TURNKEY SUSTAINABILITY

As the event industry embarks on a new season of market volatility, many event marketers are forced to make difficult decisions about what stays and what goes in their event budgets. And what frequently “goes” are the well-intentioned sustainability initiatives that often start strong in the planning or conceptual phase, but lose steam when costs have to be cut. This year, however, we’re noticing a growing list of easier-to-deploy operational resources that are making some of the event elements with the biggest environmental impact smaller to manage—and pay for.

Rethinking an Event Staple

It doesn’t get more iconic than the event badge. Millions are produced each year yet most end up in the garbage—even more so now that offices workers have moved home where the event badge “wall of fame” doesn’t always make the decorative cut. Besides ditching the ubiquitous plastic sleeve (you’re not still using those are you?), there are a variety of new ways event profs are cutting out badge waste.

SmartBadges that are collected and refurbished after the show for reuse are extending the lifecycle of the badge across multiple events. Biodegradable or seed-filled paper stock badges that invite attendees to plant their badges are helping these items disappear (literally) and offer a bonus post-show engagement opportunity. Many suppliers are offering recycled lanyards made from 100% recycled materials. And for those looking for a hands-off end-to-end solution, we continue to see Terracycle in play at events, which offers a convenient all-in-one recycling box that you can fill with badges, clips and lanyards and ship off for proper sorting and recycling.

Event app providers are offering event producers the option to go “badgeless” altogether and use their phone to scan in and out of event spaces—a practice that has become much easier to deploy now that Americans check their phones 205 times a day. Many are also utilizing wristbands to visually ID people that are a part of the event community, which are also available in recycled or recyclable material.

Upcycling the Major Contributors

Event flooring and signage are two of the biggest contributors to event waste, but there are some creative options for minimizing environmental impact here, too.

Not-so-fun fact: 85.5 million pounds of carpet are sent to landfills every year. Flooring supplier Brumark offers a recovery and recycling program that retrieves carpet, padding and flooring waste and converts it into fuel.

Perhaps one of the most cost-effective ways to make incremental change is to upcycle directly to an organization that can use it. Habitat for Humanity is one resource with a national footprint that will come and pick up your event carpet and install it into new homes.

Vinyl signs are another event staple that can find new life as an upcycled product. Companies like Fairware are transforming your signs into purses, wallets, bags and other merch, and include your branding on it so you can share it again with attendees who get to see your sustainability practices in action… again.

And there is now an influx of vinyl and plastic-alternative materials that give event producers more options when building events and exhibits from the ground up. Last year pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim utilized Seaqual yarn, for example, which consists of upcycled marine plastic and post-consumer plastic.

A Small Item with Big Impact

Event producers and venues have made positive strides when it comes to plastic water bottle use at events, with many cutting them out completely in favor of water coolers and reusable water bottles. But to help promote adoption of reusable water bottles, a few enterprising companies are transforming the act of drinking into an engagement. Because you can lead a horse to water but…you know.

Fill it Forward is a reusable water bottle company that prints a QR code on every bottle that unlocks donations and give users real-time updates on the environmental impact their water use is having. Branded water bottle maker Ocean Bottle is “recyclable and part made from recycled ocean plastic,” and funds the collection of “25 lbs. of ocean bound plastic” for every sale of one bottle.

Conscious event pros are also conserving water with one more turnkey but meaningful act: asking catering teams to leave self-service water carafes on dining tables versus pre-pouring water and tea that often gets wasted.

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Catch up on all of this year’s weekly trends here.