How important is sustainability in events really?

As promised, I would show up on a monthly basis and share my thoughts, views on certain aspects within the hospitality and events industry.

It seemed totally relevant as April is 'Earth month' that I share progress on sustainability in events.

If you follow my content , you will see that I shared a poll earlier part of this week.

It seems that majority of you feel that a sustainable venue is your top priority when thinking about how sustainable your event is going to be.

I do wish we could delve deeper into this but only a certain amount of characters on a Linkedin poll so we have to glean what we can from this information.

When considering how sustainable your event could be, there are way more factors to consider than just the venue, although that will be one of the key elements that must be considered as priority. Here's why;

Your venue should in this day and age, be able to show you;

Renewable energy? How their energy is used and if their venue has any renewable energy features.

Food waste management - How a venues food waste is managed, do they work with any local food waste charities so that food deemed unacceptable in the venue, may still have a viable shelf life albeit short but may be able to support food banks, homeless and other individuals in need.

Reduced plastic use - From glass drinks bottles that will be replenished, right through to providing paper cups, bamboo cutlery, re-usable plastic in the accommodation if provided, reduction or complete eradication of plastic usage should be top of the venues agenda.

Catering - Not only should your chosen venue be sourcing produce locally, to support local businesses, reduce carbon footprint in terms of deliveries, they should also offer a good range of plant based menus and it goes without saying should be offering a good range of vegan, as well as all other dietary adjustments such as gluten free, pescatarian and many more.

Transportation - As with many business remits to encourage team members to car share or use public transport. Do consider how easy your venue is to get to, will you be providing transport or if you are asking attendees to make their way, consider their journey and what that looks like in the realms of acceptable for time/energy/fuel is being used to reach your event

Entertainment - It's not just conference, hotel or event venues who are doing their utmost to do their bit to run in a more eco-way. The Coldplay tour made positive waves last year in leading from the front in a number of ways;

Coldplay's efforts are based around three principles,?according to their website : Reduce (as in, "reduce our consumption, recycle extensively and cut our CO2 emissions by 50 percent"), Reinvent ("support new green technologies and develop sustainable, super-low carbon touring methods"), and Restore ("make the tour as environmentally beneficial by funding a portfolio of nature- and technology-based projects and by drawing down significantly more CO2 than the tour produces"). They teamed up with DHL as logistic partners in order to minimise emissions from freight and transportation. DHL?have support the tour by offering solutions to minimise logistics-related emissions and other environmental impacts, from advanced biofuels in the air to electric vehicles on land.

This is a HUGE step in the right direction for largescale arena tours, lets hope this leads the way for many other entertainers to follow suit, if Coldplay can do it, everyone can.

I could chat forever more about all of the things you should consider about making sure your events are sustainable.

But I know you're all busy, so I won't.

What I will say is, Sheer Edge take our Green Pledge seriously, you can view it HERE

If you would like to talk through how Sheer Edge could support you to run your next event in a sustainable way, get in touch today - [email protected]

Finally, not preaching to the converted, whatever you plan to do on #EarthDay this Sunday, make sure you are not just mindful of what our planet needs for only one day per year.

Thanks as always for reading.