Additionally, the piece featured footage of such an event. One of the participants in this green wedding just happened to be an employee of the Sierra Club, a left wing environmental organization:
Sam Champion: "Weddings are, of course, about celebrating a couple's love for one another. And now some couples are taking that just a little step further, not just sharing their love for one another but also sharing their love for the world around them and the environment. It's the latest trend more and more Americans are finding. And a way to go green, making a commitment and a statement with style."
GMA Graphic: "It’s Cool to Be Green"
Champion: "We've all seen those trendy, glamorous celebrity weddings. Well, how about a new idea for planning your vows? Green weddings. For the couple who wants to say ‘I do’ while being very conscious of the planet, like Ana Swinson and Matt Cherry. Check out the video of their green wedding held in Atlanta last fall. The ceremony was outdoors, so no lights were necessary. The music was acoustic, their’s from a pair of ukuleles And the only electricity? Between the couple themselves. The reception held inside Atlanta's old trolley barn, partly because of the couple's interest in mass transit. You see, that's how they first met. Candles and lit pumpkins provide most of the light. All cans and bottles are recycled and cherry tree branches given out as party favors. All showing a wedding can be both green and great."
Champion somehow forgot to mention that Anna Swinson is also the BEC [Building Environmental Community] Organizer for Sierra Club. Now, if Swinson was a member of a conservative group, and the piece related to a right-wing position, would the GMA co-host have let the association go unmentioned? Also, if this trend really is sweeping America, why did ABC have to go to an environmental representative to find an example?
Champion has quickly developed a habit of promoting liberal "green" causes. In January, he hosted a piece that hyperbolically wondered, "Will billions die from global warming?" And this was only a day after he touted a climate change study that, according to Champion, got together to blame it on humans. (Presumably, he meant this in a good way.)
The April 2 segment, which aired at 8:41am, also featured an interview with Millie Martini-Bratten, editor of Brides magazine. She showed Champion how to use bamboo plates and scrap wood for a wedding. Left undiscussed: Just how many women will want to have a bamboo wedding. The weatherman also instructed Americans to remember not to be wasteful on their wedding day.
Champion: "Okay, first of all, and, you know, I love the whole idea. But I gotta say that when I heard this, I thought it isn't going to be very pretty. We’re going to have people look at something and tell them to try it, but it’s not going to end up being beautiful. But this is beautiful. This is–"
Millie Martini-Bratten: "I know. That's what's so great now is that there are lots of great style ideas and this is just simple. You see the edge cut off the tablecloth and we turned it into a napkin ring for the napkin, so everything is feeding back into itself. The other idea that I really love, these are bottles that have been recycled for the wine glass, for the water glass and the wine glass. They've been recycled, polished down."
Champion: "Now, you can't do this at home with your glass-like skills. This is–"
Martini-Bratten: "No, you can’t do this at home, but it's not difficult to do either. And you can see, they're very, very pretty and stylish. And, of course, we've kept the green theme. And we have soy candles burning in this glass. And soy, of course, is not made with petroleum, so it's not releasing any toxins into the air."
Champion: "And since we want to talk to people about using less petroleum, when you’re thinking about buying candles, you don't think about that. You don’t think about that’s where candles come from. Soy based candles do not. Ah! Good green tip."
Martini-Bratten: "And it's romantic."
Champion: "All right. And then, you know, the flowers and decorations here, to think about things that are live. And you've tied the whole thing into bamboo because bamboo once it's cut to make something like plates, quickly regrows. So we won’t have to worry about that."
Martini-Bratten: "Exactly right. So, these are bamboo trays that we’ve turned into plates. And the wood on the forks is teak."
Champion: "And the chairs and everything there also done from recycled or scrap wood put together. And it comes up with a beautiful package."
Martini-Bratten: "The table is recycled also. This scrap wood coming together. It looks almost like marquetry. It looks like a work of art."
Champion: "Gorgeous. Now, tell me about the food, because that's got to be difficult to kinda try and get everything organic in your food planning."
Martini-Bratten: "Well, organic, of course, is chemical pesticides, no chemical pesticides and having it locally grown. Which means it’s really fresh and it’s really tasty. And the good news is, you can have a wedding cake that's really fresh and tasty and organic now, too, as well as organic sparkling wine. And a wedding cake is a tradition at every wedding. And this is a real style statement, too.
Champion: "And one of the things we’re talking about with the cake, I mean, it's wheat-free, dairy-free, gluten free--"
Martini-Bratten: "Gluten free. Sugar free. And allergen-free and organic. And it tastes great as you’ll see in a moment. And we’ve used as decoration, the bamboo, again we have it as our– "
Champion: "So you can tie it all together."
Martini-Bratten: "Tie the whole theme together and sort of telegraph your, your feeling about wanting to be friendly to the environment."
Champion: "It’s kind of thinking about what you do that's so wasteful. And at a big event like a wedding, you don’t have to turn the whole wedding into a green event. But one or two things. [Motions towards plant decorations.] This is– This is a great idea, not using all the fabric that just gets thrown away."
Thanks to Mr. Champion, Americans now know not to selfishly think of themselves on their wedding day.
