Events are one of the most visible indicators of your organizational culture and commitment to community. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate many aspects of your organization -- among them could be your commitment to being eco-friendly. Environmental consciousness is almost expected in the form of convenient recycling bins but what else can you do to go further to reduce the carbon footprint of your fundraising event?

1. Go Online for your Pre-Event Planning:
Inevitably, your event will require a few planning meetings (or many!). These meetings have an impact. In 2015, the average car in the United States ran at about 25 miles to the gallon. For every gallon of gas that is burned, about twenty pounds of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. That means that even if only a handful of people have to drive a short distance to your meeting, a significant amount of pollution will be released into the atmosphere. Consider reducing this pollution by using video conferencing or calls whenever possible. It’s easier and more effective than you might think! (Check out: GoToMeeting, UberConference, FreeConferenceCall)

2. Lower the dress code
This may seem like an odd one, but relaxing the dress code for your event can help both the health of the environment and your guests. Fancy clothing often requires dry cleaning, and around eighty five percent of dry cleaners use PERC, or perchloroethylene, as a main part of their cleaning process. PERC is a central nervous system depressant and a likely human carcinogen, and it has been found to cause various cancers in animals. In order to limit the impact of this chemical on both your guests and the environment, lower the dress code to your event so that people are not pressured to use a dry cleaner.

3. Eliminate any and all paper waste
This one is easy because events can be paper intensive with invitations, signs, tickets, and programs. Convert paper to an electronic option when possible - printed tickets to e-tickets, printed invitations to e-invitations, printed programs to information on a screen, printed signs can become electronic signs. Anytime and anywhere you see needless paper in your event, eliminate it or find a creative way to re-use it for next year. (And if you’re using an event software like Swell all of your tickets will be online already!) At a minimum, if you use paper, place a recycle bin at the exit.

4. Eliminate electrical waste
Any part of your event that uses unnecessary electricity should be considered also. Much of this can be determined through proper venue selection and organization. Consider holding your event outside so as to use natural light instead of artificial. If not outside, use a room that has large windows. Furthermore, structure any lines in a way that doors can remain closed whenever not in use--heating and cooling is both expensive and electrically taxing. Any bit of electricity saved helps.

5. Eliminate physical gift bags
Some events have “swag bags” or gift bags of various small things from the event sponsors; pencils, notepads, stickers, etc. These bags, and much of their contents, almost always go directly into the trashcan. Eliminate these wasteful bags by instead sending guests an email with offers from the event sponsors. This e-offer not only reduces waste it’s a more effective way to encourage guests to a support a sponsor.

6. Make sure the catering is local and organic
When selecting your event catering or venue, consider the carbon footprint of your food selection.  Locally sourced food and the types of food selected can drive the environmental impact of food - which is the 3rd largest driver of carbon emissions.  Check out GreenEatz for a chart of foods ranked by environmental impact.   

7. Check out the Environmental Protection Agency’s website for more tips
The EPA provides a series of guidelines on “Green Meetings” that are just as applicable to many fundraising events. Check them out here.