Insights
Top tips: how to make your events more sustainable
Sometimes “It’s not easy being green,” but there’s never been a better time to start, with sustainability at the top of many people’s agenda nowadays.
To help you to reduce the impact of your event on the environment we’ve put together these tips you can follow.
Smart planning
Set yourself realistic goals before you jump in headfirst. You probably won’t be able to implement everything you’d like to at once, do what you can and then agree targets to work towards.
Ditch the plastic
From April 2020 a number of single use plastic items will be banned, however you’ll notice fewer and fewer of these being used even now, including plastic straws, drink stirrers and plates and cutlery as awareness increases regarding their impact on the environment which lasts centuries longer than the minutes they are used.
Check what products your venue and/or caterer are using, what are they made of and how are they disposed of? Here at Kings Place Events, we use compostable bamboo plates for large events catering as well as only PLA straws for example.
Paperless purpose
There’s no need to use pages and pages of printed material. Invitations can be emailed and tickets scanned on phones, technology provides many more efficient ways to engage with delegates such as app push notifications and SMS messages.
When you do need to use paper, ensure you opt for both recycled and recyclable options.
Cater sensibly
Ensure food is sourced locally and ethically. At Kings Place Events, all beef and lamb is sourced directly from our own Corneyside Farm in Northumberland where they are born and live their lives out naturally without growth hormones or antibiotics.
It’s also worth while ensuring you order sensibly to reduce food excess and asking your caterers what they do to manage food wastage.
Sustainability rating
It’s worth looking at how environmentally friendly the building and event space is itself, older buildings won’t be naturally as efficient, but there might be systems in place to counteract some of these effects.
Ask if there are any certifications in place such as ISO 14001 or BREEAM. Kings Place has an outstanding BREEAM rating of (95%) for management, which is the highest operational sustainability rating for property management ever accomplished in the UK, and is only one of two buildings in the UK to have ever achieved this.
Reduce carbon footprint
Think about the specific location of where your event will be held. A venue near to a station with multiple transport links will reduce car usage. If arriving by car is the only suitable option, encourage a car share system so as to reduce carbon emissions.
You could also looks at ways to off-set the carbon footprint of your event, by planting a tree for example. There are many schemes that can support this.
Creative décor
Large banners and vinyls are often single-use and difficult to reuse for other events, think about how you can use projectors and imaginative lighting to dress the space with minimal wastage.
Merchandise
There are multitudes of plastic free merchandise and promo items available now. Metal water bottles or re-usable coffee cups are ideal as they can be branded and they encourage sustainability beyond your event while showing attendees that you trying to limit your environmental impact.
Re-use
If you’re going to use plastic name badge holders, insist on collecting them at the end of the event and reuse them for future events.
Waste not want not
Ask your venue how their waste is managed and what happens to it. Kings Place operates a zero to landfill policy, all waste is either recycled or goes to refuse-derived fuel, anaerobic digestion or waste recovery.
You can learn more about our CSR policy here – https://kingsplaceevents.co.uk/about/