There will always be a negative effect on the environment whenever humans congregate. They can strain local resources like water and energy as well as gather a lot of waste and leave a big carbon footprint.

NASA figures that the likelihood of human activities leading to the planet’s warming is much higher than 95%. Since 1750, industrial operations on which modern society depends have boosted atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by close to 50%. Scientists contend that human interference has caused the “greenhouse effect”—which is the warming that occurs when the atmosphere traps heat emitted from the Earth towards the space.

In this article, AD Vantage, one of the leading sustainable event management companies in India elaborates on event sustainability and the role that sustainable event management plays in corporate events. Let’s quickly review sustainable business for your better understanding.

Business Sustainability

The concept of carrying out business without having a detrimental impact on the environment is known as sustainability in business. An ecologically conscious company thinks about its impact on society and the environment in addition to its profitability.

In order to be environmentally friendly, a business must be able to meet its customers’ demands now without endangering the wellness of the future generations.

In short, sustainable businesses conduct their operations in a way that maximizes positive impact while minimizing negative impact on the environment and society.

Environmental Impacts of Corporate Events

Corporate events serve as the key gathering points for fostering new business relationships and fortifying existing ones with partners and clients. Suppose that you are hosting a 500-person employee training session or a 1000-person product launch. Do you have any understanding how the event might affect the eco system?

Let’s understand that with the following types of event impacts.

• Waste impacts
• Energy impacts
• Water impacts
• Transport and travel impacts
• Food and drink impacts

Events have an impact on important environmental problems like climate change and the depletion of natural resources due to activities like construction, energy use, and movement of spectators and participants.

Here comes the unavoidable need for sustainable events, which is the need of the hour.

What is a sustainable event?

‘A sustainable event is one that considers the negative impact on the environment where it takes place, and tries to minimize it to the lowest possible level in order to produce the lowest environmental impact in the event´s surroundings.’

Sustainable events or green events should be prepared to consciously reduce the waste energy and carbon that the event would typically cause.

Why should events be sustainable?

The importance of sustainability in events is that it lessens waste production and assures efficient waste management, as well as minimizing water and electricity usage and reducing air, noise, and light pollution. The high proportion of sustainable events are carbon neutral, which means they account for any emissions that were unable to be avoided while the event was taking place. According to experts, it is crucial that the businesses who host these meetings and gatherings promote these principles to the stakeholders and attendees.

What is a sustainable event management?

While the majority of metrics used in event planning are concerned with the quantity of attendees or interactions, little attention is paid to or accounting for the waste products from events. In order to make events more environmentally friendly, event planners and operators use a variety of technologies, techniques, and procedures. This is collectively known as sustainable event management. Corporate event planners who adhere to event sustainability use planning techniques that preserve the environment while delivering a memorable experience to guests.

Implementing event sustainability should take into account the unique issues and circumstances of every event. Sustainable event management includes a wide range of procedures to make sure that the corporate event planned has no unfavorable environmental effects on the area, the locality, or society as a whole.

Objective of Sustainable Event Management

There are a lot of factors to think about in advance when organising a sustainable event. Checking to make sure your event is as sustainable and green as possible requires upfront and thoughtful planning. Because it lessens environmental harm while maintaining ethics and values at the forefront of event strategy, sustainable event management is crucial. Sustainable events give importance to economic, social, and environmental aspects.

The general objectives of sustainable event management are as follows

• Avoiding or minimizing carbon emissions
• Implementing a low- or zero-waste policy
• Supplying organic or food and drink
• Whenever feasible, running the event with sustainable energy
• Supplying regional foodstuffs

Sustainable Event Planning

Can a corporate event be successful, reasonable, and sustainable at the same time? Event managers often ask themselves this question, and the answer is yes. Your event can be fun, entertaining and also sustainable with careful planning and budgeting.

By designing a sustainable event, you can minimize an increase in CO2 emissions from transportation and lodging, as well as reduce waste generation and a high level of resource consumption in a short amount of time (water, electricity, food, and paper). In addition, the event should also leave a positive social and economic impact in the locale where it is conducted.

By following the latest event sustainability trends 2023, with a creative sustainable event management plan, sustainable event planning and execution is not a hefty job. The crucial factor is the guidance and support of the best corporate event management company who can come up with an effective sustainable event management strategy.

Sustainable Trends in Event Management

Event sustainability becomes complete with a well-engineered event sustainability action plan, that addresses every minute aspect of the event. Unlike other events, corporate event planning needs some extra effort as such events will have a business objective that should be fulfilled, while also entertaining the audience.

Right from the venue to the food and the utensil used to serve food, sustainable event guidelines are to be followed to execute event sustainability for corporate events. Event sustainability theme, sustainable event giveaways, sustainable event décor and much are the added attractions of sustainable event management strategies.

AD Vantage Corporate Event Management enlightens you with some trending sustainable event ideas 2023.

Go for a GREEN VENUE

Finding an appropriate venue will make making your event sustainable much easier as venues are the ones who set a lot of regulations with their supply and management exercises.

• What measures does the venue put in place to actively lessen its impact on the environment as a whole?
• Are they concerned about climate change and pursuing carbon neutrality?
• How about their waste management system?

Try to find answers to these queries before you pick a spot for your dream event.

Try to pick a location that is close to an airport, train station, or other transportation hub if you’re hosting a national or international event that requires attendees to travel from various locations. Currently, a growing number of spaces use renewable energy to power the structures they maintain. So, if you want to highlight the sustainability of your event, choosing a site that uses solar energy might be a wise choice.

Say NO TO PAPER

Paper, which can be used for everything from printing contracts to hanging flyers and hundreds of other possible applications in between, can be one of the major sources of waste before and after an event.

Although paper is reusable, it is often environmentally-friendly to avoid using it altogether. Going paperless is a good ides while thinking about event sustainability. Going paperless in corporate events is now simpler with advancements in technology.

• Online check-in including participant lists, tickets, and digital badges
• Reserving spaces with digital projection and signage
• Using digital marketing strategies to market
• Enhancing event apps and websites to provide all the information guests need

Make Transportation Sustainable

One of the key factors that might affect how environmentally friendly your event is transportation. Studies indicate that transportation contributes to over 90% of carbon emissions in a corporate event. The carbon footprint will be substantially larger than you anticipate if the majority of your attendees drive themselves to the event.

By reducing travel time to and from events, good route planning can drastically reduce carbon emissions. In addition, a well-planned route can reduce the number of pickup places and consolidate them into a small number of carefully chosen spots that support sustainable transportation operations.

• Sustainable events can promote public transit and carpooling
• Select a location that is easily reached by public or active transportation and offer directions
• To save down on freight and logistics, source locally and from as few providers as feasible
• Use eco- friendly transportation to get supplies to and from the site
• If lodging is needed, take into account its accessibility to the site or active/public transportation

Pick Eco-Friendly Elements, Decors and Giveaways

Sustainable event management guidelines advocate environmentally friendly, compostable, or biodegradable items and decors for the events. Using paper cups instead of plastic ones and replacing plastic straws with sustainable paper straws are smart options.

Bring some vivid, fresh blooms to your event for a tried-and-true approach to add colour. Flowers are a great way to display the colours of your event and make your theme come to life. For an even more environmentally responsible strategy, work with a nearby florist or utilise flowers from your own backyard.

Consider rice paper decorations as an alternative to plastic ones that you might discard after the event. In this material, garlands, pom-poms, and streamers have a distinctive appearance.

Return gifts for sustainable corporate events should be put to good use and not harm the ecosystem. Make sure the branded product is something guests will find helpful if you’re going to spend the time and money on it.

Furthermore, it’s the ideal chance to promote positive behaviour change among a wider audience while conveying with your guests your commitment to sustainability. Plants are a very popular choice for freebies in general, particularly ones that can be customized and placed on the recipient’s desk as an ongoing reminder of your business.

Be Smart with Your Menu

The environment and the people in our community can be positively impacted by making a few minor modifications to the catering at your corporate event. When caterers and corporate event planning companies do nothing, the food they serve can have enormous negative impacts, from harming people’s health to unintentionally promoting unsustainable fishing and farming methods.

• Utilise reusable bottles and serving utensil for use throughout your event
• To reduce carbon emissions, offer at least 50% vegetarian and vegan options, and whenever possible
• Tie up with charity organisations that collect leftover food and redistributes it to people in need
• Prioritise organic food and grab the raw materials from the local market
• To make it simple for the event attendees to dispose of recyclables, place recycling bins close to trash cans

Strategic corporate event management at its best involves careful consideration of environmental effects, which is also a cornerstone of corporate social responsibility. Understanding the factors that cause environmental problems can also help businesses operate more efficiently. Event sustainability could be carefully planned and executed using an effective sustainable event management model.

Always bear in mind that taking the time to make your event more sustainable benefits the ecosystems and boosts your reputation amongst your audience and as a brand. But, be sure to lead the way with innovative event sustainability ideas.

Confused??? Join AD Vantage’s sustainable event management revolution in 2023 and make your corporate events eco-friendly! Let’s create a greener future together.