Plastic waste has become a major scourge for the world’s ecosystem. Plastics have become widely used on account of their versatility and durability, with roughly 370 million metric tons of plastics now produced annually – 80% more than at the start of the century.
However, many of these plastics are used only once before being thrown out, consequently polluting rivers and oceans and imperilling marine life. Fortunately, if you are planning a major event, you can act meticulously to reduce or eliminate its contribution to plastic waste.
Give attendees good reasons not to use plastic bottles
Naturally, it is crucial that guests are kept nicely hydrated. However, too often, single-use water bottles can be left strewn around an event space, unless guests are given alternative means of replenishing themselves with the water they need.
So, you could have water stations or water jugs dotted around the venue, complete with glasses or compostable cups. If the event is for corporate purposes, you could even offer reusable water bottles emblazoned with your company’s branding.
Minimise your event’s use of plastic straws
Often, straws are more of a nice-to-have than a must-have. In other words, if you omit them from your event completely, the chances are that most people there won’t miss them.
Although straws could remain available on request for people who do need them, you could offer paper straws that would be easy for users to recycle. Our own caterers serve paper straws as standard when helping clients to holdsustainable events in London or any of the home counties.
Set a good example with your welcome packs
Imagine how great it would be if you encouraged your event’s attendees to be eco-conscious not only during the event itself, but also long afterwards? This is all well within the realm of possibility when you provide welcome packs full of such items as recyclable paper and refillable pens.
Even the bag itself can be made from sustainable cotton and printed with details of the steps you have taken to keep plastic out of the bag’s contents.
Ask our team here at Caiger& Co to handle the catering
This would be an option if the event in question is set to take place in London or any of the home counties. One great advantage of this option, if it is indeed available, is that you can tap into our extensive experience of helping clients with the delivery of sustainable events.
When buying supplies on behalf of clients, we avoid anything that comes in a plastic bottle. Instead, we stick just to items kept in glass and cans.
We won’t pretend that significantly reducing the amount of plastic waste generated by an event is always easy. However, we can at least take much of the headache out of the process – and we can explain further about why when you get in touch with our London-based caterers.