An often-overlooked area of event production impacting the environment is your accommodation and transportation choices.
If you have doubts that traveling to an event has an impact on the environment, consider these statistics from a recent study generated by the Events Industry Council:
- 300 million nights are spent in hotel rooms annually for meetings, accounting for $50 billion in spending on accommodations.
- Travel expenses related to meetings accounted for 13.2% of total travel and tourism spending in the United States.
Considering the number of attendees traveling for a given event, the carbon footprint for air travel alone can create an immense impact on the environment.
While technology has certainly helped when it comes to eliminating unnecessary travel to attend events, most of the time in-person attendance is still required.
This is where you come in.
Let’s have a look at some methods you can use to reduce the environmental impact of your attendees at your next event:
Accommodation
Choosing to work with a hotel that is certified as green is one of the easiest ways to implement eco-friendly practices since they have already done much of the work for you.
Although there are others, one of the most recognizable and respected green designations is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Finding out how your accommodation options stack up is as simple as asking if they are LEED certified or have another certification designating them as green.
If they are not, here are some questions you can ask to find out how committed they are to sustainability:
Water Usage:
- Does the hotel participate in the towel reuse program?
- Are low-flow toilets installed in every room?
- Do hotel guests have the option to refuse housekeeping services to cut down on unnecessary laundering?
- Is rainwater collected to water the green spaces on the property?
In-house Food Service:
- If the hotel has a restaurant or in-house catering service, is the food provided sourced locally?
- Are sustainable options available on the menu?
- Does it donate its leftover food to charitable organizations who specialize in distributing it to those in need?
Energy:
- Does the hotel use alternative energy sources?
- Does it use energy efficient LEDs as the primary lighting source which uses up to 90% less energy than CFLs?
- Have energy savers been installed to ensure lights are off when spaces are not in use?
- Does the hotel control the air conditioning in rooms when they are not being used?
- Does it use electronic signage in an effort to reduce paper waste?
Transportation
By far the best option is always to choose a multi-functional space. An accommodation choice that can double for your event location is the best way to eliminate much of the transportation requirements.
Centralized Location:
- Choose a location that is accessible to a mass transit system.
- If you require multiple locations then choose them based on their walkability factor between one another.
- Decide on an event location that is close to restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions whenever possible.
Public Transportation:
- If you have the option to choose the city where your event will take place, choose one whose airport is considered a hub. When you choose a hub city, it means fewer flights to get to the event which will be appreciated by the attendees. This is an often-overlooked method to reduce carbon emissions.
- The shorter the distance between the venue and the airport, the lower the carbon footprint. However, if there is more than one venue involved or the event is taking place over a number of days, determine if the payoff is greater to choose a more central location so attendees have options for food, accommodation, and attractions. These are circumstances in which it is beneficial to have access to mass transit.
- Negotiate discounts for attendees with the venue or the hotel to incentivize wiser transportation choices. Better yet, give out free passes for mass transit options in the area.
Shared Services:
- Set up carpools and shuttles from the airport to the hotel for attendees arriving or departing at the same time.
- Arrange for shuttles between venues or set up pick up/drop off points if multiple locations are being used for your event.
This is the final instalment of our eco-friendly event series where we have delved into practical choices you can implement in this area as well as in paper and plastics usage, venue selection, food and beverages and suppliers and vendors.
All of your event production choices matter regardless of how small they may seem.
Remember, though, it is a step-by-step process. With each event, introduce a few more initiatives and work your way down the list.
Before you know it, you will be an expert in eco-friendly event production.
Out of all of our eco-friendly event tips, which was your favorite? Share your answer in the comments.