TO RECONCILE EVENTS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (IDEAS, TIPS AND METHODS)
Hello everyone, my name is Sophie Guerin and I'm a columnist for Radio RED. Today, I'm offering you a live broadcast on a trendy subject that will speak to and touch you all : how to reconcile events and sustainable development? (IDEAS, TIPS AND METHODS)
In the event industry, the organization of a party or an evening, no matter it size, has a considerable impact on sustainable development. Aware of these stakes, more and more associations and companies are starting to turn to this way of doing things. Moreover, in order to make as many people as possible aware of ecology, those involved in environmental protection are doing their utmost to encourage action.
"Events" and "sustainable development" are two concepts that seem to be contradictory: where the events sector exists only in punctuality, the ephemeral, sustainable development is, on the contrary, a vision whose horizon has no end.
According to the INSEE report, sustainable development is precisely "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". This is a far cry from the (erroneous) image of the events sector, which is often blamed for its negative impact on the environment.
Faced with this so-called contradiction between events and sustainable development, a movement has emerged in recent years and tends to reconcile them, particularly in response to a gradual awakening of consciousness of MICE professionals to environmental issues. WeLoveGreen, a famous music festival, is the perfect example.
But concretely, what does a "sustainable event" look like? What are the levers to implement to succeed in such a bet?
Adopt an eco-responsible attitude right from the conception of the event :
Eco-responsibility" is not only a responsible attitude towards the natural resources of the environment. It is also a state of mind, a global approach. The nuance is subtle but essential, because this second concept forces us to think in an eco-responsible way right from the conception of the event. In short, it is a question of integrating, right from the modeling stage, certain practices that respect the environment. The goal? Optimize energy and resource consumption as much as possible, consume less and above all, consume better! To do this, an action plan is necessary:
1- Limit CO2 emissions, a resolution that is being prepared in advance.... Starting with transportation! They are the most critical area of carbon emissions in the organization of an event. But we can :
- Favour central locations that are easily accessible by public transport.
- Provide an access map by public transport
- Offer a transportation ticket to participants
- Set up shuttle or carpooling systems to limit car use
- Prefer short circuits: get your water from local producers, use tap water and not bottled water...
- Use energy-efficient lighting: investing in eco-responsible equipment may not be a bad idea!
2- Adopt a sustainable policy in the choice of your equipment
- Buying or renting? Like any organizer, you've obviously already asked yourself this question. It all depends on how you will use the equipment in the future. Renting is probably a good idea if the event is unique. Moreover, some rooms are already fully equipped with technological equipment ...
- Pooling resources: strength in numbers! Reflecting on best practices with our neighborhood counterparts, working in partnership with them, and pooling certain facilities are all commitments with a view to achieving a truly sustainable event.
- Reduce waste: give priority to digital communication rather than a poster campaign, which consumes paper. Reduce packaging, etc. as much as possible.
Think of the event as a "laboratory" of good practices
1- Eco-responsible cooking
- Encourage short circuits by favouring seasonal products. Most of our products come from Ile de France. The short circuit also applies to water: leaving out bottled mineral water, the Salons de l'Aveyron use water from the Paris water network. This water (www.aquachiara.com) is micro-filtered to give it the best level of quality.
- Cooking on site - another good way to reduce the supplier circuit (if the venue is equipped with kitchens and the size of the event allows it). At the Salons de l'Aveyron, everything is cooked on site by our catering team.
- Use reusable, non-disposable crockery : give preference to eco-cups rather than plastic cups, for example!
2-Sensitize its participants
Your event is also a great place to raise awareness. It is easy to disseminate best practices:
- Set an example. A few simple guidelines will be enough to encourage the organizing teams and participants to adopt a civic and responsible attitude:
- Set up differentiated garbage cans for each type of waste to encourage selective sorting.
- Provide environmentally friendly cleaning products to maintenance or kitchen crews
- Make sustainable development the theme of a seminar or conference.
Moreover, this approach responds to a change in mentality: participants are more and more willing to accept certain constraints, under the pretext that they are moving towards a more respectful attitude towards the world around them; organizing a "sustainable" event is an opportunity to stand out.
Post-event: assessment and waste management
1- Collecting and collecting the waste generated by your activity is a crucial step and selective sorting is the key to limiting the damage to the environment and recovering your waste. Once again, you can join forces with your counterparts in the region to set up joint management that is often more efficient: the Salons de l'Aveyron have thus chosen to join forces with a circular economy program set up by the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in the Deux Rives district. The next step is none other than the pooling of resources and waste collection among the companies that are part of this program. In terms of waste management, we can draw inspiration from good practices adopted and popularized by specialized companies! For example :
- Paprec offers recycling solutions adapted to all types of waste (plastic, bio-waste, glass...) In addition, Paprec has set up a logistics system that optimizes the collection and sorting of waste, including the transport they generate.
- The Alchemists offer to collect your organic waste to treat it within the city and participate in its vegetalization (the material being transformed into fertilizer).
- Cy-Clope is a company specialized in the management of smoking areas in companies, which offers many services ranging from diagnosis (to what extent does the customer company generate cigarette butts?) to employee awareness (via a custom digital communication) through the installation of designer furniture and above all highly visible; now it is impossible to throw your cigarette butt on the floor!
2- Drawing up an assessment to "repair" the damage. The events sector is undeniably a big consumer (transport, catering, accommodation for many individuals, etc.). While we can reduce our consumption, it cannot be non-existent... However, there are tools to even the balance! One example is the "Bilan carbone", a tool for accounting for greenhouse gas emissions, which allows us to analyze the impact of an event on the environment and then offset it (by financing renewable energy projects, for example...).
As we have seen, designing a responsible and environmentally friendly event requires special attention, but allows us to meet the expectations of participants. Leaving a positive ecological footprint by combining event and sustainable development is possible and necessary. All it takes is finding the right partners!
