Planning Sustainable Events
Planning your events with sustainability in mind not only helps to reduce the impact of your events, but it also saves resources, time, and money. There are many resources to help you learn how to plan a sustainable event at Stanford. It is easy to do and rewarding in so many ways. The efforts of everyone at Stanford – students, faculty and staff – are crucial to creating a more sustainable campus - reaching Stanford's goal of "Zero Waste by 2030" - and ensuring that our community members exist as sustainable citizens in the world at large.
Sustainable Event Tools
The Office of Sustainability invites all event planners to utilize the sustainable event toolkit. Online resources and staff support offer information and recommendations on everything from food choices and catering to zero waste strategies, communication, transportation, and post-event considerations at Stanford. Whether you're hosting a 10-person lunch or a 1,000-person conference, there are opportunities to choose sustainable options and practices.
Learn more about what you can do to help reduce waste and conserve resources.
As you plan your events, large or small, you can make an impact with the choices you make. There are a few key areas to focus on:
Catering
Reducing the amount of food you order, being selective about the types of food you order, and how it is served can make a big difference for the sustainability of your event, as well as your event costs. Many of the catering options on campus offer seasonal, organic, and locally sourced dishes, vegan and vegetarian options, and use sustainable service methods like buffets and compostable serving ware. You can also work with local organizations to donate any leftover food that you might have (hint - students LOVE free food).
Sustainable Catering Made Simple
Marketing and Promotion
An easy way to reduce your event's impact is to use sustainable methods for marketing and promoting your event, as well as for your event materials, swag, and decorations. Using digital communications and advertising methods like the Stanford Events Calendar, email, social media, and websites is a great way to save money and resources. If you do need to print materials, focus on making them reusable (this saves money for future events as well) or ensuring they are sourced from vendors that focus on providing materials that are eco-friendly.
Waste management
After you have focused on reducing waste in the areas above, make sure you have proper waste management in line for your event, and ensure attendees understand what items go in which bins. Order enough recycling and compost bins when you place your PSSI work order. You can also share waste reduction, recycling, and composting guidelines with your attendees.
How to order bins for special events
Transportation
There are a few things you can do as an event planner to help reduce impact from transportation. Things like scheduling your event to avoid peak traffic hours, and sharing information with your attendees for alternative transportation options like shuttles and public transit by train or bus, can all make a difference.
Event resources from Stanford Transportation
Virtual/Hybrid Events
Consider hosting a virtual or hybrid event instead. This would not only save resources and be more sustainable, it could allow you to reach audiences that you might otherwise not. Many attendees are now familiar with virtual and hybrid events and new technology options make it easier than ever to engage participants in meaningful ways. There are a lot of resources available to support virtual and hybrid events at Stanford.
Helpful Resources
The Office of Sustainability has created a wonderful resource library with links, detailed guides, and lots of helpful information about planning sustainable events.