26 GREEN MEETINGS
communications by creating better education for partners so they won ’ t ship brochures and then end up “ dumping ” the left overs ?
Finally be sure to document all these challenges , lessons learned , and ideas so you can revisit them at next year ’ s event or any other upcoming meeting or happening .
Creating a green event is like cooking . It will take some practice at first , some trial and error , and seeking out and using recipes like the ISO20121 “ Plan-Do-Check-Act Approach ” ( PDCA )
The good news is that more and more of our colleagues are getting into the “ kitchen ” to host sustainable events around the world . This is a real win-win for our earth and the organizations we work for and indeed a recipe for success for the future of meetings . So as they say in Italy – the home of minestrone- Buon Appetito , or as we say in Germany , Guten Appetit !
n The seven myths of sustainable event planning
Sustainable events are still tainted with a large number of myths . We have taken a closer look at the classic ones in order to contribute towards a change in attitudes :
1 ) Doing without is the main objective : At “ green ” meetings the main focus is not on doing without things , but rather on devising better solutions that harm the environment as little as possible . Nothing has to be lacking - even at “ green ” events .
2 ) “ Green ” meetings are expensive : Eco-friendly organisation of events is often less expensive than a conventional approach , as it leads to a great deal of savings potential , for example in connection with energy consumption .
3 ) More time , effort and expense involved : A counter-example : If you handle the entire registration procedure for an event with over 10,000 participants electronically , you also save time and effort in addition to valuable resources : printing , stuffing envelopes , conventional mailing etc . – all of that is eliminated .
4 ) Only eco-catering is truly good : Organically grown papaya from Costa Rica has a poorer carbon footprint than fruit in season that is grown domestically . So by concentrating on regional and seasonal foods for catering , you can definitely make a contribution towards the environment and also ensure that the produce purchased is always fresh .
5 ) Guests want fun and not moralising : Guests want to feel good with a clear conscience – that can neither be achieved by wasting resources nor by preaching and fingerwagging . What is needed in this regard is enlightenment – but by no means dogmatism . Then climate protection can be combined with “ emotion ”.
6 ) Great commitment – and nobody notices : In order for event guests to perceive them as credible , planners have to communicate their social and ecological commitment externally and actively integrate the guests into their concept .
7 ) Eco-friendly is uncool : In certain industries there is still a deep aversion to so-called “ tree huggers ”, even though the era of purple bib overalls has been over for a long time . But the positive feedback is huge as soon as guests can experience successful green realisation first-hand and if the emotional level is addressed as well .