How to Talk About Sustainable Practices to Your Guests

So you made a green event, but how do you make sure your guests leave educated?

So the event went off without a hitch. The meals were made locally, the decorations were made from beautiful recycled materials, and not a single plastic bottle in sight. It's a green dream and everyone compliments you on your work...but there's just one more thing...

Will anyone follow these same green practices again at home? How can you make sure that everyone left this event feeling educated?

It's time to educate people

It is more important now than it ever has been to start talking about climate change and going green, and there's nothing better than having a full audience to talk about it to! If the average size of a conference in the UK is 258, then that means you have 258 people to educate. It should always be your goal to have someone come out of your event feeling satisfied and educated.

Education + Fun

Like with most things, people won't want to do something or they won't enjoy something unless there are incentives. So to solve that problem, make learning fun and get prizes involved! It does not matter how old the audience is, everyone would rather be active and learn something new, rather than sit at a desk and chair and listen to someone drone on about climate change.

Here's different ways to get your guests involved and having fun, while also teaching them important lessons on sustainability:

🍃Play sustainability games with them

-You can do games where people must sort through garbage bins and they have to put the items that they find into either recycling, trash or compost bins (Hand sanitizer, gloves and perfume will be included, of course!)

-Sustainability trivia games are inclusive, competitive and can be very fun!

🍃Have fun, inclusive workshops

-A workshop where guests can create their own terrariums or plant their own flowers will always be a big hit, especially with the rise in popularity of air plants.

-Make lanterns using battery operated tealight candles and recycled paper with a variety of eco-friendly glitters and markers

Things to consider when choosing prizes

Be original, and give out something that the winner will probably use again.

While a little plastic trophy would be nice, what's going to happen to it in a few years? Yea, the garbage. Which means right into the landfill it goes; a stupid irony. Keeping that in mind, give out something that the winners will definitely use. Maybe some smaller prizes could be handmade soaps from a local soap maker, while the grand prize is a tote bag with a mug and some of those handmade soaps. You could even do movie tickets or general gift cards, a one and done thing that everyone will surely use! Supporting local businesses is always a plus!

And most importantly: Have Fun!

The aim is to educate, not bore your audience to death! Try not to drone on and on about how the ice caps are melting, but instead do a scientific workshop where a statuette of the Statue of Liberty is in a bin with a huge chunk of ice and someone has a hair dryer blowing on the ice, and soon you get everyone blowing onto the ice with hair dryer until the ice cap is melted and Lady Liberty is submerged; a demonstration will impact someone much more than a lecture will!

Sources:

Eventbrite. “An Introduction To The UK Event Industry In Numbers - Eventbrite.” Eventbrite UK Blog, www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/academy/uk-event-industry-in-numbers-ds00/.

Green Event Planning Guide: Keeping It Green When You Plan Special Events. americarecyclesday.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Green-Events-Planning-Guide-20111.pdf.