5 step guide to an eco-friendly event
Riya Thakkar
Making electric cars safe| Enabling eco-friendly world via marketplace | Sustainable Event Curator
Are you planning to organize an eco-friendly event? And are stuck at figuring out ‘how-to’?
Here is your 5-step guide to get you sorted for the D-day. Irrespective of the size of the event, you will be able to use this list with customizations. These pointers would get you to be as close as zero-waste. but if you don’t follow them to the ‘T’, do not fret. Because thousand imperfect efforts are better than the perfect plan. Lastly, if your attendees, find it unfeasible or unrealistic. Give them some time to understand the impact and importance. Until then pat yourself on your back, and pull up your socks to get going.
1.????Location: For smaller events, there is an option to do it in-house or at an outside venue. When choosing outdoor, you can go old school and organize it in a nearby garden. It will give you a chance to save on energy that goes into transport, décor, and lighting. Nearer you are to your house, it becomes easier to manage food serving, procurement, and waste management. If the garden is unavailable, you can find an eco-friendly venue nearby you. There are green event venues* such as The Greenstraw House, Go Native, which are more than happy to accommodate your green needs in a fun, food, and frolic.
*A green event venue is one that?actively works to become more sustainable and meet sustainability guidelines and benchmarks.
2.????Food & Beverage: The parameter which takes the most time in selection and wrap-up. At home, you have the chance to grow and prepare your food, serve in your cutlery, and segregate the waste. Farther down the lane, you can choose to order from your local catering businesses/ cafes by taking your containers to them. Irrespective of the medium you choose, you must be clear about the seasonal, local, and organic choice of the food and its quantity. Based on the number of people confirmed for the event, you can order # of person * 300 gm. This way you will ensure you waste as minimal as possible. And if you still end up wasting you can call NGOs near you who come to collect the left-over food from you. Or you can provide the option of reusable crockery for take-away. Here is the list of 8?NGOs/ organizations who help you save food.
For serving away from home, you can carry your cutlery or rent some. In case it’s not possible, you can order bio-degradable compostable options such as sugar cane bagasse, areca, and more from Recycle. Green,
3.????Fun: Want to make your event super fun? You ought to include games, performances, and exchanging gifts. Under each of these categories, you can reuse as much as possible. How about asking your friends to bring board games they own? Or bring some talent to entertain people? If none of this is possible, you can rely on your local artists to uplift the mood of the event.
Gifting is not mandatory, and no one shall be shamed for not falling under this trap. But, if you love gifts/ swags, then you can share eco-friendly gifting options from Brown Living or Happy Pencils. On receiving end, you can make a list of things you need and pass it over to friends. They can pick from the list making it super easy for everyone involved.
4.????Frolic: Each of us likes to feel special. And the sure shot way to get there is by decorating the place as the event demands. However, décor items inspired by the Instagram world can generate tonnes of wastage which, end up occupying the landfills. To avoid this cycle, you can start with reusing available resources in the décor. For instance, if you have empty bottles, you can paint them and use them as a center décor piece with some fresh local flowers. There are also vendors such as Myecodeeds, Reinventwithus, Studio156.ahm who rent/make a bunch of colorful eco-friendly accessories and party requisites.
Also, how about offering an alternative to paper invites, name tags, and other swags? By going digital from e-invites, website registrations, and mobile apps. The digital format can help you in streamlining the flow of information along with the needed personalization.
Finally, dressing for the occasion is impeccable, and I see many people go shopping for every new event. The trick to overcoming impulsive shopping is reuse or upcycle. Choose either your own, your family’s, or your ancestor’s piece and do a makeover. Trust me when I say that the level of satisfaction with the outcome will be unmatched.
5.????Guests: The last piece in the puzzle is attendees. Without their support, your event won’t be successful aka ecofriendly. Some tips to get them involved in reducing the event’s carbon footprint.
1.????Ask for their itinerary to get them to carpool or take public transport,
2.????Ask guests to collect and empty their waste in to correct pile of the waste bins (proper guidelines for reducing, reusing, and recycling can be given in advance),
3.????Ask guests to go hybrid with the event, giving the option to attend either in person or virtually for multiple-days or cross-country events,
4.????Ask them for their accountability in the sustainability goal of the event.
If everyone is aligned, there is no way you can miss going the zero-waste way.
Some references to help you out in your journey.
Open-source database for eco-friendly vendors in the US. Similar template can be prepared for different countries. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DIQmXmAJN2tZu1aNAmxMGgNuiiNYdFjVB80KdZm0ehg/edit#gid=0
Carbon Calculators to measure your footprints:
TerraPass Events Carbon Footprint Calculator?(also offers the option of buying your carbon offsets)