How can you stage a major event like the Olympics without generating carbon emissions? It sounds like the old adage 'How can you make an omelette without breaking eggs?' but it’s the challenge presented to the London 2012 Olympic Games organisers.
Although we’re all trying to be a bit 'greener' nowadays, politics is the main reason the environment is high up on the list of when it comes to the event organisation. London 2012 coincides with the end of the first period of the Kyoto Agreement and it will be the first summer games to map its carbon footprint, setting the benchmark for future events.
So it’s worth looking at the London 2012 Carbon Management Strategy to see what lessons can be learned when it comes to managing events with the environment in mind. It’s not just about plans for construction and facilitation of the games; it’s also about the legacy of the games, what’s left long after the events of 2012 have finished.
The organisers have assessed every element of the build from the structures needed to make swimming pools down to the cups that spectators will be drinking their tea out of.
Thinking laterally about ‘obvious’ solutions to save carbon: take a look at how the organisers have shifted transport from the roads to barges wherever possible to carry construction materials to the site and waste off it from a temporary wharf built on the Thames.
You don’t have to think outside the obvious. The main mantra of the Olympic Organising Committee is the four Rs: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Recover. Concrete with a high recycled content was specified and much of it was transported by rail. This has saved 80,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and brought the footprint to around 42 per cent lower than the British construction industry average.
The four Rs can be applied to any sized event alongside guidelines like the British Standard BS 8901, the standard used by the games. Think about how much literature and signage you need and how you can design it to be reused. What will you do at the end of the event with waste and how can it be recycled or disposed of in a way that recovers some of the energy used?
Reduction isn’t just cutting the number of hand-outs you print. Choose locations that minimise travel requirements and encourage taxi sharing. Using seasonal, local produce and tap water can also lower your carbon footprint without affecting the quality of the event.
Using electricity can actually save energy: sending invitations electronically, offering memory sticks rather than paper handouts and using white boards rather than flipcharts can all reduce carbon emissions.
There are a number of exhibition service providers now offering green solutions such as reusable wiring or “Eco-wire”. While not on the scale of the wiring for the Olympic Games, even a small event can benefit from such innovation - so there’s no excuse for not doing your bit and going green.
- Andrew Manby, Director of exhibition services provider, Joe Manby.
Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
