On Saturday
night I attended the Small Business Christmas Party at a local Event Centre.
It was a fun event: great food, great venue, great music and great company. The
Small Business Christmas party was designed and planned so that a multiple of
small businesses could enjoy a holiday staff party, do it as a group, and
thereby create so many more advantages. A wonderful idea! It was also, in many
ways, a sustainable event. I think that the organizers might be surprised to
learn that by consolidating a number of small business parties into one larger
event, they became “green(er) by accident”.
Green
meeting and event planners are always looking for ways to tie events together,
or combine events to minimize the environmental footprint. The Small Business
Christmas Party was a perfect example of this sustainability strategy: a group
of individuals choosing to have one larger gathering instead of many, smaller
holiday parties. Why is that a better alternative? At a singular event, less
fossil fuels are used, less energy is consumed and less waste is generated and
placed in the landfills. Here are some examples:
·
Delivery
companies make a single trip to one venue which cuts down on the use of fossil
fuels
·
Only one
venue is used on one night decreasing the amount of energy consumed (light and
heat)
·
Food
waste is minimized - every event can generate substantial food waste (folks who
RSVP positively but then do not attend, incorrectly confirming plate numbers,
food scrapings)
·
Paper
waste is minimized – one party equals one invitation.
·
Less
signage required
·
Floral
centerpieces are generated only once, which minimizes waste and the use of
fossil fuels to transport to different venues.
Congratulations! Good Job!
It doesn’t make it any less impactful if the sustainability
strategies were unintentional. In fact…….many, many folks are sustainability
specialists without even knowing it. Labeled as “frugal”, they are
conscientious about their use of power and water. They creatively upcycled
items before upcycling became trendy. They garden so that they have homegrown
food throughout the year.
During the holiday season it can be difficult to be mindful
of sustainability. Here are a few tips for a greener Christmas:
Minimize Food Waste: Be mindful when creating meat and
cheese or veggie platters for guests because we tend to make them too large and
the result is disposing of a lot of it at the end of the evening. Store your
prepared meat, cheese and vegetables in zip lock bags in the refrigerator and
replenish your “smaller” platters more often.
Locally Made Gifts: Craft sales have a bevy of locally
created items to choose from to give as a gift at Christmas.
Support Local Business: By shopping locally we sustain our
local businesses.
Recycle your old Christmas Cards: There are many uses for
old Christmas cards: cut them down and use them for gift tags, slip them
underneath a clear liner to create a pretty tabletop or….the list is endless.
Make a donation: There are many local organizations who rely
on donations to operate. Do a little research, find out if they need money or
if they have a wish list you can contribute towards.
Wishing you all a very merry, “greener” holiday season!
