Feasibility of Your Sustainability Program

The feasibility of your sustainability program

The feasibility of your sustainability program, and its ultimate success, will be largely based on four primary things.

Budget
Costs to consider when you are designing your program:

• Who is going to work your program? Hired vs. volunteer labor? Interns?
  • Do you have to rent or buy recycling/compost bins? Do you have to rent a trailer or roll-off to transport the collected material to a recycling center?
  • Do you have to buy liners for the bins or are they being donated?
  • Is there any equipment you need to rent such as a solar charging station or refillable water station?
  • Do you plan on purchasing carbon offsets?
  • Do you have to subsidize the cost of bringing renewable energy on-site?

When creating your budget, contact your local event sustainability company for a quote. Specialists in sustainable event management will be able to better assist and guide you on your journey. Other organizations to contact include your local waste hauler who may be able to provide recycling services and equipment. Reach out to your local city or county recycling program manager and ask for information on how the existing city infrastructure could support the public space recycling at your event.

Labor
Traditionally three types of labor are involved in a sustainability program.

• Oversight. Your program will be the most successful if you have a designated person to work on the initiatives. It’s common for sustainability to fall through the cracks during the busy times leading up to an event and get forgotten about with more pressing matters while the event is ongoing. Having a dedicated person to execute the program will drastically increase the chances of the program being successful.
• General labor (either paid or volunteer). The crew who services your trash and recycling containers should be considered part of your sustainability team. These individuals are crucial to the recycling and compost success of your waste reduction plan. These laborers are also the most difficult to find and hire. The stigma related to changing trash and recycling bins emanates throughout our society.
• Specialized personnel. Parts of your program may require the hiring of specialized personnel or vendors. This is common with energy and carbon reduction or zero waste programs when a more specific skill set or experience is required.

Geographic Location
The city, township, county, etc in which your event is located will affect your sustainability program. Some local recycling programs do not accept glass. Others may not accept plastic film. Some locations do not have robust supply chains to support local food purchasing or donations. Your location and time of year may affect your ability to bring in solar powered charging stations. You may be in an area with an abundance of wildlife that will change how you handle and store organic food waste or limit your ability to store the compost until it can be safely transferred off-site.

Site Selection
The venue where your event takes place will influence your program.

• Space is a premium in any event footprint. Make sure you have enough space to safely place any equipment you may need for your program. Be sure to include your waste, recycling and sustainability equipment in the information you provide your venue.
• Communicate with your venue, especially if the venue is indoors, on any existing infrastructure that could contribute to your program. The venue may already have a waste diversion program set-up or the power they receive from their utility company is generated from renewable sources.
• Many convention centers and hotels are also obtaining certifications. Examples include LEED from the US Green Building Council, the APEX/ASTM venue certificate and the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative.

Working through these four points in the early planning stages of your event can reduce program expenses while ensuring program success.