ask the question, and perhaps you can inspire a change if it has not taken place yet.

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Excerpted from Eco-Chic Weddings by Emily Elizabeth Anderson. Copyright 2006 by Emily Elizabeth Anderson. Excerpted by permission of Hatherleigh Press, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.