Greening your events

Sustainable Events Management with CSR

 

Minimize impact during live events, meetings, exhibitions

 

Concerts, sporting events, meetings, conventions and big outdoor gatherings are an essential part of community life that has a positive effect on society. Unfortunately they can have negative impacts on the environment. Events generate garbage, use electricity, require a lot of materials to run them, along with plenty of travel by the audience and/or participants that leave carbon footprints.

Any event can be managed sustainably

 Sustainable Events Management. Any event can be managed sustainably, whether small or large, a conference or caucus, a onetime concert or something that is ongoing, like a series of spectator sports   – the concept of minimizing impacts of purchasing, energy production, transport, waste and sanitation can be applied in almost any situation. A sustainably managed live event seeks to minimize its resource use and all the potentially negative impacts on the environment. “Greening” an event or meeting involves all aspects of the planning process, a detailed collaboration of everyone involved, from producer to supplier, from venue to viewers.

Events organizers: think Sustainable

Practice Sustainable Events in order to satisfy the needs of attendees and host community alike, while protecting and improving future opportunities.  Simply minimize and reduce the environmental cost of your events and embed the concepts of sustainability into your purchasing and operational decisions.  Educate all participants to avoid careless and negligent behavior from those who leave their trash, plastics and heavy impact to the already fragile environment due to global climate change.

Buy Local. Reduce carbon footprints

Purchasing.  When purchasing, buy sustainably. Buy local. Purchase from local vendors and buy products manufactured within the province or region.

Waste management.Practice the new mantra of RETHINK, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE AND REPORT.

 Re-think giveaways – Ensure they are useful, use recycled materials, and have minimal packaging. Reduce or limit paper communications.

Energy. Use sustainable energy. Use ecological alternatives to diesel- and gasoline/petrol-powered generators. Reduce power consumption. Adopt procedures to reduce the total energy consumed by the event.

 

Avoid use or sale of bottled water!

Whatta Water Use. Discourage or exclude the sale of bottled water due to its environmental impact.

Sustainable Transport. Reduce the carbon emissions in transport. Provide participants, audience, staff, and volunteers with public transport and ride sharing options, and encourage cycling and walking to the event.

 

Form a Green Team. Communicate your green efforts

Form a green team.

To share about your environmental commitment and encourage participants to green their own events, meetings, conferences and other business practices.  

 

 

 

Lean and green. Even in an economic crisis, green practices and long-term sustainability goals should not take a backseat to the bottom line.  Incorporating green and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) practices into events and meetings can be beneficial —not only to establish their companies as good corporate citizens, but to actually save money!

Learn ways to green your next event!

These are just some of the many ways to green your events – the tip of the iceberg so to speak. Do you know if your event is helping or hurting the environment? Include a Sustainable Events Management with CSR Workshop in your next big happening! Email sustainabilityg@sonixnet.jp for more info or check out http://sustainabilityguru.webstarts.com/services.html.

-Source: Live Earth Green Event Guidelines and Calgary City Green Event Essentials.

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