It all begins with friends sharing their ideas. I met my friend Robert in my first year of University. He told me about his aspirations about working for a green company. He showed off his expensive shirts made of bamboo. He carried empty pop cans around until he could find a recycling bin. I thought he was a cool albeit a little quirky, and I dismissed his ideas as something I was not personally interested in.

However, just a few years later after I grew out of the indifference attitude of youth, I found myself once again thinking about Robert’s ideas. I began to feel guilty when I didn’t recycle, or when I had accumulated too many plastic shopping bags. So I did the small things, and no longer felt guilty. In this same year, my cousin Zay announced to our family that he was putting a boycott on Nike and their products. He also vowed to only buy clothing and shoes that were eco-friendly. Zay was 17 years old. I was so proud and inspired once again to do more.

When Corinne and I set out to start a wedding invitation company, we didn’t intend for it to be green. But because of the influence of friends, we decided that it was important. By making our company eco-friendly, we are sending out a message and helping brides and grooms to spread the same message.

Many people have asked us why we don’t put our logos on our cards. How will you get the word out about your eco-friendly cards, if you don’t put anything on the cards? My answer to that is that it is the brides’ and grooms’ responsibility to tell their guests about their choice about having eco-friendly invitations. It means little when a company tells you that you should be green. But when someone you love and care about tells you about their green initiative it becomes a more powerful message.

It all begins with friends sharing their ideas. Your friends and family, believe it or not, care about what you think. Green thinking does not have to be taking on the responsibility to save the world, it doesn’t mean you devote you life to preaching and nagging about an eco-conscious life. It simply means living by example and inspiring those around you to do the same.

This past Saturday was the kick-off of the Great Canadian Shoreline clean-up, sponsored by TD bank.  We went down to Kitsilano beach to help with the clean-up and attend the kick-off party.

They had music, food, a mural that kids could paint and some pretty entertaining dancing crabs.  We were put in teams and went down the beach to clean up.  Our team collected 171 cigarette butts, a bunch of food wrapping, and even a golf ball.  Overall Kits beach was very clean, but there were some strange things that were found along the beach, including a mattress.  There were over 500 pounds of garbage that was collected along the beach.  Good job everyone!

Us with the very entertaining dancing crabs.

Our clean-up team.

Cleaning up the beach... it was very windy.

Mural for kids to paint.

Intricate and traditional celtic knot-work patterns make up this classic celtic design.

Our Launch Party Picnic at Trout Lake was a blast, and we’d like to thank everyone that came. We nabbed a spot underneath a willow tree by the lake, laid down our many blankets and proceeded to eat a metric ton of organic food. Here is what we dined on:

Avocado & Cream cheese sandwiches
Whole wheat bread
Avocado
Tomato
Cucumbers
Sprouts
Cream cheese (optional)

Potato Salad
2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
3/4 to 1 cup mayonnaise
2 to 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

Preparation:
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and let cool completely. Combine potatoes, eggs, celery, and onion in a large bowl. Stir in 3/4 cup mayonnaise, the relish, and mustard. Add more mayonnaise, as needed, to taste. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serves 6.

Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing
Equal parts apple cider vinegar, honey and sugar

Something Green Chocolate Cake by Corinne
(secret!)

More pictures after the jump.
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Ukiyo-e means “pictures of the floating world”. This card is inspired by the water color and india ink paintings of Japan. The Kanji (Japanese text) are love and good fortune.

Something Green is officially opened for business! We are launching with 21 invitations, ranging from elegant and unique to cultural inspired designs. This is just the beginning for us as we have many more designs in the pipeline.

What makes Something Green Eco Friendly?
Something Green cards are designed to minimize their impact on the environment using a variety of methods which include:

Card Paper
The paper used is made from 100% recycled content using 50% post consumer waste, is FSC certified, Carbon Neutral, and can be recycled.

Envelopes
Our cards come with free envelopes. If you order 50 cards, we will provide 60 envelopes to accommodate for making mistakes when writing addresses on the envelopes. (Trust me we’ve been there!) Our envelopes are 100% post consumer recycled, FSC certified, and acid free.

Ink
The inks are vegetable-based and we use a waterless printing process.

Printer
Our local printer is located in Delta, British Columbia. They use a printing process that eliminates the water used in conventional printing. In addition, waterless printing uses a chemical-free process instead of the isopropyl alcohol used in conventional printing.

In order to celebrate our launch we have 2 upcoming events. The first is a picnic at Trout Lake at Vancouver on September 13. We will be going to the Farmer’s Market the day before to buy fresh ingredients to make salads and sandwiches for everyone. Corinne will also be making a special cake in the shape of our logo! Our 2nd event is the TD Canadian Shoreline cleanup at Kitsilano Beach on September 19. Please join us, it will be a lot of fun and there is lots more room for volunteers.

The Indian doli symbolizes the bride’s last parting with her family. She cooks and serves her family one last time as they wish her luck on her new life. Doli is the perfect wedding card for the bride who wishes to pay tribute to her loving family. Thank you Sonia for your help with this design.