3 top tips for hosting sustainable events

How to make your events more sustainable

So, you’ve decided you want to start planning your eco-friendly event, but where do you start? Here’s 5 top tips:

1) Going paperless and plastic-free

By now, everyone has noticed the shift towards plastic-free and paperless solutions. No more plastic straws, e-tickets only, and a host of other small changes contribute to a big difference. For your event, we strongly encourage going paperless and plastic-free.

Replace plastic cups with reusable glasses, and choose metal or wooden cutlery along with reusable plates for meals. Encourage vendors to use non-plastic alternatives for packaging. Plus, consider using reusable decorations – or even skipping them altogether – to minimise environmental impact. While helium balloons look nice, they’re not always necessary, and getting creative to come up with greener alternatives can help reduce landfill waste.

Thanks to technology, going paperless has never been easier for event planners. Opt for digital tickets and avoid printing paper handouts to make your event more sustainable. While paper is more eco-friendly than plastic, it still requires cutting down a load of trees. If paper is necessary, ensure you have designated recycling bins throughout the venue.

Waste, from event materials to general trash from catering, accounts for about 30% of an event’s carbon footprint. Reducing these numbers where possible is crucial for minimising your event’s environmental impact.

2) Go hybrid

Consider the use of technology in your event to reduce air miles. For example, your overseas participants can come together virtually, through a wide range of different platforms. Our venues are equipped with the high-speed Wi-Fi and state-of-the-art AV equipment you need to make it happen, as well as our 360° hybrid meeting owl, allowing you to get the best hybrid meeting experience.

We’ll even provide technical support to get you up and running. We’ve invested heavily in our technology and AV equipment recently to give us the capabilities to run any type of virtual or hybrid event, to an unlimited number of attendees.

3) Ditch the cars, encourage public transport

Your actions alone aren’t enough to ensure your event ticks all the eco-friendly credentials. It’s important that you consider your attendees as well. Even if you organise the most eco-friendly event ever, if everyone drives long distances to get to it, your carbon footprint will skyrocket.

Wherever possible, encourage your guests to use public transport, carpool, or opt for walking or cycling to your event. However, you’ll only be able to do that if your venue is in a good location.

Find a venue within walking distance of a train station to encourage attendees to take public transit instead of driving. Additionally, offering hybrid event options for remote participants can further reduce carbon emissions from travel – especially if you’ve got people dialling in from all across the country (or even the world!)

4) Be careful who you work with

Work with suppliers who have stringent sustainable sourcing credentials. Our Executive Head Chef, Jamian Lewis is passionate about choosing seasonal ingredients from farmers or suppliers with humane, ethical and environmentally sound practices in place. As a result, we were recognised once again by the City of London for our responsible waste management and waste minimisation practices, awarding us a Platinum Clean City Award.

And we’re constantly learning more about how to make our business kinder to the planet. Our Managing Director, James Russ, regularly joins fellow members of the IACC (International Association of Conference Centres) to learn more about better practices, for instance a trip to Sweden where they learned about the fascinating sustainable sourcing practices in place at venues across the country.

5) Choose a sustainable event space

When it comes to hosting sustainable events, your choice of venue plays a pivotal role in reducing environmental impact and boosting sustainability credentials. After all, your venue will dictate a lot of things. Keep a checklist in mind of things you’d be looking for in a sustainable venue as you search around, such as:

• A robust in-house recycling policy to ensure any waste that is inevitably generated is disposed of responsibly.
• A central location to ensure your guests can easily hop off the tube, tram, train, bus (or even their bike!) and attend your event with ease – no need to get in the car.
• The capabilities to go plastic-free. A lot of the plastic produced from an event comes from the catering, so make sure they’re using reusable or recyclable cutlery, cups, etc.
• Ingredients from the catering sourced from local suppliers to minimise food miles.
• Uses energy efficient bulbs and is cautious of using energy where it’s not needed.
• Is flexible enough to accommodate and support your sustainability goals throughout the event.