Green Wedding

By Mohammed Raphy 
Range Forest Officer, Neriamangalam, Kerala. 

Modern weddings have always been a airs of pomp and glory and wedding functions synonymous with lavish gifts, feasts and sweets. Knowingly or unknowingly each of these lavish a airs was adding to the strain our ecology was already facing – in the form of waste disposal, power consumption and sheer amounts of resources consumed .With the passage of time and the increased awareness on climate change, people are beginning to think more green. Wedding is a dream come true for young minds and adding green to weddings is daring to dream green.
 
In a small corner of India, a young couple took the forestrst step towards a green tomorrow on their wedding day, by initiating their guests to an act of conservation. 
Each of the guests in exchange for their blessings was rewarded with a green gift – which surprisingly was a sapling wrapped in bamboo culm and soil. Not any sapling
– these were saplings of 10 important tree species which suited the tropical ecology of the region. To the great amusement of the guests the bride and groom also proceeded to explain the importance of trees and how big a deal planting tress is to our world.
The starlets of the event were a young couple Mohammed Raphy K.M an official from the forest department and Nasriya P.A, a teacher. It was their joint decision to seek blessing from the guests in the form of a gift to mother nature, by committing them to planting a tree. Also through this initiative they ensured that their union will be remembered for ever. Even their wedding card followed the theme of conservation and was only one third the normal size. The card also had “less paper more fun” printed on it. The thanks giving card with the gift read “Thank you for making this earth green on our wedding day”