Event planners have a responsibility to ensure they avoid damaging or wasting natural resources and contributing to unsustainable practices. In reality, the world isn’t always set up for the climate change principles we’re aiming for and catering at large scale sustainable events can be a challenge. Here’s a handy check list.
Produce
Check where your food comes from and how it’s made, highly processed foods are bad for the environment since they use more machinery and chemicals to make. Lowering consumption of ultra-processed foods lower greenhouse gas emissions and energy use while guiding you into using fresher ingredients. Keep it local, this will help you to be ethically and socially sustainable to the area you are hosting in while reducing emissions on transport… more on that later.
Packaging
Consider how your food will arrive and how it will be consumes, ask your catering company how they dispose of food packaging. The rising trend of food trucks at events is a great green alternative, but only if your food containers and cutlery are recyclable! According to Waste Managed, at an outdoor festival 90% of single-use plastic items such as straws and cutlery end up as litter. Swapping your food containers for sustainable alternatives such as Green Man Packing which provides 100% compostable catering disposables is the better way to go. Why not upscale your bins; expect to have more waste and place recycling bins frequently throughout your space.
Transportation
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular among small businesses, so selecting a catering company who utilise EVs will improve your carbon footprint significantly, especially if you’ve selected a catering company which isn’t so local. Otherwise, a catering company which doesn’t have to travel long distances to get to you will be a bonus.
Food Waste
Food waste disposal is a large component to sustainable event management. Over ordering food alone contributes to 15 to 20% of food being wasted at every event, according to Kina Events Management. Not only does over ordering flagrantly waste energy and resources but it also wastes crucial budget. The solution? Always make data driven choices by looking at your ticket sales and expected numbers, any extra that you do have to order make sure you have a plan for where it will go.
Charities such as UKHarvest and FareShare pick up food from events for free and repurpose it for those most vulnerable, so keep a look out for surplus food charities in your desired area. Any other left-over food look to dispose of it ethically such as composting.