How to Put Sustainability at the Center of Your Events
With more and more media attention on the negative impacts of climate change and waste, especially plastics, on everyday life, sustainability has become a buzzword in almost all facets of life, including in the corporate world.
While greenwashing—the exaggeration of a company’s dedication to sustainability to the point they’re covering up the actual harm they’re doing—has become an issue, for many companies, large and small, sustainability has become a part of their daily functions. And yes, this includes event planning and management.
For instance, you might not realize that corporate events are responsible for a huge amount of waste each year, and expel large carbon footprints. MeetGreen published a study in 2014 that showed that a 1,000-person, 3-day event generates over 6 tons of waste and over 550 tons of carbon. Considering the number of events this size happening worldwide annually, these are alarming statistics. Sustainable event planning can help mitigate these negative impacts and support a movement in the event industry that is quickly building steam.
The question is, how does one accomplish planning a sustainable event? And to further that query, we also need to ask a couple of more things. What steps should be taken? And what resources are available to event planners to make this happen?
Start at the Beginning: Sustainability in the Early Planning Stage
If creating a sustainable event is going to be a major focus in your event planning, you need to start on day one of planning. Even with an event planning committee involved, someone needs to be appointed as the person specifically responsible for tracking sustainability in the planning process. Have them work in conjunction with other team members to ensure decisions are made with sustainability as the focus.
As requirements for a sustainable event are gathered, put together a clear RFP so that you can be sure that potential vendors meet your requirements. Have your point person do the due diligence on all potential vendors before negotiating contracts with them.
Focus on How You Will Participate in Your Event’s Sustainability Actions
If you’re having a corporate retreat, global executive meeting, or other type of company event that requires most if not all attendees to be in person, you can still plan it with sustainability in mind. The most important thing to consider is not to fall into greenwashing your event.
Be honest and upfront with your attendees as to what steps you’re taking to be sustainable. You can even invite your attendees to participate as much as possible! Together you can help mitigate the negative impacts the event will surely have on the environment.
Choose Locations and Venues with the Impacts of Travel in Mind
If all or part of your event will be in-person, the most prevalent issue will be transportation to and from the venue, which makes up 84% of the carbon footprint of an event. Having a good understanding of where most of your attendees reside can help you make smart decisions. Also, pay attention to what transportation options are available in the location(s) you’re considering as that’s important too.
There are several options to consider to help cut down on the carbon footprint of event transportation.
- Choose a location where the majority of your attendees are located.
- Choose a location and venue that are easily accessible via major transportation hubs, such as airports and train stations.
- Hire a shuttle service as a means of transporting attendees to and from these hubs to the venue if public transportation is not available or convenient.
- Choose a venue where lodging, restaurants, and entertainment venues are within walking distance so attendees do not have to worry about transportation during the event.
Find a Venue and Lodging that Are Certified in Sustainable Practices
You could put together an exhaustive list of requirements for venues and lodging in your RFP to ensure they meet your sustainability requirements, but nowadays there are organizations that are already doing this and certifying hotels and other venues as sustainable for you. The following certifications are examples of what to look for when it comes to your venue and lodging:
- ISO 20121
- LEED
- IACC Green Star
- BOMA BEST
Tech, Food, and Waste Management Are Also Important Considerations to Keep In Mind
Choosing vendors that enforce sustainable practices is important to reduce waste production and energy usage. Event technology that allows you to distribute your event agenda, activities calendar, and other important event information electronically will drastically reduce the need for printed materials. Using lighting and technology vendors that use LED lights and Energy-Star-certified equipment will help reduce the amount of energy consumption too.
When it comes to food and beverages, hire caterers that have a composting system in place, use reusable or compostable serving and dinnerware, and provide condiments and beverages in bulk serving containers, instead of using individual packaging. Also, ask if they have partnerships in place to distribute any unused food to local shelters or food banks. While having an accurate headcount to provide caterers is the most ideal way to prevent overages, this is not always possible and having a sustainable plan in place to deal with that is essential.
Get Help Planning and Managing a Sustainable Corporate Event
As you can see, planning a sustainable event has a lot of moving parts. It may seem overwhelming, and not everyone has the personnel to oversee all the details and logistics. That’s where a company like us comes in.
We can help prepare a strong RFP that covers all the requirements you’ve thought of and probably some others you might have inadvertently overlooked. We also have supplier contacts in the event industry, so we know which ones will be the best ones to submit the RFP to from the start. And this is all at no cost to you.
Schedule a Discovery Call to learn more about how Applied Meetings & Hospitality Solutions can help plan and manage your sustainable company event.