How Humanitix event organisers are tackling sustainability
We asked our savvy event organisers for their top tips on running environmentally-conscious events. And of course, they did not disappoint! We’ll be putting together a comprehensive Sustainable Events Guide (watch this space), but in the meantime, here are a few standout tips…
1. Engage your attendees
Sustainability is a core value of the Happy Wanderer Festival. Throughout all parts of the festival, from planning through to packdown, making improvements in this area is always taken into consideration.
Engagement of patrons is a vital part of this process. Captivation of their interest pre-event and reinforcement throughout the event in a fun and informative way goes a long way to creating a culture of positive change.
Factoring in utilisation of local resources can not only reduce waste - it can save you money! This year the festival diverted 800 feed bags from landfill. These were given to campers to sort their waste. This provided a great touchpoint to inform festival goers to be mindful of what they use. The festival also successfully adopted a dishwash station this year, resulting in no single-use food packaging being used. Through the combination of these initiatives, we were able to reduce patron waste by 70% compared to previous years’ festivals.
Mark Foletta, Festival Director at Happy Wanderer Festival
2. Minimise Waste
A top tip to run an environmentally friendly event is to have a dedicated organic food waste bin or tub. Organisers can log into ShareWaste to find the closest community garden or household that is collecting organic matter for compost. Some people will even accept eco cutlery wrapped in newspaper if they have a hot composting system.
Secondly, you can contact Wash Against Waste to hire a reusable tableware station with plates, cutlery, bowls, glasses etc. to avoid single use products. Even eco products that are compostable take a lot of energy to create, so reusable options are still a better first choice. You could even ask participants if they want to volunteer washing up for a free ticket — I think lots of people enjoy opportunities to take action that contributes to reduced carbon footprints.
Laura O’Neill, Head of Programs at Unbound
3. Reduce printing
We suggest only printing the essentials for your event. If you wish to print posters or flyers to promote your event, we strongly encourage you use post-consumer recycled paper. If using a printing company, look for one that only uses non-toxic and compostable products. Some printers are fully solar, some are close to waterless and many use vegetable-based inks. You can also use a paperless ticketing system like Humanitix and remind your audience
that they don’t need to print their tickets.
Kim Ingles, Associate Impact Producer at the 2040 Outreach Team
Do you have more tips on how to run a sustainable event?
Send us an email for a chance to feature in our Sustainable Events Guide.
