Tips for Events

You can reduce the environmental impact of your event through some careful planning and actions.

Transport is often the highest contributor to the carbon emissions of an event

• Consider venue location in organising your event – is it central / close to public transport?
• Encourage public transport use and / or car pooling – provide information about the public transport options on event information or tickets
• For large public events, employ a ‘spoke and hub’ system where participants park cars at various locations and are transported by bus to the central event location to save traffic and parking congestion
• Offer as optional or make compulsory the offsetting of the travel impact of the event, include it in the ticket price

The catering options you choose can have varying degrees of impact on the amount of carbon emissions associated with your event

• Serve vegetarian meals where possible
• Make your meat options chicken, kangaroo and pork.Beef and lamb have a higher carbon emissions impact
• Plan the volume of food catering for the event carefully – enquire with experienced caterers and you may be able to reduce the amount of leftover food
• For beverages, opt for ones which have minimal packaging (eg. tap beer over bottled beer) and even choose carbon neutral beers and wines (sourced from the Low Carbon Economy!)

The power required to host your event has an environmental impact, particularly depending on the amount of power and it’s source.

• Reduce the electricity use at your event by consulting with your venue manager on lighting and equipment
• Purchase Green Power for the unavoidable electricity used at your event
• Choose your venue according to its environmental credentials – it may already source Green Power, use energy efficient lighting and air conditioning; or like the Mercure Meetings Service, already offer carbon neutral events

>>More Event Tips

Find our more about our NoCO2 events initiative to certify your event carbon neutral, click here.
If you would like tips on reducing your environmental impact at home, click here.