Encouraging Responsible Delegates & Exhibitors

Below are two lists we hope might be useful to help delegate and exhibitors coming to your event be more conscious of their environmental impact.

Five ideas to encourage delegates to be more environmentally responsible.

Travel / move smart - Cambridge is a small and walkable city so, if you are mobile, there’s no need to rely on taxis or even public transport once you have arrived. The main train station is approximately 1.3 miles from the historic centre of the city and the majority of venues. Tell your delegates the options they have.
BYO; bring your own keep cup and water bottle - Think about what you might need at the event and be prepared, it’s a great way to reduce your waste. So pack your keep cup and re-useable water bottle.
Follow the rules – it’s likely that your venue will have made the effort to provide recycling points throughout the event spaces, with different bins for different types of waste, so do your part by using the right bin. Food or general waste into a bin designed recycling will contaminate the whole bag.
Set a challenge – we’re not saying that you have to arrive at your event via the River Cam on a punt (although that would be very sustainable and cool!) but you could decide to do something different while you’re in Cambridge. Maybe that’s walking, or maybe that’s remembering to bring your water bottle. Setting one challenge for the event, is better than none.
Share, share, share – don’t underestimate your power! Your positive actions can inspire others, communicating about the steps you have taken can be powerful. Many people want to, and will talk about positive things that you are doing in your event - let them know!

In addition to all of the above, there are many actions that could be taken by exhibitors, here are a few ideas:

Stand giveaways - if you must have them, make sure that they are from ethical and eco-friendly sources, and most importantly that they serve a purpose and can be recycled. Single-use plastic should be avoided at all costs.
Stand design - structural materials need to be reusable and recyclable, no element of the stand should be single-use.
Shipping - combine packages to save on delivery and choose a courier with good sustainable credentials.
Paper - reduce paper use by displaying QR codes for promotional collateral.
Lighting & Power - use LED lighting and switch off the power at the end of each day.
Catering - if you offer catering on your stand, ensure that nothing is wrapped in single-use plastic and that any food and drink that is served, is locally sourced. Use crockery and cutlery rather than disposable plates and cups.
Tell your stand visitors - about your sustainability efforts and share any feedback with the event organiser.
Waste - by following the steps above there should be little waste but if you do have items that you need to dispose of after the event, check with the organiser about waste policies to make sure it can be disposed of. If the organiser and/or the venue has a waste management policy in place and your rubbish can’t be handled then you will need to be prepared to find an alternative, off-site solution.