Achieving sustainability in business events shouldn’t purely be on the shoulders of event planners, attendees can help contribute to it as well. Photo Credit: GettyImages/Khaosai Wongnatthakan
As physical meetings and events pop up in abundance all around the
world, the volume of waste is also skyrocketing. CWT director of global
process & implementation, Kristen Bell, questions if the pandemic
has truly changed the way the MICE sector operates, or if bad habits die
hard.
“I’ve found myself wondering over the past few weeks whether the
pandemic has really helped change behaviour for the long term,” Bell
said. “Doesn’t it feel like we have just reverted to 2019 ways of doing
things without really stopping to breathe and think about whether there
could be a better way?”
Bell suggests the following six steps which companies can adopt to make sustainable practices habitual:
1. Spread it far and wide through the company
Company sustainability goals should be embraced and embodied across
the company in every department and team to ensure that it becomes part
of the business culture. CWT has seen sustainability questions in RFPs
for years, but the meeting owner may not be as engaged or have the
budget for it. Bell’s advice is to “start small, and build upon your
strategy”.
2. Look further than you can see
Meeting planners should look beyond the agenda of their next meeting
and ask themselves several questions: What behaviour is it driving? What
is the purpose of the overall trip?
While more are planning trip batch to save cost, it may also arise in
hectic itineraries. Spreading the days out would be more ideal as
delegates and attendees have ample time in the destination to meet
others and explore the area.
3. Encourage sustainability in attendees
Event planners need not take on the full responsibility for
sustainability. It can also be inculcated in attendees throughout the
event via communications that encourage them to car pool or asking them
what eco-friendly behaviours they are adopting in their personal lives.
Additionally, looking for more sustainable travel routes or methods
and booking flights with sustainable aviation fuel will go a long way in
getting attendees to adopt sustainability.
4. Measure carbon emissions
Planners can decide what carbon emissions they want to measure and
consistently act on it across all their events to get a baseline which
they can then improve upon, since the metrics for measurement vary
greatly and the industry lacks standardisation in this area.
These findings can also be shared with attendees to show them the
impact it creates on the environment to drive more meaningful action.
5. Let your green voice be heard
Bell encourages MICE suppliers “to shout, and I mean shout, about
their eco-credentials. That info needs to be readily available to those
sourcing suppliers for events so that this information can be visible to
decision-makers.”
6. Seek to reuse, reduce and recycle
Event planners should consider the circular economy across every
element in the process of planning events. They can ask themselves
questions such as: Where have items come from? Where will they go
afterwards? Can they be re-used or shared with the local community?