Why should you go green for your next event?
How our clients are shifting to more sustainable events.
We always get right to the heart of what our clients want when we plan any event here at Smart Live, and sustainability is definitely a factor that many of our clients have been more aware of in the last year or so. Many brands and businesses are concentrating on being seen as ‘green’ to both their clients and employees, and are keen to illustrate this through their event, be it a conference, product launch or awards ceremony. So if you haven’t started yet, why exactly should you go green for your next event?
Going Green is the Smart Move!
What many of our clients don’t realise is that going green can actually reduce event costs, meaning they can use their budget more effectively. By cutting down on waste, you are cutting down on waste removal costs: according to www.meetgreen.com, the typical conference attendee produced 1.89kg of waste per day, and 1.16kg of that amount will go straight into landfill. When you calculate that number for 1,000 attendees over a 3-day conference, you get 5,670kg of waste, which is the equivalent of four compact cars. It is without a doubt that events tend to cause a lot of waste, so we need to start making sure we reduce our footprint as much as possible. But how do we do this?
Chivas Brothers 'Responsib'ALL' Day
Below are some examples of what we’ve done recently at an event we produced for Chivas Brothers.
We were recently challenged with coordinating the UK section of Responsib’ALL Day, a 19,000 person annual global event that focuses on sustainability, responsibility and giving back to local communities. We organised 1,200 people across 3 London sites and 7 Scottish sites to litter pick around river banks and beaches. Our involvement ranged from facilitating the litter picking to organising portaloos and catering stations on site.
Here are some examples of how we made the event as green as possible:
- We organised for coaches to pick guests up from a central location, in order to reduce their carbon footprint
- Instead of supplying delegates with plastic water bottles to keep them hydrated throughout the day, we handed out CanO water, which comes in the form of water in a can. The product is an infinitely recyclable alternative to single-use plastic bottles
- We sourced only local suppliers in London and Scotland to provide everything we needed, from portaloos to tea and coffee stations
- We served lunch in wicker baskets, ensuring no plastic was used in the production of the food. They also looked great!
These were just some examples of how we ensure sustainability flowed through every aspect of this event. Plus, it wasn’t just us who succeeded in going green for this event! Our wonderful clients managed to collect 365 bags of plastic over 6 sites, and 420kg of plastic was collected in Scotland! For more information about Responsib’ALL day, make sure you head over to the website here.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR NEXT EVENT SUSTAINABLE
We’ve told you why you should go green, and how we’ve gone green, but how can YOU get involved in your next event? Here are some ideas:
- Choose a venue that has a short distance from the airport/your offices.
- Use communal or public transport options to transport delegates, ensuring you’re reducing their carbon footprint.
- Recycle! Use centralised recycling stations, making it as easy as possible for guests to deposit recyclables. But first and foremost, ensure as much as possible at the event can be recycled, instead of using single-use products.
- Go paperless where you can; with so many guest registration and data collection apps out there, there’s really no excuse!
- Upcycle what you can, such as materials and furniture you’ve used at previous events, and make them even better!
- Choose only local suppliers, especially when it comes to catering and local food produce.
- Look for sustainability certifications when choosing a nearby hotel to host your delegates, such as Green Key or Green Globe.
- Choose a green venue for your event. Just some in London that we like include BMA House, The Crystal, Here East, The Ritz, and London Zoo.
