Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly present in the world of work, as individuals themselves become more aware of the environmental urgency we face.
In this effort, the events industry is often singled out: by nature designed to welcome the public, it can generate waste and inefficiency. But the good news is that innovation and room for improvement come from imperfection.
So we've put together a few tips and providers to help you organize more eco-responsible events. To quickly self-assess, which type of organizer are you among these three profiles?
- Informed: The Informed event organizer is aware of the ecological impact of their activity and will try to move (whenever possible) toward the most eco-responsible options, raising awareness among attendees and suppliers.
- Oriented: An Oriented event organizer will look from the start for alternatives to as many polluting components of their event as possible: a caterer sourcing locally, bamboo or stainless steel straws, reusable decor, etc. In the brief, the ecological aspect is therefore clearly prioritized.
- Eco-designed: An organizer focused on their CSR policy will eco-design their event and build it around environmental issues rather than the other way around: the goal here is clearly zero waste, and it can lead to considering the ISO 20121 standard, the most recognized standard for sustainable events.
The ISO 20121 standard and the eco-responsible events charter
To standardize event organizers' efforts in a CSR approach, the ISO 20121 standard was created. It is recognized and, of course, helps improve your reputation while applying a sustainable methodology to your events.
What are its key points?
- Identify and collaborate with eco-responsible partners and suppliers
- Establish and document a CSR policy with roles and responsibilities assigned to management.
- Identify and assess the issues, then define concrete action plans to address them
- Ensure the proper availability of the necessary resources and the right level of skill among stakeholders for effective action
- Monitor and optimize process performance, using internal audits and management reviews
The eco-responsible events charter:
Why not set up your own charter as an eco-responsible event organizer? This document will help you improve your employer brand and genuinely involve your organization in an environmental and social effort. Here are a few ideas and commitments you could easily put in place:
- X% (e.g. 80%) of travel to your events should be possible by public transportation
- X% of your suppliers must be committed to a CSR approach
- 1 action to promote gender parity in organizing and welcoming your guests at your events.
- 1 sustainability officer within your company.
- 1 six-month action program to raise awareness of sustainability among your employees or guests.
- 60% of disposable utensils must have been recycled or reused.
- 1 program ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities at all your events.
- Mandatory organization of waste sorting at all your events
- Use caterers who source locally and avoid food waste.
- Donate unsold items to charitable organizations
- Reuse your booths and decor for multiple events
- Replace bottled water with water fountains
- Gather feedback and new ideas from your attendees on the sustainability approach you have put in place
- Find partnerships with Green Key certified hotels (a sign of strong commitment to sustainability) near your event
- Use recyclable tableware to limit your environmental footprint
- Carry out carbon assessments of your events as part of an ongoing tracking and improvement process
Good ideas to make your events better for attendees and for the planet:
Some event industry suppliers have clearly understood the need for a committed approach geared toward more progress and less plastic.
- For your booths:
Ephemere Square offers reusable booths designed from eco-responsible materials.
- For food waste and catering:
The Phenix association redistributes unused food that would otherwise be thrown away. Also try working with organic, local producers, for example through Traiteurs de France.
- For goodies and equipment:
Try using reusable accessories (like the well-known Ecocup festival cups), and for a corporate event, why not give your guests or employees an eco-responsible Gobi water bottle?
For distributing goodies at your events or during onboarding at your company, businesses such as Panopli and Ta belle Mer offer a simple and eco-friendly alternative to the usual solutions.
- For transportation:
You can try setting up event carpooling with BlaBlaCar, or help your guests understand the carbon cost of their travel with the GoodPlanet travel calculator.
- For flyers and communication:
Favor digital event management solutions (such as Digitevent) with built-in emailing tools rather than printing flyers to promote your event.
- Doing the assessment:
And if you simply want to take stock, the ADERE tool (Environmental Self-Assessment for Event Managers) lets you self-assess your event to more easily find ecological (and sometimes cost-saving) alternatives. The GoodPlanet calculator can also give you a quick self-assessment.
So where does Digitevent fit into all this?
At Digitevent, we also try, on our own scale, to take a few actions...
We chose servers that run on renewable energy, both internally and when deploying our SaaS solution on the cloud and building our clients' websites.
We use our own dishware (no disposable cutlery here): we've stopped asking for it at the (excellent) restaurants in our neighborhood.
We use recycled paper to print our documents and, of course, keep our paper printing to a minimum.
We always favor biking, public transportation, and then carpooling to get to the office or to meetings.
We also try to keep our energy consumption as low as possible and sort our waste, while our offices are cleaned with products that are safe and environmentally friendly.
As you can see, there are often committed suppliers ready to help you organize more eco-responsible events, so what are you waiting for to become an agent of change too?
