What are some eco-friendly event planning and logistics tips?

Serving plant based foods at events is the best eco- friendly choice an event planner can make in addition to using no plastic and making sure there is composting and recycling happening.

A sustainable location is a good way to start with. But what you still need is to have the knowledge to check if the location is really sustainable and not only doing greenwashing. The webside "Sustainable Event Solutions" offers a free & easy to use Sustainability Rider and Checklist with the most important topics to create sustainable events. The checklist offers a great and compressed overview to talk with your suppliers about their sustainability strategy. I also recommend not only to reduce the negative impact. With sustainable events you can also create a positive impact by increasing biodiversity, working with NGO's... Let's go creative together for sustainable events with a positive on nature, society and economy!

planning Day events more than an evening or a night event can work wonders, it will save the generators, fuel, and lights consumption. plus they are better planned in terms of logistics too. And the win win situation is the colors used and decor automatically gets enhanced reducing the cost as well as use of extra elements.

When looking for a venue, keep an eye out for places with green certifications or that offer recycling and composting services. Green certifications like LEED or Green Globe show that a venue has taken steps to reduce its environmental impact, making it a considerable choice to practice event sustainability. By choosing a green venue, you're showing your attendees that you care about sustainability, and they'll be more likely to support your events in the future.

A sustainable travel management for all stakeholders is key to organize sustainable events. At big events the travel of the audience causes up to 90% of the emissions. To make sure the audience is using the sustainable solutions to travel - the communication is the best solution to avoid emissions. Make very clear in all your communication that the event is sustainable, why it is sustainable and how the stakeholders can be part of the solution when they use the sustainable travel options. Make the difference of travel solutions very clear and make it easy and fun for the stakeholders to use the sustainable solutions. If you want to make a positive impact involve the stakeholders as part of the solution to create a community!

One thing about carpooling. It's not just a great way to max out the load-out of a sometimes necessary, but not very sustainable means of transport – it can facilitate your event planning a lot, especially the first few minutes: During a carpool ride, your visitors will have the time to get acquainted - try to match (online on your site as added benefit) not only by point of origin, but also by interest or possible networking benefits. This will make "getting into the event mood" so much easier. Also, use fun pre-event communication in the timeframe that people are most likely to be on the road - Q&As, surveys or even gamification will see a boost in participants when there are people traveling together. Works great for train rides, too!

Our events in East Africa are quite good in terms of impact on the environment. But in order to compensate for the impacts we do make, we work with Carbon Tanzania. We asked them to sponsor our events by offsetting for all the emissions produced during, which they gladly do. Additionally, though, they have made it possible for us to sell carbon offsets to attendees during the registration process itself as an add-on. You have to make it easy for participants. In this instance, they simply click a button that charges them for offsets for their flights or vehicle travel, according to where they are traveling from. This is far more effective than "encouraging them to offset." It also shows this is something we care about ourselves.

Rather than drive in separate cars, encourage your attendees to carpool or use public transportation. On top of helping reduce traffic and air pollution, you'll also promote a sense of community and shared responsibility for the environment. To make it easier for your attendees to use public transportation as an option, consider providing shuttle services to your event venue.

Leveraging an event management system can go a long way toward the reduction of paper waste at events. Agendas, Presentations, Venue Floor Plans, Surveys... these can all be shared digitally through a mobile event app or via QR codes, and by removing them from the tables it actually helps boost engagement / adoption rates too. Going paperless can also be a gold mine for reportable data. Now you can track how many clicks/downloads these documents are getting to determine their relevancy, or get realtime feedback on sessions/speakers with a simplified rating system. Offer incentives to interact, and watch engagement scores mature to a whole new level.

One thing I've found helpful is adding water stations to meeting space and meals vs. plastic water bottles. There are recyclable plastic cups or you can use glass for a smaller group. Another positive move toward eco-friendly meetings is digital signage vs printed signs. Lots of hotels are moving in this direction. Most printed signs get tossed after meetings only to reorder for next meeting, so its also a savings to the client.

I agree with all that is written here, but every so often you might stumble across the necessity of print. This might be due to customer's wishes, a particular target group, the scope and theme of the event or some other reason out of your grasp. In this case, combining the best of two worlds is key to a more sustainable use of paper - for example, make it a habit of never ever putting one-time-information (e. g. a date) in print. Use the power of QR codes instead; e. g. direct users to dynamic landing pages which you can easily update. Thanks to AI, you can design the most artistic scannable images, which "hide" the QR information. Once your audience bridged the gap from print to online, keep them in your event app - and never look back!

Digital is not automatically ecofriendly. if you go digital you need to use ecofreindly power, energy efficient systems and tools. To go paperless you have to check the alternatives if they are really ecofriendly. And if you print use ecofriendly suppliers, check if the paper recycled and if you can use the prints several times - so avoid the date of the event on the printings to use it again the next year. there are many more possibilities to avoid printing and to support biodiversity with your events.

Going paperless is an excellent start to eco-friendly event planning. With a ticketing platform like Ticketleap, you’ll reduce your paper usage by taking advantage of digital tools like event management software, online registration, and mobile ticketing. Then, during the event itself, you can replace paper programs and agendas with digital versions so attendees can quickly scan a QR code or click a link to access them on their phones. By going paperless, you'll both reduce waste but save money on printing costs.

Wherever feasible, use the tricks psychology has to offer. For example it's more sustainable if food is served, compared to an "all you can eat" self-service buffet. We tend to fill our plates with less, if there's a fellow human being on the other side of the booth. After all, we don't want to disappoint by leaving leftovers. Also, there's the added effect of "someone will notice if I throw food away". Clearly communicate when a dish is (sold) out - scarcity compared to far too much choice (which facilitates leftovers) is one step to conquer food waste. Positioning food stalls apart from each other, serving not more than one dish each, allows for more prudent selection – as well as more socializing and a healthy dynamic during food breaks.

The best hack to create sustainable events is to work with sustainable suppliers only. :) Catering is a good example. To check if the supplier is really sustainable you can use the free to use sustainability rider and checklist of www.sustainble-event-solutions.de Ask the supplier if they use ecofriendly power, if they have a sustainable travelmanagement, wastemanagement and if they pay their employees and suppliers fair - is diversity, equality and inclusion part of their sustainability strategy? Are they using bio certificated food, which is healthier and improves the soil and storages more CO2. If you have more questions about this topic - just let me know.

Plan your menu around what's in season and purchase your food from local farmers or suppliers to help reduce your carbon footprint. By doing so, you’ll be both supporting local businesses and decreasing how far your food has to travel to your event. Since seasonal foods are those grown and harvested during a particular season, they'll be fresher, tastier, and require fewer resources to transport. Trust us, your guests will go bananas for how delicious and fresh your locally-sourced food is!

At our Kilimanjaro Trails Festival event in Tanzania, we have over 1000 people in attendance. We set up a large tent with dozens of water filtration units running, so we can supply clean drinking water (from the pipes is not potable) to all attendees for free throughout the weekend. We do not have to buy large plastic jugs of water, and we also do NOT sell drinking water in our bar. Rather, we sell sodas and beers in reusable glass bottles (not plastic). Additionally, we require runners and cyclists to bring their own cups / hydration bladders for filling at checkpoints and feed zones, so we do not have to provide disposable cups. Set the expectation for your attendees, and we can together change our actions.

We always try to encourage everyone to be as eco friendly as possible. For large events we offer reusable drink ware that people take to the bar to be refilled; have recycling bins for items that can be recycled on the island; we never use straws at our bars; we encourage our careering teams to use local produce where possible; we only allow biodegradable confetti at our weddings; never use sky lanterns; encourage our couples to send paperless save the date & invites. We also started a Straw on Request initiative many moons ago that got the support of many bars and restaurants on the island and the signage is still in use now but could do with a revamp to be honest!

Communication with all stakesholders is the most important part to organize a sustainable event. At big events the travel of the audience creates is by far the most co2 emissions. So it is important to tell all stakeholders in advertising, at the registrations or when they buy the ticket - that the event is sustainable, why it is sustainable and hoe the audience can be part of the solution if they use the ecofriendly possibilities you offer be it public traffic included in the tickeprice or other incentives. Make you position and attitude very clear and tell the audience what you do to make the event sustainable and that you expect the stakeholders to do their best to make the event a sustainable success story.

Upcycling is a creative way to turn old or discarded items into something new and useful. For example, you can use old jars or wine bottles to create unique centerpieces or planters that will add a touch of charm to your event, like using jars as vases for your flower bouquets. Consider using recycled materials (like reusable fabric or recycled plastic) for your swag bags. As for decorations, refurbished pallets or doors can make cool, rustic backdrops that will impress your guests. As a more specific example, if you’re hosting fall events on a farm, try transforming leftover wooden pallets or bales of hay into benches. By upcycling materials, you'll be promoting sustainability, while adding a unique touch to your event.

Measuring the co2 emsiions is a must have. You should measure the scope 1-3 of your company and in future of each event. the law to measure your emissions is on the way. In Europe it started with the big companies, but they need to know the emissions of their supply chain - so everybody needs to know the co2 emissions. if you measure you can improve and you can kill the co2 before it kills humankind. usually the biggest emissions come from the use of energy, procurement, wastemanagement, travelmanagement. To bring down your co2 emissions easily you can also use the free to use sustainability rider and checklist of www.sustainble-event-solutions.de

Sustainability does't mean just eco-friendly. Sustainability has 3 aspects: ecology, social and economy. So don't forget to check that all stakeholders get paid fair, create a inclusive and barrier-free event, support diversity and equality on stage, backstage and in your supplychain. And yes sustainable events should be a profit center not a cost center. Only successful events are sustainable. Lets go creative together to create sustainable events with a positive impact on nature, society, economy and each guest.

Digital Invitations: Use email invites instead of paper. Sustainable Venues: Choose eco-friendly event spaces. Local Sourcing: Select local, organic catering and products. Waste Reduction: Minimize single-use items and provide recycling bins. Carbon Offsets: Offset event emissions with eco initiatives. Virtual Elements: Incorporate digital elements to reduce travel. Eco-friendly Transportation: Encourage public transit and carpooling. Reusable Signage: Use reusable banners and signs. LED Lighting: Opt for energy-efficient lighting. Green Printing: Use eco-friendly printing materials.