A new era has emerged with the sustainability trend gaining popularity as we strive to minimize our carbon footprint. We are now examining how event planning and large gatherings worldwide can be more sustainable to reduce environmental pollution.
Events are held across the globe each year, from the largest festivals, conferences, and music concerts to sporting events. Whether it’s a small or mega event, the presence of attendees leaves a significant carbon footprint.1
I am watching the ongoing Olympic games in Paris, France, and I can only imagine the amount of waste and energy consumed during the 17-day event. This is just one of the many big events happening worldwide, each taking its toll on the environment.
Major events across the globe have a huge impact on the environment. The goal of green practices in event planning and management is to promote environmental sustainability. Through sustainable event management, eco-mined event planners can achieve success while minimising harm to the environment.
Events are memorable lifetime experiences and fun, but the aftermath is that the environment is left littered with different kinds of nonbiodegradable materials.
Hosting sustainable events can achieved with a genuine intent to protect the planet for future generations. We will be discussing sustainable event planning aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of small and large events.
Sustainability in Event Planning
A sustainable event refers to an event, whether big or small organized and executed in a way that ensures environmental sustainability. The objective of a sustainable event is to minimize the impact on the environment while maximizing positive contributions.
Going green with event planning is an initiative for change, shifting from traditional practices. A typical event often overlooks the environmental consequences of large gatherings and how unsustainable decisions can be destructive.
The new sustainability trend is fast gaining traction, making it important to implement green practices while we socialize. For organizers, the concept of sustainability should be incorporated into all aspects of event planning and management, including venue selection, waste management, transportation, energy consumption, and procurement of goods.2
Prioritizing sustainability in events reflects a genuine intent to lay the blueprint for a greener future. With the growing population posing environmental concerns, unsustainable human activities will only worsen the situation.
Sustainable events focus on balancing the needs of event organizers, attendees, and the environment while promoting social responsibility. These events differ from traditional ones which leave a huge carbon footprint.3
Unlike traditional events, sustainable events focus on addressing issues like community engagement and promoting social equity. These events prioritize sustainability and go further by tracking and reporting their sustainability performance.
Learn more: Eco-Friendly Initiatives in Small-Scale Urban Farming
Environmental Effects of Events
Various industries are evolving, and the event industry is one of the most important sectors in the global economy. As a significant sector worldwide, the environmental impact of such a thriving industry can either have positive or negative effects. Unfortunately, the latter is usually the case, but efforts to minimize the negative environmental impact of events are emerging.3
Organizing events have direct and indirect connections with our surroundings and impacts on the environment—from site selection to transportation, energy consumption, waste management and procurement of goods.
Waste Generation
Events, whether large or small, that are not sustainably planned can negatively impact the environment. The most common and visible effect of these events is the waste that litters the environment.
After an event, items such as flyers, plastic cups, and unfinished meals are often found scattered on the ground, the mess is always significant. Not all attendees at events are eco-conscious or care about proper waste disposal. For example, a typical musical concert, usually filled with the younger generation, caught up in the excitement of the moment, will litter the venue with plastic cups without considering the environmental consequences.
It’s not just musical concerts that are guilty of this; large sporting events also generate significant amounts of waste. These events, like others, produce waste ranging from paper materials due to excessive printing to discarded decorations, single-use plastics, and aluminium cans.
Events generate different types of waste materials such as single-use plastics, food waste, aluminium cans, paper waste, and more. Large gatherings produce more waste, some of which may end up in landfill sites where they persist in the environment without decomposing.
This contributes to the global waste problem, which in turn impacts climate change. A sustainable solution to cut down on waste generation at events is through eco-friendly event planning.
Water Population
Another environmental effect of regular events is the pollution of nearby water bodies. Water surfaces near event areas are usually exposed to environmental contamination.4 Polluting nearby water bodies can negatively affect marine ecosystems.
Air Quality
Events also contribute significantly to air pollution. Travelling to the venue generates carbon emissions, especially through air travel and road transportation with gas or diesel-powered vehicles.
Travelling to the event venue releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Attendees’ choice of transportation can minimize the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air.
According to a 2019 research study, a three-day conference with 800 individuals in attendance had a carbon footprint of 455 tons of carbon dioxide—more CO2 than what 95 cars generate in a single year.5
Green Practices in Event Planning and Management
Green practices in event planning focus on minimizing an event’s carbon footprint by incorporating sustainability concepts into event planning. The idea of a sustainable event promotes environmental sustainability through the genuine intent implemented by organizers.
While events are exciting, their aftermath leaves a huge carbon footprint. Prioritizing sustainability in event planning provides an opportunity for eco-minded organizers to engage attendees on issues relating to sustainability. Interacting with attendees can influence their decisions, helping them to reduce their carbon footprint and minimise waste generation.
Sustainable Events Planning Process and Tips
Green practices in event planning are essential for mitigating the environmental impact of small and large events. Event organizers have a role play to mitigating environmental pollution. Firstly event organizers need to develop genuine sustainability goals for their events. Establishing clear goals is essential to ensure achieving greener event planning practices.
1. Waste Reduction
A well-planned strategy to minimize waste is a great starting point. Events and waste generation often go hand in hand. However, prioritizing sustainability can significantly reduce waste generated at events.
One effective strategy to address the issue of waste at events is to provide recycling and composting bins and distribute them throughout the event in places where attendees can easily find them. This can influence attendees’s decisions and minimize waste generation. Event organizers should ensure the collection bins are capable of holding different types of waste materials, from single-use plastic cups and bottles to aluminium cans and food waste.
Additionally, it’s important to inform the attendees about recycling and waste reduction practices before the event. Social media can be a valuable tool for communicating these new practices to attendees in advance.
Avoid generating more waste with single-use plastic utensils and Styrofoam plates; instead, opt for biodegradable cutlery.
A successful event with minimal waste generated will inspire others in the same industry to follow suit.
2. Going Paperless
We’ve mentioned that paper waste is one of the most commonly encountered at events. Although paper is recyclable, going digital to avoid paper waste is more sustainable than relying on recycling.
It’s easy to avoid paper waste by utilizing social media to reach out to attendees. Smart event planning involves using emails, an event app for schedules, speaker info, and maps.
Going digital reduces paper waste and it’s also cost-effective since it doesn’t involve printing more flyers.
3. Reducing Energy Consumption
Events are energy-intensive, from lighting to sound and display equipment. High energy consumption at events has a significant environmental impact.
Organizers can reduce event carbon footprint by minimizing lighting usage with natural light, which is only feasible in the daytime. Sustainable event planning includes using energy-efficient lighting like LED bulbs or compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).6
Using energy-efficient lighting is just one of many strategies to cut down on energy usage. Renewable energy sources also provide sustainable options to power event venues without harming the environment. Clean energy sources such as solar power and wind power can be used to power event venues.
Additionally, event organizers can also educate attendees on the importance of conserving energy. Energy conservation is a green initiative that minimizes events’ carbon footprint.
4. Support Sustainable Food
Food is an integral part of many events, especially weddings, anniversaries, carnivals, and even conferences. Green practices in event planning should include sourcing locally grown food.
Organizers can find a variety of locally grown food at local farms and markets. Buying from the local farmers is not only healthy, but it also supports local businesses. Organically grown food is ideal as it is without chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides.
Buying from local farmers promotes sustainability and reduces transportation emissions. With the variety of food available, organizers can provide options that align with the attendee’s diet preferences.
5. Encourage Green Transportation
Travelling to events generates a huge amount of carbon dioxide—from air travel to long-distance journeys, getting to an event venue unsustainably contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Transportation choices and travel time determine the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. So, what approach can be implemented to minimize transportation-related carbon emissions?
Event organizers can encourage attendees to make sustainable decisions with their transportation choices. Recommendations might include carpooling, using public transportation, electric vehicles, bikes, walking or walking to the venue, provided it’s a short distance.
Additionally, event organizers can use technology to encourage carpooling.
6. Donate Leftovers
Composting food scraps and leftovers is not the only option to reduce food waste. Donating to those in need is also worth considering, especially for untouched food.
Leftover food can be donated to food banks or shelters for those in need. Donating leftovers not only reduces food waste but is also a well-appreciated act of kindness.
7. Encourage Virtual Attendance
Technologically, this idea addresses the issue of events impacting the environment by significantly reducing the event’s carbon footprint.
Virtual attendance, by going digital, is one of the best ways to protect the environment. However, while it’s a sustainable alternative, it also has its environmental impact—as live streaming for hours is energy-intensive, and it’s only a matter of time before this becomes an environmental concern.
Sustainable Event Planning Case Studies
COP26 (United Nations Climate Change Conference) Glasgow, United Kingdom
When discussing major events and sustainable planning, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in the last quarter of 2021 in Glasgow implemented a green strategy to cut down the event’s carbon footprint.
Among the attendees were 120 world leaders and over 40,000 registered participants, including observers, media representatives, and party delegates.7
COP26 implemented a sustainability blueprint to minimize waste generation while promoting green transportation, renewable energy use, and the importance of sourcing local food and materials. The event also encouraged virtual attendance to mitigate CO2 emissions related to travel.
By prioritizing sustainability, COP26 showed that international events can be held with minimal environmental impact.
Super Bowl LVI – Los Angeles, USA
Super Bowl LVI, held in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, will always be remembered for having one of the most iconic halftime shows in the history of the sporting event.
Super Bowl LVI was massive with over 70,000 attendees, so you can only imagine the state of SoFi Stadium after the event. However, the National Football League (NFL) had sustainability plans in place.
The NFL collaborated with local organizations, focusing on waste reduction and achieving carbon neutrality. Their green initiative emphasized composting, recycling and the use of renewable energy to power the game’s venue. A Tree-planting project was part of their efforts to minimize the event’s carbon footprint.
The best moments of Super Bowl LVI include the Rams defeating the Bengals and the halftime show, but the NFL’s efforts to incorporate sustainability into the event was a win for the environment.
Glastonbury Festival – United Kingdom
Glastonbury Festival is the UK’s biggest festival lasting five days in the summer and attracts over 200,000 attendees. The festival is committed to promoting sustainability, with initiatives encouraging green transportation and a ban on single-use plastic items.
Glastonbury educates its attendees on the importance of adopting sustainable practices to reduce waste generation. It’s a large event that has made significant efforts to help the planet recover from carbon emissions and excessive waste generation.
The Sydney New Year’s Eve Fireworks – Australia
Located in the far eastern hemisphere, Australia welcomes the New Year hours before other parts of the world. Like many countries, Australians love to welcome the first seconds of the New Year with fireworks.
The organizer of the Sydney New Year’s Eve Fireworks implemented a zero-waste and energy-efficiency initiative, recycling and efficient lighting.
By incorporating sustainability into event planning, the event’s organizers set the standards for other major cities to follow.
Conclusion
Green event planning practices and management allow organizers to reduce the event’s carbon footprint. Prioritizing sustainability in event planning protects the environment from waste generation and air pollution by implementing green practices.
The goal of green practices in event planning and management is to promote environmental sustainability
Source
- Jones, M. L. (2017). Sustainable Event Management. In Routledge eBooks. ↩︎
- Dr. Shweta Bajaj: “Planning Sustainable Events: Key Considerations and Best Practices.” ↩︎
- Dr. Shweta Bajaj: “Planning Sustainable Events: Key Considerations and Best Practices.” ↩︎
- Environmental impacts of events. (n.d.). ResearchGate. ↩︎
- How sustainable are sustainability conferences? – comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment of an International Conference Series in Europe. (n.d.). ResearchGate. ↩︎
- Dr. Shweta Bajaj: “Planning Sustainable Events: Key Considerations and Best Practices ↩︎
- United Nations. (n.d.). COP26: Together for our planet | United Nations. ↩︎