One of the things I struggle with in planning events is the waste they create. A LOT of waste. I call it the unnecessary evil of events. Zero waste events do exist.
My portion alone for the Guardian Gala of Hope produced a pile of floral and paper waste. For someone who lobbies against single use, it’s hard to deal with. I try to inject sustainability into each event I’m involved with, but in the end I am at the mercy of the client. Luckily, I had a little more control with this one.
The flowers I used were sourced from sustainable growers, with the majority coming from an Eco-certified Silver Rose Award winner – recognized for responsible and sustainable horticulture. Not only do they emphasize environmental sustainability, but also social and economic sustainability. Granted, any way you slice it, they still ended up being trashed… sustainably grown or not.
My only redeemer was that after the event nearly all of the floral landed in my compost pile, not completely wasted. From centerpiece to garden fertilizer. It’s how I beat single use.
I’m not thrilled with trucking flowers thousands of miles to be used for one night. Hardly sustainable. I find myself more and more designing decor not based on floral. I especially like using non-traditional items in new ways. Like trash. I tend to stash things away in hopes of using them again some day. I have an extensive collection of yogurt containers and egg cartons. Some day I will come up with a fabulous way to use them.
Paper was another large waste producer of this event. One that I didn’t have much control over. Ideally I would use an eco-friendly printer that uses recycled papers, vegetable based inks and a waterless press. This printer does offer some of those options, but I do not know if they were employed for this job. The only portion I could control were the table number and menu signs that came home with me after the event. They were printed in-house on recycled stock and now are my stock of scratch paper.
I have an eclectic mix of scratch paper, ranging from children’s homework to mail to tenderloin filet and salmon dinner menu cards. Every scrap of paper gets used multiple times around here. I even run the backsides of mail through the printer when doing proofs.
Now I just need to convince clients of the value of reusable service {plates, glassware and silverware} and banish “disposable” plastic from my events.
How do you keep your celebrations sustainable?
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