SUSTAINABLE EVENTS

Stay on festival theme - Think Local, Be Local

• The Theme of the festival is localism - Think Local, Be Local. We find it super helpful to circle back to this statement if we find ourselves getting overwhelmed or bogged down when making plans. Bring your mind back to the ‘Think Local, Be Local’ principle and consider your event plans - are they local? Could they include more local elements?
  If it helps to give a practical example, to create this website, the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub and Festival working group carefully considered how to progress. We understand that there is no way to host a a fesitval without creating any carbon impact, but we do understand that there are ways to do so sustainably. It was agreed to create a simple, low impact website with the support of Highland based expertise, web designer, Kirsty M Design and Illustrator, Aimee Lockwood. It was agreed to use illustrations to represent community-led climate action instead of large image files which contributed to the websites carbon impact.

Carefully consider the resources your event will require

• There’s no argument from us that Amazon is reasonably priced and offers speedy delivery, we get it. BUT think about where these items are travelling from, the carbon impact of this travel and that every pound spent with Amazon (or other retail giant) is a pound which has been removed from your community. Is there a more local supplier you could use? If that makes your costs increase a little, see if you can apply to our Event Fund to support the costs.
  Plastic bunting has for years, been an effective way to indicate community celebration and it can be a lovely, colourful addition to events. Could you think outside the box though - does it need to be brand new? Could you borrow from a neighbouring community? Or, could you gather in some colourful stretches of scrap material and host a sewing workshop in the run up to your event to make sustainable bunting which can be used for years to come while getting people talking and excited about your upcoming event?

  Do you need another pull up banner? If you really do, consider an eco banner. The Highlands and Islands Climate Hub got theirs here.

  If business cards are something you use, when you go to reorder, why not consider something like the V1ce card? A digital alternative to the traditional business card.

Offering refreshments at events

• Offering a cuppa and a biscuit, bowl of soup and/or a bit of cake is always a winner at community events and we’re often tempted to opt for supermarket purchases served on and within disposable for ease, speed and cost efficiency. Sometimes we’ll even bulk buy UHT milk sachets and pre packaged biscuits to get the most cost effective options that don’t need to be stored in the fridge.
  Again, we simply ask you to really think about this. How many times have you gone to serve the shortbread you purchased and realised it’s soft and out of date? Did someone forget to bring the milk sachets and you have to go buy new at the shop anyway?
  It’s no secret that homemade is better than store purchased. Of course, this is all well and good if and when you have a strong squad of staff and/or volunteers who can bake at your disposal but there are other ways to offer top quality, local goodies at your event. Could you approach a local bakers/catering company/hotel and investigate if there’s a way in which they might like to sponsor your event? In return for gifted or discounted items, they could use your event as a promotional opportunity for their business.

  Can you work with your local food waste and/or growing project to source ingredients to cook up a storm, soup made from veggies from the local growing project is always a crowd pleaser and gets people talking about additional projects within your communtiy.
  *With any food prepared by volunteers/staff, be sure to check hygiene regulations and make ingredients clear when serving so that anyone with specific dietary requirements can be aware of what’s on offer. Did you know that the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub offer funded food hygiene courses for communities who host food waste projects?
  A cuppa in a cup/mug/reusable flask is better than a paper cup - it just is! And what’s even better? A proper drinking vessel can be washed and used again for years to come. Even the ‘recyclable/compostable’ disposables you see on the market these days can be greenwashing as they need commercial grade compostable environments to break down. Not something we have readily available in Highland and Islands communities. We’d avoid them altogether and are unable to fund any applications which include the purchase of disposals. We understand the purchase and storage of crockery can be tricky for community groups but again - this could be the ideal way your local hotel can support your organisation, could they lend you a set for your event which you wash and return? Can you borrow from a neighbouring community, encourage people to bring their own drinking vessels or, apply to our event fund, purchase your own stock which you can then hire out to others to make a small income? Thurso Community Development Trust have a party kit available to hire for parties and community events, they’d be thrilled to tell you more about how it works!

Promotional materials, but make them sustainable!

• When planning your event you might immediately think to print 100 full colour posters and display them on every lampost in your village/town.
  Do you really know if people look at posters? Perhaps there’s one or two pivotal community spaces where a poster would be a good idea, but it’s unlikely they’re all being seen. Use our handy poster template or create a poster which is easy on colour printing and carefully select where to display. Ask the community where they go to find out what’s happening locally. This will help you save on costs too as printing can be a costly part of event planning. Instead of countless posters, why not write a press release for the local newspaper to print or ask the radion station if they’d be willing to interview to discuss your upcoming event or project. There’s more ideas in the event planning section.

Travel to and from your event

• Living within remote communties has so many benefits, but often access to public transport isn’t one of them. If you can, organising your event around bus/train times would be an incredible way to encourage people to utilise public transport to attend your events but we appreciate, it’s not always as easy as that so let’s think of some alternatives.
  Can you offer and promote the safe storage for bikes at your event? Perhaps a ‘hanging space’ for items of clothing which might be suitable for cycling/walking to an event but on arrival, become a burden?
  Could you offer information on active travel routes to your venue in advance so people can plan their low carbon journeys?
  Does your community have any community transport you could utilise? Offering people a lift via a community minibus is a great way of engaging people who otherwise might have been excluded from your event.
  Is there a way to safely facilitate a car sharing opportunity?