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In this era, events have become the key for businesses to boost marketing and establish deeper connections with audiences.
After in-person events, we saw the trend of hybrid events and then virtual events happening worldwide. But in all this progress, event sustainability remained neglected for long.
However, according to an estimate, a 2-day conference containing 1,000 attendees onsite can generate a carbon emission of 1,791,320 Kgs. On the other hand, a virtual conference only generates 8,424 Kgs. This saving is enough to power 206 US homes for a year.
After reaching these dangerous carbon emissions levels, companies have now started realizing the global warming effect gradually. In this regard, hybrid and virtual events are encouraged more than in-person events. But since hybrid events involve in-person audiences, there’s still a concern to make them more environmentally friendly.
Below are a few “eco-friendly” practices you can implement to make your hybrid events greener.
How Can Companies Make Hybrid Events More Eco-Friendly?
Avoid Printed Materials and Shift to Digital Media
Gone are the days when companies had to rely on print media for event advertisement. In this era, digital media has knocked the paper out.
Thankfully, now we can avoid tons of carbon emissions by eliminating brochures, printed badges, and feedback forms for your event campaigns. This all can be done more effectively by using digital platforms. Let’s see how:
- Digital Advertising instead of Printed Material- Organizations can reach out to potential audiences through digital media. Moreover, digital campaigns work as inbound marketing. Your ads are only displayed to the audience that is “most likely” to join events. Whereas, years ago the ads displayed on TV, billboards, radios, and printed magazines were not highly targeted.
“With a leaner, more focused advertising spend on inbound marketing, your business can save money and experience higher ROI over time.” – SproutSocial
Companies can issue virtual tickets instead of physical copies. These tickets can be scanned right from digital devices. There is no need left to print and deliver them to participants’ doorsteps.
- Digital Gifts– During the event, organizers can go for digital gifts such as e-coupons or e-books. By doing so, they will entertain both – virtual and onsite audiences, equally.
- Online Surveys- Likewise, paper usage can be decreased more in hybrid events by opting for online surveys instead of printed forms, etc.
These are only a few general examples. To bring more sustainability in hybrid events, event organizers should enlist the potential usage of paper beforehand, and replace it with digital sources.
Use Mobile Event App to Interact With Attendees
Mobile event apps are a great way to practice the above-mentioned measures. By using these content hubs, you can provide all the information to your attendees in one place. This way, these apps help make your events green in all phases – before, during, and after the event.
Before the event– You can educate your audience about the green measures your company is taking. Such as:
- State the facts that how the efforts will reduce carbon footprint.
- Communicate what your audience can do to make the event more environmentally friendly.
During the event– You can provide attendees an event schedule, presentations, and notes right through the app. Moreover, event apps provide flexibility. You can do any changes on a go, unlike the printed materials. These apps also help to make your events engaging without wasting energy.
Event organizers can design interactive online games instead of installing other electronics for entertainment purposes such as gaming stations. Moreover, you can boost participants’ networking by giving messaging and chatting features in the event app.
After the event– Organizers can take feedback through event apps. Moreover, provide your audience a room to say what can be improved to make your future events more eco-friendly.
“Event apps allow you to ask questions to attendees in real-time, making it a cost-effective, precise method of collecting data before and after events.” –OnSpotSocial
Additionally, event apps are a great way to keep connected with your audience through event apps. For instance, companies can:
- Reach attendees via the app’s push notifications.
- Launch programs to turn their attendees into your business advocate for multiplying “go green” efforts.
Choose the Eco-friendly Venue for Your Events
Hybrid events need smaller venues as compared to in-person events but carbon emission can’t be ignored. Thus, the best companies can do is to look for venues taking eco-friendly measures. Such sites keep their carbon footprint in check and also take measures to decrease them.
In this regard, some of the practices can be:
- Energy-efficient Appliances- Eco-friendly sites use appliances that consume less energy while ensuring that there is no effect on performance. It includes lighting, temperature control systems, and much more.
- Water-conservation Appliances- Locations having water-conservation fixtures can level up your efforts for green events. Such appliances minimize the usage of water and save it from going down the drain.
- Recycling Program- Fortunately, event centers are adapting recycling programs gradually. By having them in place, the waste from your event will not be added to the landfill, instead, it will be recycled at the location.
Pro Tip: Choose the Eco-friendly airlines
Attendees coming from different cities or countries have to travel via airlines. Thus, event organizers should collaborate with eco-friendly airlines for their events. You can ask your guests to travel through these airlines to minimize carbon footprints.
According to Forbes, “United Airlines invested more than $16 billion to replace all of its airplanes with more fuel-efficient models and looks to continually lower its carbon emissions.”
Make Your Menu Eco-Friendly
Hybrid event organizers have to arrange meal breaks for onsite attendees. So by taking some precautionary measures, they can come up with an eco-friendly menu.
Let’s look at some ideas:
- Choose Local Suppliers and Vendors- Companies should give preference to the local suppliers and vendors. These suppliers don’t need to book plane travel or long truck trips for delivering the food. This way, reduced food miles lessen the air pollution.
- Try to Add More Organic Products to Your Menu- Instead of offering processed food items, event organizers should go for organic products. Organic items are grown without synthetic herbicides, growth regulators, pesticides, or fertilizers. All the way leading to decreased carbon emission and environmental pollution.
- Go for Biodegradable Packaging- Being made from recycled waste material, biodegradable packaging is safer for the planet. Using such packaging for foodstuffs is a great way for making your hybrid events more eco-friendly.
Involve Experts to Help Measure & Reduce Carbon Emission
It is always good to involve experts to make your events eco-friendly. In this regard, sustainable event management agencies can be helpful.
By having years of experience in conducting sustainable meetings, their experts can help you avoid generating tons of carbon emissions. Such organizations help event organizers in planning full-fledged events, including eco-friendly transportation, onsite generation, and accommodation.
In addition to this, you can ensure event sustainability practices to make your events green and cut unnecessary costs. For example, MeetGreen claims to save $7,000,000 for their clients along with recycling 5,339,388 pounds of waste to date. Huge figures indeed!
Don’t Forget to Highlight the Social Impact & Preach Others
Companies should generate in-depth reports to verify their “go green” initiatives. You can make these reports part of press releases by uploading them on your social media channels and website. Such stats help event organizers testify their company as “environmentally responsible”.
However, companies shouldn’t only confine these efforts to themselves. Translate your efforts into a ripple effect – it will heighten your social impact.
By spreading awareness through digital media, you can tell people and other companies the importance of an eco-friendly environment. It can be done via your social media posts, website blogs, and updating your audience about your efforts for going green.
For example, IKEA introduced a program – People & Planet Positive, to focus on raising “eco-friendly” awareness among consumers.
In addition to this, you can spread awareness by conducting fun activities. For instance, company representatives can teach the public easy ways to recycle compost material. It can be done through videos or physical campaigns.
To Wrap it Up
Businesses should not only think about their growth but betterment for this planet as well. In this regard, taking eco-friendly measures in corporate events is a great way to care for others’ lives. Otherwise, global warming will gradually worsen the livelihood of humans and animals.
In addition to the above-mentioned measures for hybrid event sustainability, companies should brainstorm ideas according to their events. Indeed, we can save this planet by collective efforts!
Do you want to know how we can help your events become more sustainable? Book a demo today.