How to save water at your events

In our recent article, we looked at the importance of responsible consumption and using resources efficiently to reduce the impact meetings and events have on the planet.

One of our planet’s most precious natural resources is water, which is used at events in many ways – from hydration to sanitation. Including water conservation in your event planning should be an integral part of your sustainability efforts, now and in the future.

2.2 billion people around the world still lack safely managed drinking water according to the United Nations, which estimates that the demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40% by 2030.

Access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right and the event industry has an opportunity and a responsibility to steward this resource mindfully. That might include scrutinizing a venue’s water conservation practices, rethinking menu choices to options that use less water in the production phase, not prefilling water glasses or using ice buckets, or not setting tables with glasses that must be washed even if they’re not used.

Choose responsible venues

Make sure you use a hotel or venue that has water stewardship measures in place, such as a rainwater harvesting system, grey water re-use system, motion sensor taps in the bathrooms, and a linen and towel re-use system. Ask your host property about the advances it has made with updated equipment to bring about consumption efficiency as well as technology (meters and sensors) to quantify that efficiency.

Radisson Hotel Group is focused on ensuring that water use is equitable throughout the communities in which we operate. Our water stewardship efforts include limiting the use of water through technological improvements in our rooms and operations and using rainwater and gray water wherever possible.

Hotels install water saving technologies in areas where water consumption is high and engage our guests through initiatives such as our Towel Reuse Program and Green Housekeeping program – 89,000m3 of water is saved through our towel reuse program alone. Across the portfolio, the water footprint per square meter was reduced by 23% in 2021 vs 2019.

Monitor your consumption

Don’t forget to measure and monitor your water consumption at every event. Ask your venue to help you do this, so you can track how successful your efforts are – and gain insights into what you can do better next time.

RHG, together with other members of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, has developed a methodology to measure and report water consumption in a consistent manner across the whole hotel industry. The Hotel Water Measurement Initiative (HWMI) methodology enables every hotel to measure and report on the water footprint of any individual hotel stay, a meeting or event.

Engage event attendees in water saving

Clearly communicate water conservation initiatives to your team and attendees so that they understand why they are so important and support them. For example, you can provide drinking fountains and ask attendees not to buy or bring bottled water and encourage everyone involved in the event to take water conservation personally by reusing towels.

The simple act of reusing towels can make a huge difference at Radisson properties, thanks to our partnership with Just a Drop - a respected international water aid that works to bring safe drinking water to water stressed communities. Just a Drop receives funds from RHG’s Towel Reuse program: every time a guest chooses to reuse their towel for a second night, participating hotels donate to support projects such as digging wells, installing pumps and implementing sanitation.

Each towel reused also saves approximately 15 liters of water. The total saving is approximately 84 Olympic swimming pools of water since the start of the program, and over 28,500 people across Just a Drop projects in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Nicaragua, Peru and India now have access to safe drinking water and sanitation thanks to this initiative.