Planet-friendly events are here to stay
By Katie Boyle, Account Director
A guide to plastic free events was recently launched by Native Events, MyWaste.ie with support from the Dept Environment, Climate and Communications. Having reviewed the document, our team thinks this free resource is fantastic, and a very comprehensive piece of work that we believe will be useful for anyone working in events, event-adjacent sectors like communications, or for businesses and organisations that host events of any scale.
Current limitations
One of the limitations experienced presently is that there are very few centralised peer-sharing resources to help guide activities to be more sustainable, considered and with a lower footprint that can engage multiple industries. In many instances, people are watching what others are doing, chatting to close networks but ultimately figuring out their own way forward. This resource is a brilliant example of how knowledge sharing can benefit and support tangible change and ensure that everyone is moving in the right direction in alignment.
While event merchandise, serve-ware and other items familiar to event operations are covered, the main focus of this guide is on phasing out single-use cups and introducing reusable options. The statistics included that demonstrate the scale of plastic pollution are sobering:
8.3b tonnes of virgin plastic has been produced in the last 60 years
In the UK, 100m plastic cups are used every year in the events/festival scene and the majority of these end up in incinerators or landfills.
More than 90% of the environmental impact of disposable cups is caused by the manufacturing and using them in one single instance.
It takes on average 500 years for plastic to degrade, so all of the plastic that has been produced will be with us until the year 2464!
The guide could not come at a better time, The Guardian last week reported on a survey that found 60 firms are responsible for half of the world’s plastic pollution. Of this, some of the main offenders were manufacturers of on-the-go beverages and soft drinks.
One of the authors of the study, Lisa Erdle, director of science at the non-profit The 5 Gyres Institute commented that “Production really is pollution,” with the prevalence of plastic waste found at current levels.
The guide looks at the following key areas:
Phasing out single-use: an opportunity
Roadmap for implementation
Considerations for different event types, scales and durations
Cost considerations for reusable cups
How to calculate emissions from cups
Glossary of different plastic solutions, carbon metrics, and uses
The report opens by posing the following question: Events and festivals are microcosms of our society. If you were building a new town or city, what principles would you lay as the foundation for a better world?
This big picture thinking can be difficult to conjure in times of information overload, and taking the example of event operations as a multi-layered, complex entity it could feel paralysing to wonder where on earth to begin with introducing sustainability into the conversation. However, taking the output of this guide as a blueprint it shows us the long-term, tangible benefit of imagining a new path forward, for the better. By introducing ‘blue sky’ thinking it helps us think expansively about an ideal outcome, and from there specific goals and objectives can be forged to support a clear, measurable way ahead.
Visit MyWaste.ie to download the full report.