Sustainability has been a highly discussed topic in many industries, which has put an emphasis on organizing a sustainable meeting. Therefore, numerous companies and even individuals embrace the importance of taking care of this one planet we are living on. Thus, creating a more sustainable way of working will not only save our planet but it will also build a better environment for all the generations to come. Consequently, EVENTÔIR has already been organizing sustainable events in the past. However, we are also planning on incorporating more and more practices to reduce our carbon footprint.

Read on to find out how your next meeting, event or incentive could be planned in a sustainable way.

What does a sustainable meeting actually entail?

According to the Green Meeting Guide, published by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), a sustainable meeting or “green” meeting is specially designed, organized and implemented so it has minimum negative impact on the environment and gives the host community a positive impact. When organizing a green or sustainable meeting, it is important to consider a sustainable approach right from the start. As a client, you can choose to organize a sustainable meeting but you could also introduce a few sustainability measures into your meeting, for example:

• Tell the parcipants to use both sides of the paper
• Providing reusable dining ware
• Using audio and web conferencing platforms
• Allowing electronic meeting materials and handouts (online or flash drive) to reduce paper waste
• Using reusable bottles instead of plastic bottles

A sustainable meeting or event is much more than just recycling or zero waste. It also concerns less energy consumption and serving organic, local or fair-trade food. Sustainable meetings can incorporate social aspects (e.g. charitable donation and projects) which give something back to the community.

How can we incorporate Sustainability in your event?

If your company regularly organizes meetings and events and you like your business to become more sustainable, we will be happy to organize a sustainable event for you. How do we do that? We start by looking at the impact that the event will have on the environment. Hence, we take the following into account:

• Selecting a venue that is close to most participants as this means less travelling and therefore less pollution;
• Working with suppliers that have the same commitment to green practices;
• Checking whether the venue where the event will be organized is an environmentally cerfied facility;
• Selecting an environmental-friendly restaurant and/or select a menu with vegetarian options that, on top of that, to only use locally produced products;
• Thinking of ways to minimize waste and how to recycle leftover material

All these, among others, are very important issues to consider when planning a sustainable meeting.

Our company’s sustainability measures

As an experienced event organizer, our company has implemented various sustainability measures in the past. Below we would like to further explain some of them:

• Join the pipe bottles: join the pipe is a social network that fights for clean drinking water without plastic waste by reusing and refilling the bottles. We used the join the pipe bottles for a previous event. These bottles are reusable water bottles and come with a cool and unique design. It is even possible to print the company’s logo or name of the event on the bottle to create additional awareness stating that you are a green company.

Venues

• We also worked with the Conscious club in Amsterdam. The Conscious club is the first carbon neutral canal house and strives for a conscious lifestyle in order to fight climate change. Last year we organised a client event in Amsterdam with attendees from Israel, Germany and the UK. Our target was to give them a unique and great experience in Amsterdam that they would not easily forget.

• Arendshoeve – the garden of Amsterdam is a sustainable event venue we have worked with in the past. It’s mission is to create an experience of sustainable, positive and green influences through organizing and letting people organize events, get-togethers, and parties. They have a long list of sustainable investments e.g. seperating waste during events, creating local jobs for 65+ people and watering their plants with rainwater which is collected in water basins.

Hotels

• Moreover, we worked with hotels with a green key cerficate. Green key is the international quality mark for sustainable companies in the leisure and corporate market. Companies with a Green Key quality mark do everything to save the environment without compromising the comfort and quality for their guests.

• There are many sustainable hotels in Europe that we have worked with. Like the Clarison the Hub Hotel in Norway, The Mas Salagros hotel in Barcelona and the Iberostar Grand Portals Nous hotel in Mallorca.

Contact us now to plan your next sustainable meeting

If you read this article, you understand the importance of even the smallest changes. Hence, considering the planning of a sustainable meeting is a step towards a better future for the next generations.

We thank you for taking care of our planet and we will be more than happy to organize an outstanding event for your specific needs and desires.

Contact us by clicking here.