By Sarah Currie-Halpern
It’s the last day of the trade show, the annual meeting, or the big-name industry conference. You make it back to your hotel room, plop down on the bed, and dump out everything you’ve accumulated in the last days: a journal, pens, a water bottle, a mouse pad, a coffee mug, wireless headphones bound to break after a few uses, and socks you’ll never wear. Meanwhile, back at the event venue, workers are throwing banners and decor created specifically for the event into trash bins—all on top of a mountain of cardboard coffee cups, event schedules, name tags clipped to lanyards, and plastic champagne flutes.
It doesn’t take an environmental expert to see how business events produce an irresponsible amount of waste. The numbers from the experts, however, bear mentioning: a 2019 study found a three-day 800-person conference produced 455 tons of CO2 alone, and another study determined that the round-trip travel of 2,000 attendees to a conference generated over 2,000 tons of greenhouse gases.
The impetus to make events more eco-friendly is on organizers, but doing so can feel overwhelming on top of the already high-stress nature of event planning. One rule for waste reduction is that every reduction-minded adjustment helps. Doing something, however minor, is always better than doing nothing. Here are three places to start.
Cater wisely
Waste reduction starts well before the actual event does. Catering is the biggest waste and emissions producer at events by a large margin, so choosing a sustainability-minded caterer is essential. Many events must use the in-house caterer at a hotel or event center, don’t be afraid to ask for food to be brought out in portions and insist that leftovers are donated or composted. The more you ask, the more likely they are to eventually do it. On top of using data-driven tools like The Guest-imator (which determines how much food you’ll need for the attendees at your event), work with your caterer to provide meat-free options and foods that don’t require utensils, particularly if you can’t avoid single-use dishes and utensils altogether.
Get smarter about swag
When it comes to swag, offer experiential swag accessible through gift codes and vouchers where possible. If stuff is a must, think about items that are actually useful for the recipients. Seed packets, custom-wrapped chocolate bars, locally sourced honey in glass jars, and cloth tote bags perfect for grocery runs will all result in less plastic going straight to the landfill, and most importantly they are more likely to be valued and therefore, used.
Rent, borrow, and source before you buy
One way to be kind to the earth while making sure your event doesn’t look like every other event is to think outside the box in terms of decor and signage. Rent wherever possible. Work with local businesses and decorators to source one-of-a-kind centerpieces. Consider having a calligrapher make paper banners and name tags before you print anything out on an unrecyclable material like vinyl. Create a plan on how to reuse (ideally) or recycle these materials, and others, such as leftover carpet. Carpet recycling companies such as Kruse Carpet Recycling and CarpetCycle make this easy. There’s no better way to support the local community with your event than through direct partnerships like these.
Think one step further
Just as waste reduction starts before the event kicks off, it also ends well after the last guest has departed. Reach out to local charities that accept event leftovers for their community fridges and food insecurity programs. Do a little research into “micro-haulers,” such as the local community composting organization or companies like Vokashi and Compost Colorado that are innovating on food waste by providing events with compost collection buckets and taking care of subsequent pickup. The resources to reduce waste exist. You just have to tap them.
For more strategies and resources for hosting and planning ahead to create climate-friendly and waste-conscious corporate events, check out our guide to Zero Waste Events here.
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