Case Study: Sustainability and the events industry
Sharon McKinley, 1 March 2010
EventScotland, Scotland’s national events agency, is working to increase awareness of sustainability issues within the events industry and to educate and advise events on how to achieve a greener, brighter future.
Scotland’s industry and sustainability experts recently took part in an EventScotland Greener Events Seminar where the following topics were discussed.
Economics and greener events
Charles Henderson of Climate Futures, an Edinburgh-based environmental management consultancy, opened up the presentations. Whilst he believed that economics is important, he said it is about much more. “Greener events are not just about financial savings. It’s about engaging with the audience. Furthermore, publicity and other benefits from solid green practices help an event and a destination’s image. Whilst not all green practices are cheap and easy, they bring significant enhancements.”
Ben Challis from A Greener Festival, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting greener practices at festivals around the world, agreed. “The question of whether or not there are cost savings may be answered by ‘usually but not necessarily’, explaining that, you do have to invest sometimes.” Challis said regarding publicity: “Most music festivals use green event concepts as a marketing tool, and I don’t blame them. Several festivals are frank about profit incentives. A heavy metal concert, for example, looked at their huge landfill bill and asked, ‘Why are we paying this?’ They began recycling and it saved on costs.” Most experts agree that there are various motives for the growing greener events movement in Scotland, noting that most events are doing it for both reasons. Some see PR value, some see cost savings, some see it as the right thing to do.
Funding greener events
Caroline Hedley of the Scottish Golf Union’s Environment Group, believed that greener events can be attractive sponsorship opportunities for companies seeking to align themselves with environmental initiatives. Kath Mainland, administrative director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival agreed, stating that environmentally-conscious sponsors can donate environmental services as in-kind gifts. One unique funding approach has been employed by the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick. According to Charlie Marshall, head of fundraising there, greener events can receive landfill credits. Marshall stated that: “Out of their profits, landfill owners can either pay tax to the government, or pay into a tax credit scheme for environmental work. It is available for anyone who wants to undertake environmental work.” Looking at government funding it is clear that agencies are looking to invest in and support initiatives that are sustainable. The trend indicates that in the next few years, anyone applying for public funding will need to demonstrate that their plans and projects are sustainable in the broadest sense: economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.
Recycling
A Greener Festival surveys its participating festivals, including Glastonbury, about recycling. According to Challis: “We measure recycling against landfill. What we tend to get from recycling is weight, and you just work out your proportion from that. It is extremely complex in wet years when landfill goes up in weight and recycling normally does not. Some of the very good festivals have up to 80 to 90% of waste being recycled now.” Glastonbury would be happy to see 40% of its waste recycled because, despite ongoing efforts, waste from audiences continues to be a problem. “We end up with thousands of tents left on site, which aren’t recyclable. People get them for £10 from Argos and leave them behind. We have huge amounts of poles and tents that go straight to landfill. People bring sofas to festivals and leave them behind. It is quite extraordinary.” Glastonbury is working to educate festival goers on reducing their waste. “We try to stop people bringing stuff they don’t need.”
Meanwhile, Mainland offered a success story, explaining that the Edinburgh International Book Festival is so renowned for its recycling system that “people in Edinburgh actually bring their recycling to us.” David Dunsmuir, show manager of The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland also recognised the importance and value or recycling at greener events. “People are very interested in knowing that you recycle. We put a sign up at our entrance saying that we recycle. Otherwise, people will keep asking whether you do or not. Tell them when they arrive.”
Carbon neutral events and carbon offsetting
The concept of carbon neutral events is a growing topic of discussion for Scottish event organisers. One of the central problems with carbon neutrality is the lack of an official definition. Challis stated: “I don’t know what carbon neutral is. With festivals, it’s impossible to measure.” Carbon offsetting is also a controversial issue. Climate Futures’ Henderson cautioned about the decision to engage in carbon offsetting. “If you want to say that you are carbon neutral, then you have to be able to back that statement up with facts. That’s hard. The good news is that there are more standards out there now and a number of projects that are available have to go through quite strict regulation. There are certifiable credits which are sellable on the international market.” But for Challis, carbon offsetting should be a last resort, and Hedley agreed, explaining that greener events must reduce before they offset. “Carbon offsetting does not justify behaviour that is not environmentally friendly.” Whilst acknowledging the importance of this approach, Mainland believed that ultimately, certain activities, such as air travel to attend international events, cannot be reduced, and therefore must be offset.
Best practice
Ultimately, the experts who participated in the greener events seminar agreed that event organisers must commit to three principles to achieve sustainable development. First, they must continue to innovate by embracing green technology for increased energy efficiency and environmentalism. An international example is that of California’s agricultural fairs where energy from solar panels cool the barns and the organisers sell their excess power back to the utility company to generate new funds for their events. Second, Scottish event organisers must practice conservation by minimising the use of natural resources and the generation of waste from their events. As noted by Challis, greener event organisers must work with their guests to limit the items that they bring to the event so that little is left behind. Third, event organisers must promote ethical behaviour through education about the environment. By taking these simple steps, event organisers can create more memorable event experiences for their participants, guests and sponsors.
For further information about Event Scotland contact:
Sharon McKinley PR and Media Relations Manager EventScotland 5th Floor, Ocean Point One 94 Ocean Drive Edinburgh EH6 6JH Scotland T: +44 (0)131 472 2286 F: +44 (0)131 472 2310
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