Sustainability is the subject that is at the top of everyone’s agenda right now – and it isn’t going anywhere. It’s becoming more and more apparent that there’s a real need to take personal action and responsibility in becoming more sustainable in everyday life if we want to protect our gorgeous planet.
Although most of us are aware of the issues and the urgency to react on a personal level, it can be hard to implement important changes in a working environment without affecting the day to day running of a business.
Team YOURGB decided to take a look at our green credentials and assess what we can do better to reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environment. In doing so, we thought we would share our insights with you to help inspire others to do the same and help drive change within the event community.
As a ritual when joining the team, all YOURGB newbies receive a personalised reusable bottle. Not only does this act as a welcome gift, but this also goes a long way to reduce single-use plastic within the office.
Let’s be honest, we all know that working in events requires a huge number of weekly online orders, overnight courier services and deliveries. Therefore, as a business we pay special attention to our daily recycling. Where possible, we only order products that come in recyclable packaging and have moved away from using dedicated courier services in order to share the love with local businesses nearby.
Equally, whenever possible, we make a conscious effort to walk to meetings rather than rely on transport – this also goes a long way in reaching our daily step goals and a great opportunity to grab some fresh air ahead of important meetings (win win!)
As a team, we make sure that we always have a spare stash of reusable cups or plastic boxes in the office to take when popping out for a coffee or a bite outside. We also took the decision to individually reduce the amount of printing we do in the office and to go more digital. Bringing laptops to meetings and sending documents for review over email is a great way to reduce the amount of paper waste within the business.
There is equally a lot we can strive to achieve as an event agency and as event managers. This goes from choosing to work with more local suppliers and swapping our clipboards for iPads. Additionally, we make a conscious effort to recycle old event props that we no longer need. Rather than storing them in the back of a cupboard gathering dust, we like to sell old props online or donate them to charity shops where we can. Although this is something that we are already trying to do after events, we want to consider this in the planning process as well. By choosing props that can either be hired or some that can be thrifted easily, we can ensure a second life to these numerous props. Equally, we want to pay more attention to props that we have stored and make sure to re-use the same ones when and if possible.
We hope YOURGB’s sustainability goals will inspire you and your team to do the same. It’s the little changes that we can make to the day to day running of our businesses that go a long way in protecting the planet.
