Sustainable events, even a few years ago, might have seemed like an optional extra or luxury which specific organisers could choose to place at the heart of delivery to differentiate themselves. In the here and now, however, sustainability is what attendees of any event will expect as a given, with organisers initially being chosen for the job on the basis of how sustainable an event they can deliver.
Shambala Festival attracts a sustainability-minded audience
Green Audit
One of the ways in which that learning can impact the delivery of events and refocus the minds of organisers on sustainability goals is to run an audit on the plans for an event. Break it down into constituent parts – venue, energy requirements, food and drink, media to be utilised at the event – and ask yourself if each aspect is being delivered in the most sustainable manner possible. If a future event is still too early in the planning stages for an audit of this kind, run one on an equivalent event from the past, asking yourself how you might have done things better.
Choosing a Location
Few things are more fundamental than the venue chosen for an event. This can even be applied to the city in which the event is held. The CDP is an international non-profit organisation that helps companies and cities disclose their environmental impact. For organisers, it is a valuable source of information on cities across the globe, providing information such as a list of those cities in which at least 70% of electricity is supplied from renewable sources. None of these cities are in the UK, although 80 have committed to switching to 100% clean energy by 2050, the site also breaks down the degree of renewable energy in use in many cities across the UK, enabling event’s organisers to select a location which can be sold to attendees on the basis of sustainability.
Choosing a Venue
The same thinking applies to choosing a venue within any city, and the Visit England website is just one place where it’s possible to find a list of venues that market themselves on the sustainability they embody. Another aspect of the venue that will feed into sustainability is the transport options serving it. If a venue boasts good links to the rail network, for example, then this information could be included within any invites to the event in order to encourage attendees to travel other than by car.
Catering
Source from suppliers which are as local as possible and emphasise plant-based choices as much as possible. Even if the demographic of attendees militates against a completely meat-free diet, persuading guests to opt for vegan or vegetarian food as far as possible will make a difference to the sustainability of an event.
Deliciously Ella inner city garden by Marble LDN
If you’re still wondering how to make your 2022 events as sustainable as possible, a powerful source of inspiration could lie in looking around at some recent large scale events which have gone to great lengths to render themselves as sustainable as possible. These include:
- The Shambala Festival, Northamptonshire, has reduced its carbon footprint by 81% over 5 years and uses 100% renewable energy sources.
- The Green Gathering, Chepstow, has a recycling rate of 73% and utilises renewable energy and organic food and drink.
- Latitude, in Southwold, which sends zero waste to landfill, recycling 59% and sending the rest to create energy, uses recyclable cups in all bars and, for every guest arriving in an official Big Green Coach the festival sponsors and protects five square feet of Amazon rain forest for ten years.
Here at Marble, we place sustainability at the forefront of our event concepts and deliverability, it is much more than a tick box mentality and very much a cornerstone of the planning process.
If you are looking to make the events in your marketing schedule this year more environmentally friendly, get in touch today we would be more than happy to share our knowledge.