I have always had an underlying feeling that I need to make the world a better place. I think that this comes from the history of my family, who settled in Saskatchewan and made farmland out of barren land to provide grain and resources to others. There is a certain visual that comes to mind of my grandfather ploughing a field to plant a new crop which leaves me feeling compelled to break new ground and grow something new in my world.
I have often told the story of how I ended up working in event marketing and my passion to make events less wasteful, but I think it is the story before that that I am pondering these days. When I was in Grade 4, I was passionate about the environment and actually started actioning my beliefs where I could. There was an internal composting/recycling program that I helped champion at my grade school. I also took the time to send letters to local businesses to ask for their help in the cause. It seems funny to me now, but I wrote to my local grocery store to ask that they get rid of the packaging on their meat and allow people to bring their own containers… which they politely declined lol But overall, I saw what was wasteful and was incredibly aware of the larger impact that they were contributing to.
This eye on the world is something that likely came from my upbringing as well. My parents were never wasteful and my admiration of them has certainly shaped a lot of my worldview. In contrast to my peers, my parents didn’t drive a new car or have a big TV, but instead spent their money on great experiences for our family like travel, music and the arts. How they never got caught up in brands and status is a true testament to where they came from and something that I struggle with in both my personal and professional life. It is so easy to get caught up in consumerism and spend money based on reasons other than how it truly meets your needs. It is the same way with events, where we get caught doing what we did last year, or what is easy or cheap.
My dad always has always said that he votes with his wallet every day. This is a strong statement when you consider the power of our economy on the path that we take our country and world on. The choice to purchase items with excessive packaging or made from harmful plastic, only adds fuel to the fire. My vision when first thinking about how I could impact the world through my work was a bit of a Robin Hood approach. If I could consult companies on their event strategy, I could multiply the environmentally responsible decisions that I would make in a day 10, 100 or 1000 fold because I could affect the decision for all event attendees. Imagine the impact that one boardroom decision to supply water bottles vs water stations at an event for 1000 people has on our landfills. Secondly, I would be able to select vendors and source from sustainable and environmentally friendly companies, providing support for them to grow and prosper. By moving money in this way, it forces those who are wasteful to innovate or die.
This economic approach to environmentalism is interesting to me and an area that I want to focus more on. I truly feel that I have a responsibility in what I do as an event marketer to guide my clients to make the best decisions possible to meet their business objectives. I have often told my team that there are three things to balance for every tactical decision in the event process: Budget, Overall Event Objectives & Attendee experience. I am aware that based on balancing these items, we cannot always make all of the best decisions but we absolutely need to make them whenever we can. We might not win a prize or even get a pat on the back for making our event greener, but regardless it is our responsibility to ensure that we are weighing in environmental impact when making event decisions. I want to make this a focus in my personal and professional life as I go into my 30th year and hope that I can find some fellow pioneers to help break this new ground with me.
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