10 Ways to Make Your Event More Sustainable

‘It’s not easy being green’ said one famous froggy puppet but making your event sustainable might not be as hard as you think. For businesses today, the term ‘sustainable’ has moved from being a buzzword to a genuine requirement, and that has transcended into the events they hold too. The question is how do you deliver an event that has impact on your audience but not the environment? Arm yourself with these top ten sustainable event ideas.

1. Know your impact before improving

If you’ve never considered the environmental impact of your events before, it’s worth considering all aspects of your event and how that is affecting the environment. This gives you a baseline to work from and improve upon. Don’t worry you don’t need to tackle everything at once, choose the element which is having the greatest impact and set realistic goals for how to reduce this.

2. Go Plastic Free

The hot topic for this year is going plastic free, with several big brands making their commitment to reduce the use of one-use plastic like straws.  Consider how one-use plastic is used at your event from plastic forks to delegate badge holders and how these could be swapped to recyclable alternatives.

3. Ditch the paper

Digital technology means that events need no longer need to generate reams of printed material. Event microsites, mobile apps and interactive Smartphone technology are a much greener way to engage with delegates, before, during and after events. Where there’s no alternative to paper be sure to have recycling facilities available.

4. Food and Beverage

Catering your event? Choose organic, locally produced food and drink to be kinder to the environment and cut transportation emissions. If your event has over catered and has a lot of excess food left over – think about donating it rather than binning it.

5. Choose Responsible Venues

Selecting a venue with an environmental policy in place is a fast track towards a more sustainable event. Does it have an environmental management system, for example? For hotels, it’s worth checking for Green Tourism certification. Larger venues, by definition, use more power, so ensure you choose an appropriately-sized space.

6. Delegates’ Carbon Footprint

Large scale events needn’t generate huge quantities of carbon dioxide.  If you have hundreds or even thousands of delegates turning up to your event, think about how to encourage them to travel to your event in an eco-friendly way. This could be as simple as choosing a venue near a train or tube station to putting on coach travel or even introducing a car share system for delegates who have to drive to share the journey and their carbon emissions!

7. Projection over print

Set and stage design can be material-intensive, but projection mapping can eliminate the cost of producing one-off designs by transforming almost any surface into a display with video projection. Creating creative and dynamic displays that transform the look of your event without the need for weighty sets and props.

8. LED Lighting

LED lighting is the most energy efficient, cleanest and most eco-friendly way of illumination. Not only is LED lighting incredibly versatile for creating a variety of different looks, moods and atmospheres but with its green credentials, you can be confident your event will look good without negatively impacting on the environment.

9. Go outside

Another huge benefit of digital technology is the opportunity to take shows almost anywhere. Projection mapping can be equally effective in the open air and an alfresco gathering can be a novel way of reducing air conditioning and electricity consumption. It may even be possible to stage the event on your company premises, saving on venue costs and travel, whilst creating a real buzz.

10. Choose an agency who shares your ethos

It’s important to choose an event management agency who understands your event objectives, and that includes the environmental ones too! Here at Corporate Events, we are continually looking to invest in smaller, lighter digital technologies; we donate all our exhibition and event furniture to local charities; we donate all our used set fabrics to local schools and charities and we re-purpose all our sets and re-use whenever possible. We are also accredited for ISO 14001 for environmental management.

Sustainability is a responsibility we all share.

Let’s embrace it together.