CIT Magazine

Over the next few weeks we are going to investigate a series of key issues that surround event sustainability.

This week we are investigating travel

Why is it an issue?  Inevitably we need to travel to get to any event, our products and services need to travel to get to our venue of choice and our delegates will need to travel to get to the event.

Why is it important to address?  Travelling involves producing carbon emissions and in order to be more sustainable we need to reduce our carbon emissions where possible. 

What can you do for your events? Can you encourage your delegates to come to your event by public transport - put this at the top of the options rather than driving links.  Can you put on a bus to get people to your venue - can this be a bus which runs on alternative fuels?  Can you record the mileage of your delegates and the products you buy to benchmark and try and reduce for your next event?  You can go one step further and use a tool such as www.eventsustainability.com to convert your mileage into a carbon emissions weight.

Next week we will look at the issue of carbon emissions in more detail.

Over the next few weeks we are going to investigate a series of key issues that surround event sustainability.

This week we are covering energy. 

Why is it an issue? All events require some form of power, for lights, heating, AV amongst others

Why is it important to address? We need to ensure that we are not being wasteful with energy as resources are depleting and consequently higher demands mean prices are expensive and only going to increase.

What can you do for your events? Think about what electrical equipment you really need.  Do you really need a microphone? Do you need to have all the lights on in the room.  In your offices do you ensure all your equipment is switched off when not in use?  This will save you money as well!

Next week we will look at the issue of travel

Over the next few weeks we are going to investigate a series of key issues that surround event sustainability.

This week we are covering waste.   This is one of the main issues that comes out when teams are brainstorming event sustainability issues.

Why is it an issue? Events notoriously produce a lot of waste.

Why is it important to address? With resources ever reducing it is important we stop being wasteful but cruicially landfill tax is increasing to £72/tonne by 2013 and will increase by £8 each year after that - which is a cost event planners will get passed on to them.

What can you do for your events? identify your waste streams and think about what you can avoid, hire, reduce, reuse or recycle.

Next week we will look at the issue of energy

Over the next few weeks we are going to investigate a series of key issues that surround event sustainability.

This week we are starting with travel.   This is one of the main issues that comes out when teams are brainstorming event sustainability issues.

Why is it an issue? Event planners have little influence over how delegates travel to their events.

Why is it important to address? Travelling by car burns fossil fuels which contributes to increasing carbon emissions which have a negative impact on the environment.

What can you do for your events? Encourage your delegates to travel by public transport. Make it easy for them. Put the directions for public transport above driving.  If public transport is not possible, can you set up a forum to assist with car sharing? Or put on a bus for your delegates.

Next week we will look at the issue of waste

To learn more about issues like this one and how to implement BS8901, why not attend one of our workshops?