Sustainable Event Planning with Hybrid Events
- by GlobalMeet Blog Team
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With global focus still shifting towards reducing environmental harm, hybrid events stand out as a smarter, more sustainable alternative to traditional, in-person conferences. Concerns around climate change, resource depletion, and waste generation have led to organizations re-evaluating the cost, both economical and ecological, of their events.
Hybrid events offer a practical solution for maintaining high levels of engagement while significantly reducing environmental impact.
The Environmental Impact of In-Person Events
In person summits and conferences, while offering valuable face-to-face interaction, have a significant environmental impact. Studies show that an average three day in-person conference could produce the same CO2 as powering hundreds of US homes for an entire year, and with corporate events running all year, across the globe, that number is only increasing.
Travel Emissions
One of the largest contributors to the carbon footprint of in-person events is travel, especially air travel. A single international conference can generate thousands of tonnes of CO2 from air travel alone, and transportation from airports to hotels to conference locations only adds to this carbon load.
Energy Use
Large conference centers consume equally large quantities of energy to run lighting, air conditioning, heating, audio-visual equipment, and catering facilities. The bigger the event, the more power is required to maintain it each day.
Catering and Food Waste
Food production is inherently resource intensive, contributing to water usage and greenhouse gas emissions. When events are catering for large numbers, there is often a significant amount of associated waste, both from leftover food, packaging, and from single use plastic items like cutlery and plates.
Printed Promotional Materials
Traditional events require traditional printed materials. Agendas, brochures, signage and name tags along with branded merchandise items from vendors all add up. With over 60% of event materials likely being thrown away within the first year of the event it is clear to see their contributions to an event’s overall environmental impact.
Accommodation and Utilities
Hotel stays for event attendees naturally increase energy and water consumption at a given hotel. With an influx of delegates comes increased laundry services, housekeeping, heating and air conditioning requirements, all carrying an environmental toll that scales with the size of the event.
Hybrid Events and the Global Sustainability Effort
By design hybrid events combine the best aspects of both in-person and virtual event formats. They allow participants flexibility and choice, while reducing costs and maintaining human connection.
Significantly Reduced Travel
By enabling remote participation, hybrid events reduce the need for attendees to travel, which in turn reduces the event’s carbon impact. For international conferences even a partial shift to virtual attendance can dramatically cut air travel emissions.
Optimized Venue Use
With fewer in-person attendees event venues can be smaller and more energy-efficient. Organizers can also more easily select event locations that prioritize sustainable practices, such as renewable energy use and water conservation measures. By reducing in-person numbers with a hybrid format it may even be possible to avoid hiring large convention centers entirely, which presents a significant cost saving alongside environmental benefits.
Digital-First Materials
A hybrid format naturally embraces digital platforms for communication and content delivery. Agendas, brochures, speaker bios, and attendee surveys can all be shared online, cutting down on paper waste, and print costs. This digital shift also enhances accessibility with the inclusion of translation and screen reading capabilities.
Minimized Catering and Waste
Smaller in-person footprints mean a more controlled catering plan, with reduced overproduction and leftover waste. With lower numbers it is also more feasible to budget for sustainably conscious options by sourcing locally or prioritizing seasonal menu items.
Resource Reduction
Transitioning to hybrid events not only cuts event budget requirements, but can also reduce core resource consumption.
- Electricity Consumption: A single large conference center uses tens of thousands of kilowatt-hours of electricity during a multi-day conference, while event hosting platforms are becoming more energy-efficient every year.
- Water Usage: Between restrooms, catering, and cleaning, conferences use a lot of water, which is immediately saved when switching to hybrid formats.
- Waste Management: With high percentages of discarded print material and uneaten food, waste is a significant factor in any in-person conference. Reducing physical numbers naturally reduces physical waste.
Sustainable Event Planning
Opting for hybrid events aligns with many organizations’ corporate responsibility commitments, offering a viable solution to reducing environmental impact and managing resources without sacrificing business outcomes.
Event planners can implement sustainable event planning practices by:
Choosing a Sustainable Platform
By working with an enterprise-grade hybrid event platform organizations can slash the CO2 impact of their event while saving costs on travel and accommodation for both themselves and their clients.
Setting Sustainable Participation Goals
Don’t just offer remote attendance, encourage it. Cap in-person numbers and provide information in advance about the benefits of attending virtually. Use previous hybrid event resources to showcase the experience so that attendees can see that they won’t be missing out.
Prioritizing Local Partnership
For in-person locations try to work with local vendors and suppliers where possible, minimizing the requirement for additional travel and associated transport emissions.
Promoting Awareness
While it might not be the focus of your event, sharing information with attendees about the sustainability impact of their participation provides transparency, creating additional layers of trust between you and your customers.
Conclusion
Hybrid events represent a huge step towards a future of more sustainable event planning. They allow organizations to cut down their emissions, reduce waste, and save money on resources without sacrificing human connection and collaboration.
As more organizations re-think how they bring people together, hybrid event models offer a purpose built, sustainable solution to the challenges of the modern industry.
