Renewed drive to make Chamber events more sustainable

A renewed drive to make Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce’s events more sustainable has led to a significant reduction in waste.

And now the GBCC events team – responsible for delivering more than 220 events each year – are calling on Chamber members to help them make further improvements.

Sustainable initiatives introduced by the team include the digitisation of event literature, including brochures and delegate lists, as well as the phasing out of printed name badges.

Traditional A4 delegate lists have now been replaced by QR codes, leading to a 75 per cent reduction in paper usage, from approximately 12,100 pages per year to 440.

Printed brochures for GBCC expos – typically ranging from 12-16 pages – have been phased out in favour of a digital guide and a small A5 card.

This has led to a 95 per cent paper reduction, with just 1,000 A5 sheets being used annually rather than the 20,800 required to print A4 brochures.

Additionally, the size and volume of printed awards brochures have been scaled back.

Trophies presented to winners at the GBCC’s five flagship awards dinners are now being made from bamboo, a more sustainable material than the glass trophies previously used.

Events manager Marcella Meehan (pictured) says the next step in making events more sustainable is cutting food waste.

Much of the leftover food is a result of ‘no-shows’, resulting in around 229kg of croissants and nearly 1,000 litres of coffee being wasted each year.  

Now, Marcella is encouraging members to play their part in eliminating waste by cancelling event bookings when they can no longer attend.

She said: “While we have made huge progress in making our events more sustainable, there is always room for improvement, particularly when it comes to leftover food and refreshments.

“Event delegates can play their part in helping us cut food wastage by letting us know at the earliest possible opportunity if they are no longer able to attend – ideally at least three days in advance.

“This ensures we can order the right amount of food and drink for each event.

“Naturally, we’re always open to further suggestions to help us improve sustainability at events – please do contact us with your feedback.”

Contact the events team on events@birmigham-chamber.com