Welcome to this March edition of Huddle’s Event Sustainability News. We aim to keep you up to date with what is happening in the meetings and events industry to build environmental sustainability, from event planners to event venues and event technology companies. This week, we take a look at some exciting sustainability initiatives including new destination rankings, methods of reducing waste at iconic venues, recognition for environmentally friendly cities and how strong sustainability goals are helping venues win business.
Global Destination Sustainability Index Results
Since our last instalment, the Global Destination Sustainability Index has announced its results for 2023. The GDS Index ranks a destination according to a number of criteria, from energy efficiency to waste management, public transportation, and a number of other sustainability practices designed to capture a snapshot of the environmental footprint of the place.
The index included more than 100 destinations, with intense competition for the top spots.
Gothenburg, Sweden took home first prize for the seventh time. In fact, all of the top 7 ranked cities were in Scandinavia, with only Glasgow and Bordeaux breaking the streak at position 8 and 9 respectively.
In the top 40 cities in the index, only one from North America (Montreal) made the cut. This underscores the long-term challenge of creating realistic long-term sustainability goals for event planners that reduce waste, save money and help the planet. Australia had two in the top 40, with Melbourne and Sydney taking spots 27 and 29 respectively.
Ritz-Carlton Chicago Announces New Food Waste Program
We love seeing common sense solutions to help reach their sustainable event goals, and waste management is key to reducing environmental footprints. In fact, according to a report from Beyond Food Waste most events waste between 15% and 20% of the total food used. The Ritz-Carlton Chicago has announced a new program to divert 100% of their food waste from landfills. They will achieve this by partnering with BioGreen360, waterless distribution digesters, bio-catalysis, and analytics to repurpose the waste into a reusable resource.
Denver Recognized for Sustainability
Denver has been granted the highest ranking offered by the Events Industry Council, highlighting Denver’s long commitment to reducing environmental impacts and becoming more environmentally friendly.
More than 300 experts from all parts of the events industry helped create the metrics, including 74 different standards required for certification. These range from organizational management to diversity, supply chain management to marketing. A platinum certification requires a score of 90% or higher.
Winter Olympics Locations Chosen with Sustainability in Mind
Winter sports lovers everywhere rejoiced when the locations for the 203 Winter Olympics in the French Alps and 2034 Paralympic winter games in Salt Lake City. But many in the industry also noted that sustainability seemed to play a key role in determining the host cities.
Both hosts already have most of the infrastructure required to host events like these, meaning less environmental impact due to construction. And both scored well on the new climate-focused criteria implemented in late 2022. These criteria include sustainable tourism strategies, maximizing use of existing venues, and a demonstrated ability to hold international events.
That is it for another edition of Huddle’s Event Sustainability News. If you want to find out more about how you can make your event program more sustainable, whether an in person event or a hybrid event, contact an expert at Huddle to set up a consultation.
