Top 5 Green Event Ideas For Businesses

We are all looking for ways to make our businesses more sustainable — most notably by managing the impact our business and its workings have on the planet.

Considering the environment at all levels of business operation is essential for sustainability. But, when it comes to the planning and hosting of events, many businesses come unstuck. In-person events can often generate a lot of waste and involve plenty of resources, so keeping things ‘green’ in this department isn’t always easy.

So, if you’re looking to make your events more eco-friendly, or are thinking of putting on a specific event to bring the environment into the foreground of your business’ consciousness, consider this your guide.

What do we mean by a ‘Green Event’?

A green event is an eco-conscious function that aims to integrate consideration for the environment at all stages of its execution — from minimising the use of single-use plastics, to providing reusable products only, and ensuring provision for the responsible disposal of any waste the event generates.

A green event can be either:

• An event for environmental causes such as a fundraiser or an educational conference.
• Any event that has considered the planet at all stages.

Increasingly, businesses are looking to host their own ‘green’ events to engage their staff and stakeholders with environmental matters such as days spent volunteering or going on litter picks (we have found ways to make litter picks a bit more interesting!) — and this is the type that we’ll be focusing on.

Here are some examples of ways your business can up the ante when it comes to sustainable events.

Why not try a company litter pick?

Litter picks often get a bad rap for being ‘boring’; however, litter picking is an excellent way to get your business out in the community, meeting locals, and making a positive change right on your doorstep.

As you can expect, there will be some areas that are going to be more littered than others, but focusing on areas such as parks, beaches, and canals where a majority of the community spend their time will not only provide you with a great litter pick ‘haul’ but will also make the experience for the next person visiting that space much more enjoyable.

We’ve picked litter on our local beach supporting Surfers Against Sewage, through a coastal park, and we even went litter picking on a canoe down our local canal! If you think outside the box, litter picking can be fun for your team and beneficial to the local community.

In our experience…

• Always check with your local council on how you can help. They can not only help provide supplies but also give great tips on the most beneficial areas to target.
• Try to make it a competition: Who can find the most unusual piece of litter? Who collected the most at the end?
• Have fun! This is a great way to spend time with your colleagues away from your usual working environment, so make sure you have plenty of laughs.

Company volunteering events

Company-wide volunteering is an excellent way to really enact tangible, positive change in your local community, meeting local businesses and charities that might benefit from the help of your organisation.

Some great company volunteering ideas include:

• Helping your local wildlife conservation with trimming back walking routes.
• Volunteering at animal shelters that need cleaning or their outdoor space reshaping (it’s best to focus on small local shelters rather than big charities that have the budget to do it themselves).
• Working for a local food bank or soup kitchen.
• Teaching others new skills. Approach your council, libraries, and other event spaces and see if you can offer any of your skills.

Environmental charity partnerships

Although less of a formal ‘event’, another great green initiative that you can get involved with is partnering with local environmental charities such as wildlife trusts or conservation centres.

We have had the opportunity to work with the Wildwood Trust on their Wilder Blean project, which promotes more resilient habitats by restoring natural processes that are able to withstand the current environmental crisis and species decline.

Getting into charity work as a business

Knowing which charity to approach as a business can be difficult, but you should pick a cause close to home that you’re passionate about supporting.

Be sure to talk about your decision as a business, too: collate a list of relevant, possible charities and get your team to vote. As a side note, when you approach a charity, don’t be disheartened if the response is a “no”. Most charities will be grateful for help and support but this doesn’t always align with their goals. So, persevere until you find the perfect charity that aligns with your business ethics.

Events at sustainable venues

One simple but effective way to improve the eco-friendliness of your events is by securing a sustainable location.

A great way to do this is to try and find a venue that allows your company to have more control over the products and items used. As an example, we host our annual Summer Party at the CEO’s house and make sure to be vigilant with recycling and waste disposal.

When booking a venue, ensure you have a list of requirements that you can tick off (such as provision for those with plant-based diets and whether there are recycling points). Our Green Squad have made us a ‘Planet Risk Assessment’ to make sure that we keep the planet front of mind when planning events, containing questions to ask ourselves – like the following:

• How are we disposing of any leftovers/ excess materials/ rubbish?
• Is there an option to car share/ get public transport to the event?
• Can we use biodegradable or eco-alternative materials for decoration & signage?
• Are there ways of distributing gifts without excessive postage?
• Are local, sustainable caterers used?

We have hosted a number of green events, with one of our proudest achievements being our 2022 Business Bar Crawl. This was a networking and workshopping event that brought together a large group of like-minded, planet-conscious business owners, like Becky from Eco Foundry, who have the desire to make a change. We hosted this event at Giant Towers, too, meaning we could manage every sustainable detail, from the type of cutlery to the eco banners and office event design.

Sustainable fundraising events

Our final green event suggestion is the old classic… fundraising! Fundraising is a great opportunity for your organisation to use its audience reach to raise funds for sustainable causes (and we’re not just talking about bake sales, here).

One of our most recent fundraisers was our company Swap Shop where, instead of taking things that our Giants no longer wanted to the local refuse collection centre or to a local charity shop, we hosted an internal swap shop which allowed our Giants to swap, sell, and buy donated unloved items. All of the money that was collected went to our selected charity and promoted the sustainable repurposing and reusing of items that could have otherwise ended up in landfill.

What are some fun sustainable fundraising ideas?

• Tree planting or office planting (who can grow something quickest?) then either sell the plants and donate to charity or grow fruits and vegetables to sell later on.
• An eco-friendly raffle using only sustainable products and an online selector.
• A company country walk — the longer the walk, the more you are likely to raise.

Our Green Squad

If you want to learn more about aligning sustainability and your business, why not check out what our Green Squad have been up to? We have plenty of resources on our blog that can help your business achieve its eco-friendly objectives.