We’ve all been there. Weeks of careful planning turned upside-down by a forecast of rain. It can either shut down your event totally or eat into precious set-up time.
For this edition of Sustainable Event Case Studies, I’m revisiting another one of my early events to share what I learned about how to set up for zero waste when you’re short on time.
In 2017 I ran a zero waste program at the Indianapolis Zoo for AZA Zoo Day. This event was a day-long visit to the zoo for members of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums who were in Indianapolis for their annual conference.
The mid-September date was a great bet for favorable weather. However, the day before the event was full of unseasonal rain and mist.
Our plan had been to set up all the zero waste stations that day and focus on volunteer training the morning of the event before lunch went live at 11 o’clock. However, because of the rain, we instead had to set everything up the morning of the event.
With the early start time for lunch, we adopted a chronological set-up plan. Following the event schedule, we set up the zero waste stations in each area in the order that they would activate: first lunch, then snacks, then happy hour. Volunteers remained in the active areas to help with waste sorting while I moved on to setting up other areas.
The condensed setup timeline didn’t just affect the hours available to us, but also the amount of zoo staff. Instead of happening after zoo hours, setup was now happening on a regular zoo business day. This meant the maintenance staff was occupied with their regular duties, leaving us with much less access to humanpower and golf carts than planned.
Based on this experience, here are my main takeaways for efficiently setting up zero waste stations when you’re in a time crunch from weather:
1. Set up what you can despite the weather.
You don’t want to put out plastic bags or paper signs when it’s raining. However, if you’re using plastic or metal waste bins, drop them in location the day before. You can even place them upside-down to keep them from filling with water. When the weather clears up on event day (fingers crossed), you’ll only have to add your bags and signs to make your stations complete.
2. Respect the size of your venue.
When you’re short on time, every minute spent walking from one side of the venue to another is a minute wasted. For outdoor events or large venues like convention centers, make sure you have a golf cart, truck, or other vehicle exclusively dedicated to the zero waste program during setup. Use your vehicle to drop off the bins, bags, and signs that compose your zero waste stations, as well as to efficiently travel between different areas of the event.
3. Don’t panic if your event goes live before you’re done setting up.
Follow the event schedule to set up each area chronologically. Assign team members to monitor the live areas of the zero waste program while other team members set up the next area. Be sure to divide supplies appropriately so the live areas of the event have plenty of replacement bags (don’t send all the bags with the setup crew).
A short setup window doesn’t mean you need to scrap your zero waste program. However, like any other aspect of an event, you need to consider the possibility of inclement weather and be prepared to set up in less than ideal conditions.
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Great article Julia. Little things that we forget that make a big difference.