For at least two years, event planners have likely been asked, "what are you doing to make your event more green?" And the answer to that question is all over the board - from simple recycyling and composting programs to event-owned venues producing their own bio-fuels from event waste.
As events work toward eco-friendly solutions to lessening their impact, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. How do I measure my event's impact? Are we truly becomming greener, or doing things just for the sake of doing things?
According to ClimatePath.com, a company that specializes in carbon neutral planning, as much as 90 percent of an event's carbon footprint is realized in attendee travel getting to the gathering. For events with a more local or regional audience, this percentage is likely smaller, but remains the largest impact. In Texas, where mass transit is not common, this may be a difficult factor to mitigate.
ClimatePath offers the following summary of how an event can measure its environmental impact so that a plan can be created for reduction.
Scope 1 emissions are those directly occurring "from sources that are owned or controlled", such as work vehicles.
Scope 2 emissions are emissions generated in the production of electricity consumed by the event organizer's activity. This also includes energy generated at the event location.
Scope 3 emissions are all the other indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the event, but occur from sources not owned or controlled event organizer. These include air and ground travel, hotel stays, emissions of the production and transportation of purchased goods; outsourced activities; and so forth.
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