Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in
business. In fact, 43% of company executives say they try to align it with
their overall company goals, missions, or values, according to a 2014
global survey by McKinsey. With such importance being placed on green
issues, there is greater demand to lower corporate carbon footprints in key
areas, including business travel and industry events.
If you are planning a conference, you can meet these demands
by offering an event that takes sustainability seriously. Not only will you be able
to attract environmentally-conscious businesses, but you will be doing your bit
to save the planet too. Should you wish to improve your conference's
eco-credentials, our four tips below will help you out.
Choosing the right venue
Unfortunately, not all venues were created equal when it
comes to offering a sustainable option, so you will want to be very selective
when choosing one. If a location has been awarded ISO 20121 — the international standard that
is issued to venues that have proven themselves when providing eco-friendly
services — it's a good sign that you're on the right track.
However, having this standard is not the be all and end all,
and there are plenty of venues out there that offer their own green services. Don't
be afraid to ask questions about a potential event partner's commitment — look
for extensive recycling initiatives, an energy efficient building, and whether
they're able to provide data for their green practices.
Consider whether they
have excellent public transport links too, as you may be able to encourage
attendees to leave their cars at home. We have an extensive database of green venues up and down
the UK. Use our venuefinder to see which locations are available near you.
Provide high-quality videoconferencing options
For many businesses, providing business travel for their
staff is one of the biggest generators of carbon emissions. For example,
multinational company PwC reported that business travel was responsible for 70% of their total footprint in 2015 —
an issue that many firms will be looking to address. By providing an excellent
video conferencing service for seminars, lectures, and debates at your event,
you can make it easy for participants who would need to travel great distances
to attend.
While your first thought might be that being able to
participate remotely might see your attendee numbers falling, it's worth
remembering that being able to participate remotely will expand your horizons
to a global audience, who may well be willing to buy into your sustainable
initiative. There is also great potential to monetise recorded content once the
event has taken place.
Serve up sustainable refreshments
Depending on whether your venue will provide refreshments
through the day, you may need to hire an outside caterer to serve up food and
drink for attendees. If this is the case, hire a business that specialises in
providing a sustainable service. Food should be made with responsibly sourced ingredients,
and the catering company should have an eco-friendly method of leftover clearance,
such as donating to charity.
Look for caterers that offer organic, fair-trade coffee and
tea, and make sure that they use eco-friendly disposable cups to serve them. If
you need to pick up some green disposables yourself, shop with a wholesaler
like Alliance Online who have a huge range of biodegradable
cups and lids that will ensure your environmental impact remains low.
Try your best to go paperless
Even though almost every conference attendee will own a
device that is capable of displaying your conference materials, there is still
a huge demand for printed booklets that won’t be abating anytime soon.
Unfortunately, this means that paperless events are more difficult to get off
the ground, and you will still get requests for hard copies of everything.
However, you can encourage your attendees to embrace digital
materials by making them as convenient as possible. There are many options for
this, from issuing e-tickets for entry to creating a user-friendly app to
improve information accessibility, so it's worth exploring your options. When
you do have to print, make sure you use a printing company that has proven
green credentials. Or, if you are doing it yourself, be sure to use PEFC-certified paper to guarantee that it is
sustainable.
Follow these four
tips when you are planning your event and you will be able to improve its green
credentials and appeal to the growing environmental targets of your attendees.