In this page you will find tips to help an organization improve it’s events ecological footprint. They come from our book 144 ways to reduce your organization’s ecological footprint.

Ecological Procurement

Any purchasing activity should be done with the environment in mind. You should ask potential suppliers about the environmental impact of their products. Be critical of a product’s environmental value. Make sure a potential supplier’s products comply with official standards or norms such as Green Seal and Scientific Certification Systems. These standards can be used to impose specific ecological demands upon your suppliers. Unfortunately, many goods don’t fall under the umbrella of these specifications. When buying these products, ask sellers for information on the ecological characteristics of a product being considered and compare these products with those offered by the competition to evaluate who offers the most environmentally friendly products. In most cases, this evaluation is largely subjective. In an ideal world, all the environmental impacts of a product from cradle to grave would be taken into account.

Sponsor Selection

Sponsors should be evaluated and selected with regard to their environmental practices and policies. Even if sponsors give away their products or services, you should favour ones that are respectful of the environment. Does your sponsor distribute documentation made from recycled paper or offer reusable mugs instead of paper cups? Asking for products made with respect to the environment leads sponsors to begin offering such products.

Food Services Selection

Food and liquid consumption has the potential to generate a great deal of paper, plastic or other waste. Event planning offers a great opportunity to educate participants on reducing their food-related waste generation. There are many ways to conserve. Use real plates, glasses, utensils and cups instead of paper. Offer tap water at tables instead of bottled. Ask your sponsor to distribute mugs at the start of a conference and offer an incentive to participants for reusing their mug.

Choice of Location

Select a central location close to the airport. Choosing a downtown location close to the metro, a bus stop, or a train station will make your event more accessible from public transportation.

Communications: Ecological Promoting

While promoting your event or contacting participants, you’ll have multiple opportunities to communicate your environmental beliefs and encourage others to make an effort toward going green. Give your communication strategy serious reflection so your messages support your environmental beliefs.

Safety

Good communication between the safety team and the people in charge of an event will lead to uncovering any safety policies that may have a negative impact on the environment and finding solutions. Identification tags can be made with recycled paper or plastic. The same goes for access cards. If cars are part of the safety program for your event, why not use hybrid cars, or at least have people turn off their engines when not moving.

Participant Lodging

If event participants are arriving from out of town, evaluate the ecological elements relevant to their stay. First, consider location. Choose a central location near the event and major modes of public transportation. Organising shuttle transportation can be another way to save on gas. Why not give away public transportation passes to attendees for the duration of the event? Or why not hold your event at the hotel if most participants stay at that hotel? This has several advantages. You won’t need to go out to eat, no one will be late because of traffic, and so on.