Whether you’re organising a conference, social event or a small meeting, by making sustainable choices and small changes during the planning process, you can reduce the environmental footprint of your next event, resulting in an event that is sustainable by design.
Finding a venue in Cambridge that meets and supports your objectives is critical, and it’s important to involve the venue team as early as possible so that they can support you on your sustainable event journey. Meet Cambridge can help you find the perfect location for your next event and our team of experts are always on hand to help you every step of the way.
Here are some pointers to help you with your decision-making.
Sustainability Accreditations
Look for a venue with a sustainability accreditation. If a venue has achieved a sustainability accreditation, their work to eliminate waste, increase biodiversity, and reduce their carbon footprint has been verified by an independent third-party. Green Meetings by Green Tourism sets a new standard for sustainable events; other accreditations include ECOSmart by Greengage, Green Key and REST from Quality in Tourism. Some hotels also offer organisers the opportunity to calculate the carbon footprint of their event through schemes such as Hilton’s Light Stay Meetings Calculator.
Location
Assess public transport options for your venue options, noting down venues that are close to a railway station or on a bus route. Cambridge is a walkable city, and all venues are within easy reach of one another, making it easy for delegates to travel sustainably in the city. If delegates do need to drive, look for venues with EV charging points or encourage car-sharing activities. A number of the Cambridge hotels also offer cycle hire so that delegates can explore the city on two wheels. Cycle parking is abundant in the city and most venues will be able to offer secure storage. Consider offering a reward to those that choose a sustainable form of transport to and from the event and advocate for sustainable travel when sending out communications about the event..
For employees of the University of Cambridge, take a look at the University’s Sustainable Business Travel Guidelines: Sustainable Business Travel.
Catering
Choose fresh, seasonal produce that’s locally sourced with plenty of plant-based options and speak to your venue to find out how they're working to reduce food waste from preparation surplus and over-portioning.
For further information on how to make event catering more sustainable, read our Sustainable Food Choices guide here.
Service & Waste Management
Consider venues that have a commitment to eliminating single-use plastic and where a plan is in place to limit individually plastic-wrapped items wherever possible. Choose a venue that prioritises the use of crockery, glasses, and reusable napkins to avoid having any single-use serve ware at all. Ask the venue about its waste policies, and how much of its waste is recycled. Do they have a waste contractor and/or do they offer segregated waste bins and skips as standard for paper, card, plastics, glass, and metal?
Energy
Look for venues that have an environmental/energy policy in place and that they can demonstrate that they have energy reduction targets in place and that they can demonstrate progress towards energy efficiency. Cambridge venues that have sustainable accreditations such as Green Meetings, ECOSmart, and Green Key will already be monitoring their energy and they should be able to provide you with their energy usage figures so that you can calculate the energy consumed at your event.
