Since I moved to Turkey from America in 2003, I have personally witnessed several changes in Turkey and Turks towards saving energy, recycling and preserving the environment. For many expats, it’s easy to be negative and look at how much isn’t being done and to focus on the garbage on the roads, the water-consuming carpet washing that housewives insist on doing during summer water shortages and similar things. However, anyone who has been here long enough should be able to see some significant changes. My “site” (gated community), for example, recently started a recycling campaign called the “Mavi Poset” program, much like “curbside pick-up” in the US. Basically, we just separate our paper, plastic, glass and metal garbage, put them in blue bags and leave them outside our doors for pick up. Recycling can’t get more convenient than that! Every Migros now has a “battery recycling drop off” box for used batteries, and schools have started educational programs for their children on recycling and water conservation. It’s definitely a good start.

With all of these positive moves, I think it’s time to make wedding ceremonies more environmentally friendly, too. Weddings can be big productions in Turkey and in the summer months are huge polluters, especially along the Bosporus. Last summer, two of our friends got married on a boat in the Bosporus, a romantic dream I used to wish for my own nuptials. I was appalled, however, at how the staff threw full garbage bags overboard from the back deck. To add insult to injury, before the boat docked to let us off, the crew undid all of the balloons strewn across the rails and also threw them into the sea. If you calculate how many boat weddings there are on the Bosporus in the summer and how much garbage they are throwing into it as a result, it’s amazing the Bosporus isn’t more polluted than it already appears. Can and I were furious after this wedding and have reported this firm and boat and lodged huge complaints. I urge anyone who sees something similar to also lodge complaints with the companies, police and anybody you think could do something about it.

Planning a green wedding could start with choosing a location. A lot of the major hotel chains, such as the Radisson, Hilton, the Crown Plaza, etc., have generally tried to make their buildings environmentally friendly. When having a wedding there, the staff and management might be more willing and knowledgeable about how to make your special day leave its deepest imprint on your heart rather than the environment. Lighting can be provided using energy-saving bulbs, for example. Decorate the tables using fresh flowers. A great idea given to us by our decorator was to give small, potted flowers or plants as our party favors (nikah sekeri). These not only could decorate the tables, but they could be taken home by our guests and planted, hopefully reminding them of us every time they look at the flower or smell its fragrance.

Most places have several menu options if you plan on serving dinner. A good and sometimes cheaper option is to opt for an open buffet. So much food unnecessarily goes to waste at weddings, and this would help by having people serve themselves. This tends to be frowned upon in Turkey (or at least in the family I am marrying into), but it is an option I am considering.