Surely a great event can’t be sustainable, cost-effective and enjoyable, right? Well, at Harrison Creative, we’ve been in the sustainable event branding industry long enough to know that they can, and cost-effective, sustainable events can be more than just enjoyable; they can be pretty impactful too. It’s entirely possible to host amazing events while reducing the impact on the environment, and we love to help make that happen.

Only a few years ago, it seemed as though we had access to endless resources. The world, as we know it, was bursting with untapped potential, and we assumed that resources like gas, oil, and coal were infinite. But we were wrong.

The constant use of the planet’s resources has resulted in humanity being left to struggle with huge issues such as global warming and carbon emissions. Which for those in the events industry, has meant it’s time to find a better, more sustainable way of delivering events.

The good news is that at Harrison Creative, we’re making significant progress in this area. Just as individual consumers are doing their bit by reducing their energy usage and recycling their waste, eco-friendly companies are working hard to make a difference too, and we want to be part of that change.

But first, let’s get back to basics and look at the foundations of sustainable event branding, what it is and why it’s important…

Eco-Friendly Event Branding

Introducing sustainable and eco-friendly event branding doesn’t need to be challenging. If you’re involved in organising a festival or race event, you may be looking at ways in which to look after the planet and significantly lessen the negative impact that your event has on the environment. And if you are, this is great news. At Harrison Creative, we can help, as some of our leading sustainable materials for our event branding products include:

• Enviroflag™ – This material offers an excellent eco-friendly alternative to knitted polyester. Created by us, this revolutionary material is produced from recycled waste, including single-use plastic PET bottles. It boasts the same durability, strength and versatility of its knitted polyester equivalent, but has a much lower environmental impact.
• Envirodisplay™ – This amazing eco-friendly material is perfect for all our display stands, backdrops and branded tablecloths, to name a few. This material is 100% recycled, robust, durable and made entirely from plastic bottles and other plastic waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.
• Envirobanner™ – This is our environmentally friendly alternative for PVC banners and backdrops. This lightweight counterpart is entirely PVC free and has a much more environmentally friendly production process.

No matter the type of event you are organising, we have the eco-friendly event branding option for you that can be created to your exact requirements, with your chosen design in high quality print. Simply get in touch to talk to our expert branding team or click here to view our full range of materials and find out more about their uses.

Why Are Greener Events Important?

By taking a holistic approach to sustainability, together, we can implement and represent positive environmental change. The lasting impact that festivals, races and other events can leave on the environment is worrying and often damaging. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If, for example, an organisation is planning a charity race, but doesn’t make efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of the event, they may end up being heavily criticised, facing unwanted questions, or even risking financial penalties or loss. And, honestly? In this day and age, there is no excuse.

Consumers are becoming more ‘green’ in the way they live and are becoming increasingly aware of the green credentials of the companies they engage with. Operating as sustainably as possible has never been more important when it comes to delivering what your customers expect.

Planning an Event? 3 Tips to Sustainability

1. What’s Your Impact?

Before you begin to plan a race or festival, you need to know what impact it will have on the environment. A great starting point is to avoid disposable or single-use materials by using eco-friendly branding instead. There are other significant ways that you can ensure your event is greener such as proper waste management facilities and locally sourced vendors.

2. Plan, Plan, Plan!

As with everything in event management, if you don’t plan properly, it can go wrong quickly. So, our advice is that once you’ve chosen which environmental impacts you’re going to focus on, you should set some realistic goals. Make sure you decide what you’re going to measure before you get started. This could be anything from the percentage of waste you want to recycle to the number of eco-friendly banners you want to use. As long as you have a solid plan in place with your sustainability measures clearly set out, you’re on the right track.

3. Start as You Mean to Go On

For many event organisers, getting attendees to and from the venue is a huge part of the planning process and the start of your customer’s physical experience with your event. The main thing, and best way to set a precedent, is to put the emphasis on the most sustainable transportation method, i.e. encouraging carpooling and to avoid single car use or encouraging walking and cycling. If attendees know from the outset what type of event they are attending, they’ll be more invested in the eco-friendly aspect.

Get in Touch

Whether you’re looking for something a little different for your race or festival such as feather flags or want temporary signage that won’t leave a lasting environmental impact, we have a growing range of products to suit all of your race or festival event branding needs.

Our eco-friendly products mean you can still deliver high impact branding at your event with much less impact on the environment. And what’s more is that once your event is finished, and if you don’t plan to use it at a future event, the branded materials can be returned to us as part of our Fabric Upcycling Scheme and we can upcycle your branding into meaningful giveaways for your next event. This helps to reduce waste while continuing the momentum of your event long after it’s finished.

Our team can work with you to choose the best options for your site, no matter how big or small. Please speak to our event branding experts to find out more about our eco-friendly range of products and materials.

Front cover image credit: Rachel D, Flickr