DevRel Summit 2019: Carbon Neutral
DevRel Summit has always been focused on resourcing locally and investing back into the community. This year, as we return Summit to Singapore, we will make our first attempt to create and adhere to guidelines to become a carbon neutral technology event. For this to be successful, we will need everyone’s help to make this an unforgettable moment!
Sustainability Matters
As the number of tech conferences, meetups, hackathons, and summits grow, so too does the stress on the environment. Sustainability for the events industry hasn’t always been top of mind. Long-distance travel by attendees are common and contribute to significant greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, each attendee adds to this travel impact through emissions associated with hotel stays, catering, electricity, ground transportation, and more. A recent meetgreen.com study states that an average event attendee produces 1.89kg of waste a day, with 1.16kg of it ending up in landfill!
The good news is that along with movements like #climatestrike, there is a huge opportunity for us, the organizers, to reduce and offset the overall amount of carbon released, and influence individuals to analyze, reduce, and offset their own carbon impacts.
What does this mean for DevRel Summit 2019?
- We will identify and measure our impact following GHG Protocol as one benchmark
- Reduce travel and consumption
- Recycle
- Offset our carbon emissions
DevRel Summit will be free from standard ticket prices
Attendance alone creates carbon footprint that must be reset to neutral. We will ask each attendee to evaluate their impact during registration, and donate an amount to offset their carbon footprint (we are following guidelines set by Goldstandard.org and published by some major airlines). There will also be options to request sponsorship from fellow registrants, or from companies for those who cannot afford this request to make our event accessible.
We will donate all funds to an organization selected from https://www.carbonfund.org/projects/ or recommended by the community. The final decision will be posted on our website and shared with all of our attendees. As this is our first attempt at a carbon neutral event we will remain transparent in our efforts, open to scrutiny, and welcome your support in making change in our community.
Does this sustainability mission resonate with you too?
Join us. Support our mission and get ahead of the movement by becoming a sponsor for DevRel Summit. We also look forward to collaborating with other conferences who are interested in following a carbon neutral model.