When planning for your LFA event, it’s important to think about how to make your event as sustainable as possible.
For physical events, it may be about ensuring your venue is close to public transport, or has bike racks available to allow people to cycle to your event. It may also be around the purchasing options for your event, whether this is flyers and posters or single-use plastics for your refreshments.
You could also consider your choice of equipment, and whether this is the most energy efficient choice, or whether you can reuse or recycle the materials you choose. Why not be creative? An event by UCL in 2017 saw a bike-powered cinema screen by the student union.
For talks or discussions, you might consider the locality of speakers and how they are able to travel to the event. Or, it could be that the content of the event focuses on topics of sustainability to discuss how we can have a net-positive impact on our environment. Where there is catering, it might be about water stations, or having vegetarian and vegan options in place of meat options, as well as ensuring there are recycling and food composting options at all events and activities, with suitable and clearly labelled bins.
We will be asking all organisers to share with us the steps you’re taking to ensure your event is as sustainable as possible. Below you can find examples which are acceptable and not acceptable.
Answers which are not acceptable
“This event has a zero sustainability impact”
“We are using no paper”
“Our event is sustainable”
Positive examples from previous years
“We are using the local café adjacent to the Pavilion, Spruce & Larch, to provide the catering for event. All suppliers for the event will be locally sourced and transportation to and from the Substation (tour) will be in an electric coach or minibus. No one-off printed marketing material will be produced. Online registration and marketing of the event. Waste management through prevision of Mixed Recycling and General Waste bins. Marketing material will include transport links and routes to the venue and we will encourage attendees to travel to BXT using public transportation.” – Reimagining Place: The Role of Public Art (Talk)
“The events focus on the importance of ecological and social sustainability in community farming. Our main agenda is to draw on the legacy of the Loughborough Farm, share experiences, tell stories and provide examples of resourceful ways to spread awareness and public engagement on ecological and social issues. Furthermore, the design intervention (furniture, planters) and other material that will be realized as part of the project to the event will be designed to be reused, reassemble, composted using natural materials (paper, cardboard, wood). When possible, materials will be recycled or upscaled. Drinks and refreshments will be provided by The Platform Café, ensuring working with local growers and businesses. The Platform Café is a vegetarian community kitchen and event space providing food outreach, employment training and volunteer placements for young people. The cafe works seamlessly with the farm’s operations and serves as a source of revenue. This creates opportunities for local food production, circular waste management and collaborating with nearby businesses, including microbreweries, cafes, and the local horse stable.” – Loughborough Farm (multiple events)