Every day there are new trends, tips and fun facts about sustainability. And every day we hear something new about the event industry. We therefore combine the two to give you an idea on how to contribute to a more sustainable future. We came up with 7 great tips and tricks for being more sustainable as an event agency. Nowadays, everyone seems to be vegetarian or even vegan, in Amsterdam we are not aloud to drive faster than 100 km/h and wherever you are on the internet, sustainability is one of the topics on each webpage. What we want you to understand is the part where there are two separate categories in the event agency world where changes can be made. ‘In the office’ is one of them and ‘at the event’ is the second. Both categories can make great changes.
1. Going Zero Waste
Going zero waste is tricky in a business world, but we actually see that the whole world is making small steps into the right direction already. However, we feel that we can be a bit quicker than ‘the rest of the world’. Going zero waste takes a lot of thought, time and actual awareness. This is something we, Eventic, are definitely trying during our office hours. For example, we don’t use any paper towels or paper tissues. There is always wrapping paper or plastic which comes with these elements, which are not necessary at all. We also don’t use any plastic in personal items. This means no plastic bottles, no plastic Tupperware, no plastic bags for fruit, vegetables or groceries. We bring our own bags to the grocery stores. We are currently developing strict guidelines to go even further.
2. Adjust Your Thermostat
In Amsterdam there are some cold winters and hot summers. In the Eventic office, however, we are trying to wear an extra sweater instead of turning on the heater constantly. This can save a hefty amount of energy. Turning down your thermostat by several degrees can also reduce your energy bill and reduces CO2. This is really something people forget so quickly, but try putting a note on the door saying ‘Turn off the light and the thermostat’. It is very simple and you will not forget it anymore!
3. Make Conscious Purchases
This may be one of the most important tips from this blog. It is so easy to go to a shop or grocery store to buy something small. But if we feel we should really consider more how these mindless purchases can affect the environment. It is so important to consider whether we really need the product we are about to buy. Will we really use it or is it an impulse purchase? These impulse purchases are not only a waste of money; it is also a waste of Mother Nature’s resources.
If we really do need a product, let’s try to buy items with less packaging. More packaging can result in more weight, more trash and more energy to ship, manufacture and dispose. Small act, quick win, right?
4. Rethink Waste
In life, but also at Eventic’s office, trash is a well-known element we have to deal with. Trash simply needs to be recycled. Recycling is still important, since materials like aluminium and steel require a lot of time and energy to mine and refine. To reduce greenhouse gas, you can even compost your organic waste at home in the yard for example. We are thinking of ways on how to reuse our own waste in useful and creative ways.
5. Reduce The Use of Paper
Fun fact: The average American office worker goes through 10.000 sheets of paper annually. We think this is not necessary. At Eventic we do have a printer. But we use recycled paper and only if it’s really neccesairy. We mainly use our laptops in order to save trees as much as we can. Converting to a paperless office can also support earth-friendly efforts like water conservation, since each sheet of paper takes an average of five liters of water to make!
6. Change Your Lightning
As simply as it sounds, a lot of businesses do not do this yet. You can simply use LED lighting or CFL bulbs instead of normal lighting as it will last a lot longer and as it reduces the need to keep on buying unnecessary light bulbs. It is an investment, but for a very good reason. You can buy these LED lighting or CFL bulbs at plenty of stores all over the world.
7. Create Sustainability Goals
Last but not least, it is very important to keep on making an effort for this important subject. At Eventic we brainstorm every month about sustainability to gather new ideas. There are a lot of smart people thinking about new innovations and ideas, so let’s not just read that on the internet, but let’s apply that to our businesses. Let’s keep it green!!
We hope you enjoyed this blogpost and we hope that being sustainable doesn’t only feel very difficult but can be quite simple for you too! As explained in this blog before, you can take small steps towards being 100% sustainable, because this takes a lot of effort. But every small step helps. It is a process, but let us start the process.