Many planners and event professionals consider waste part of the cost of doing business.
They view waste as an unfortunate but unavoidable side effect of producing a dazzling experience.
Waste is certainly unfortunate, but it’s far from unavoidable. Evaluate these three areas to find simple ways to reduce waste at events:
Material Waste
Ask yourself, “What disposable items will be in circulation at the event?” Determine if each item is recyclable, compostable, or donatable—or if it will end up in the trash. For those items categorized as trash, brainstorm alternatives that can be recycled, composted or donated.
Food Waste
The best solution for food waste is to prevent it before it happens. Work closely with your caterer to determine order quantities, and make sure you aren’t both including buffer in your counts.
Plan a menu that minimizes waste, and don’t pre-set food on tables. For any waste that does occur, work with your caterer to make sure it is repurposed into other meals or donated to a food rescue organization.
Be sure to track the amount of food waste generated so you can adjust your orders for your next event.
Giveaways
Avoid pre-stuffing swag bags or making any giveaways mandatory. Allow guests to pick up only what they’re interested in.
You’ll save money by ordering fewer items, and you’ll gain an understanding of which giveaways guests actually value. Before your event, you could even conduct a survey to learn what items your guests find truly useful and enjoyable.
These are obviously only a few of the many ways to reduce waste at events. However, by focusing your attention on the three areas of material waste, food waste, and giveaways, you’ll find the best opportunities to reduce the most waste and reduce the environmental footprint of your event.
What gets measured gets managed. I’ll help you measure the waste generated by your event and develop a reduction plan.