It is event season for many of us. Spring has brought conferences, rain, networking socials, and a flurry of activity before people leave for summer vacations. As you venture out into the world, remember that every day is a chance to live sustainably. Here are some tips on how to attend your business events with minimal impact.

Reusable Items

Not to sound like a zero waste influencer, but you can absolutely bring your own utensils places. Save yourself the flimsy single-use plastic experience and don’t worry about wear to throw things away or having to sort compost-recycling-trash in a new environment. Waterbottles are great to have on hand and reusable ones won’t crinkle loudly during a presentation in the way single use ones. (Just don’t drop your metal waterbottle on the floor).

Snacks

I always bring snacks to my events just in case I need an emergency energy boost if my car breaks down or the catering is no good. The double advantage is that you can avoid waste from takeout and drive throughs by bringing your own from home. You can avoid interrupting your trip there, having to spend unplanned money (I still flinch at Boston prices), and having to clean trash out of your car months later.

Choose plant based options

If the catering is good, let’s all celebrate. Food can make or break an event. Attending an event is a great opportunity to go plant-based for a few hours. Driving a cultural shift towards plant-based products is essential for long-term climate stability, but catering companies won’t offer food that doesn’t get eaten. If you can indicate dietary preferences ahead of time, advocate for plant-based options, and follow through on the day.

Bonus tip: if you spend money outside of the event, aim for local and sustainable vendors. Take clients out to dinner at a locally owned restaurant. Stay at a sustainable hotel. Get your morning coffee and answer calls at a café serving fair trade coffee.

Refuse wasteful swag items

My goal when returning from a conference is to have as many business cards as possible. A secondary goal is to not have much else. A lot of conferences and their vendors offer swag. These items are not inherently unsustainable, but it is worth a second consideration on if you really need that pen, tote, sticker, etc. If you run a booth, there are lots of sustainable swag options that will make you stand out amongst all the competitors.

Use low-impact transportation.

This is a hard one for me in New Hampshire, as most conferences are in Manchester or Concord, and there is no east/west bus line. Still, it is always worth exploring how to get to your event without a single passenger vehicle. Can you carpool? Take the metro? Take a bus? Possibly bike or walk? Event organizers may have addresses of attendees and could help you connect with people in your area who want to carpool or take public transit together. You can also put out a call on LinkedIn or other platforms to find people. When you finish a conference, you are going to be tired. Your mind will be full of connections you made and need to follow up on. It is much easier to sit on a bus, pull out your phone, and make those LinkedIn requests while they are fresh in your mind than having to drive home in the dark with nothing to keep you awake but a podcast and a soda, then wake up in the morning and try and remember the blur of faces you met the day before. When you have mastered low-impact transportation, it can create a better experience. Plus, when you spend time in transit with someone, you will form a much deeper relationship and learn more about each other than the quick hellos at events will get you.

Make genuine connections

This one might seem less obvious compared to “take the bus”, but it is worth remembering the social side of sustainability. When you are in the midst of conference season and, like me, trying to get as many contracts as possible to schedule out the rest of the year, it can be hard to speak to individuals without evaluating how useful the conversation or connection is to you, when you need to move on to the next new person, and what return on investment the event will provide. But people like people, and you will find yourself more motivated and making more impactful connections for your business when you focus on the people. Yes, collect business cards and follow up. Yes, know your pitch. Yes, try and maximize the number of people you introduce yourself to. You won’t be successful in sales without these things. Just keep in mind that the connections that result in business are going to be born out of trust and familiarity. When you are at a conference, you are in your professional community. Take advantage of that.

Advocate for sustainable practices

Plant-based catering is just a start. As an attendee, you can advocate for more sustainable practices for the event overall. Your leverage increases if you are involved with the host organization or are a vendor/sponsor/exhibitor. All of these tips are best when multiplied across many people, and the hosts can facilitate that. The event organizer can arrange carpool and public transit groups, ensure there is plant-based catering and reusable options, choose local vendors, discourage wasteful swag, and set up events to foster meaningful conversation and connection. You can become a leader before you even show up by helping the whole event reduce its impact.

I have a number of events on my calendar this year, and I am excited to attend with all my sustainability tools. I would love to hear where you plan on going!