Being eco-friendly and saving money can, at times, go hand-in-hand. The ways that you save money are through recycling and ultimately protecting the environment from waste. Here are some ideas on how you can save money and make your event eco-friendly!
Go Digital With Invitations
Working with digital invitations will give you a lot of control over your event and easier ways to track your attendance as well. In this blog by zkipster they cover how you can create invitations that are going to increase your RSVP rate, which is what we all want!
Digital invitations do have their own drawbacks such as getting lost in spam or being lost in the sea of notifications that we all have now. However, it allows easier access to the information for the event, better tracking for your event, and easier payment options should you be hosting a paid VIP event.
Work with Local Businesses
Depending on where you are, local businesses may be your only option. For example, if you live in the New England area, you may have more options to find restaurants from different states to cater your event. However, in other states, such as Texas, using local catering and businesses may mean making sure you are using businesses on the same side of town as your event is.
The reason you want to use local is that part of being eco-friendly is reducing the carbon footprint of an event. One big way you can do that is to decrease the amount of driving that has to be done to get supplies to your event. Plus, you’ll be supporting local businesses and helping out your local economy!
Use Recycled or Bamboo Products
This can be a hit or miss on the expense scale. Generally, buying in bulk is going to save you more money; this is going to take some shopping around. Depending on your provider, you can find bulk deals that are cheaper for bamboo products, and other locations are going to have better deals for recycled options.
So how do you make the right choice? Here’s where the rubber meets the road because you have to determine which option is going to impact the environment the most with packaging, shipping, and the overall carbon footprint. Once you have determined what is going to be less damaging to the environment, then that is probably the method that you will want to go with.
Have the Proper Waste Bins Available
Personally, there have been many events where the only type of bin that was available at the event that I attended was simply a waste bin. I couldn’t choose what to recycle, how to get rid of food waste, or any options that allowed me to be an eco-conscious citizen. This is where you can step in and make a difference.
Provide bins where people can scrape food waste off into the proper bin and recycle their utensils properly. Napkins are always a hard thing to figure out, but if you use recycled napkins, they can go in the recycling bin with ease!
Utilize Live Decor
One way that you can help make your event more eco-friendly is by using live decor, either from a decor provider or from flower shops and the like. You may have to buy pots, or you may find ways to dress up the plant with garlands, cover the pots with reusable tulle, etc.
If your venue already has live plants, don’t be afraid to draw them into the decor by adding banners, tucking in small details into leaves, or adding them into photo opportunities. Utilizing what is already available is a great way to save money and remain eco-conscious.
Use Media to Your Advantage
Instead of using posters around your area or mailers that just build up in people’s trash bins, or hopefully their recycle bins, it is better to use social media and advertisements with QR codes to bring in guests.
Using this form of advertisement is eco-friendly and also allows you to see some of the demographics of who is interacting with your advertisements and who is RSVPing.
Going Further
Everything you do to make an event more eco-friendly is going to be taking the next step in changing the ways events are run for the present and the future. Check out these extra ideas that can help you out in your work. Remember, being eco-friendly doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, but it does require careful planning and intentionality. Good luck!
