By Anja Thompson, GBCSA Events Project Manager
For over 15 years, GBCSA has been passionate about creating opportunities for our green building community to connect, catch-up and contribute to the ongoing industry conversations through our knowledge-sharing and networking events.
I fondly recall the introduction of our first Planet Shapers Event back in 2016, when we partnered with South Point and hosted a building tour of the 6-Star Green Star rated WWF offices in Braamfontein, followed by an afternoon walk through the precinct. We have continued to expand our events offering to include various building tours, knowledge sharing sessions on hot topics, as well as just creating the opportunity to connect over a drink with GBConnect events.
And we take our responsibility to do this in a sustainable way seriously! But what is GBCSA’s approach to events?
Every event is unique, and the possibilities are determined by various factors in each instance. Here are a few of our considerations:
Venue
We always aim to host our events in a Green Star or Net Zero-rated venue. And with the number of certified buildings in South Africa increasing at the rate it is, this has become a more realistic expectation over the years!
Single-use plastics and the use of biodegradable materials
This is a crucial part of any event we organise. We are always striving to find an alternative to the plastic water bottle and plastic-wrapped mint!
Name tags
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to join us at our regional events, you might know this one off by heart already: We always request that our delegates leave their name tags behind after the event, to ensure they are reused.
Sustainable and alternative catering options
GBCSA supports sustainable food practices and we have often gone vegetarian-only at our events. We have also successfully hosted vegan-only events – something we are keen to encourage in future too! We only offer local drinks at our events.
Venue or hotel sustainability policy
Requesting this information during planning can provide great insight into how seriously event facilities and hotels take their environmental responsibility, such as how they handle waste. Where this is not available, we use this opportunity to request certain measures for our events. We’ve found that by engaging in these conversations, we can help these facilities start their own sustainability journeys.
From carefully curated content for our events to sourcing sustainable gift choices; from encouraging our delegates to carpool to supporting ‘local’, GBCSA continually asks if we are doing enough, and what more we could do for each event!
A final thought
We are all walking this green path of sustainability in some shape or form. Let’s each take that extra bit of time to ask the event facilities we use if they have a sustainability policy in place.
Simple questions can make a difference, such as, “Do you distribute leftover catering from our event responsibly?” And, if not, consider arranging to take the leftover catering and drop these treats off at a nearby orphanage, local fire station, police station or anyone that’s out there serving the community. And we can all enjoy a celebration without that balloon!
Events are ever-evolving, and we will keep striving to provide our green building community with opportunities to connect responsibly.