Events like trade shows and exhibitions are known to generate a huge quantity of waste every year around the world. It has become one of the major causes for severe environmental degradation resulting in severe consequences in the form of unpredictable weather patterns, frequent and more ferocious natural disasters, and colossal damage to nature, resulting in losses worth billions of dollars, every year.
With the dangers of climate change looming large, the events industry too has woken up realize the gravity of the same and its consequences. As a result, trade shows and exhibitions during the past few years started espousing the cause of environment protection; and exhibitors too have started to think sustainably and help reduce the environmental impact of exhibiting.
Going green has become the norm; and eco-friendly exhibit rentals and sustainable booth options have come to be much sought after by exhibitors. They have realized that eco-friendly rentals and sustainable booth options are not only affordable but also add aesthetic to their exhibits; enhance their brand value; and save their business precious money.
ECO-FRIENDLY CHOICES
It was in the mid-2000s that eco-friendly rentals slowly became the buzz word for sustainability. Exhibitors are forever looking for sustainable booth options.
Here are some instances of how you can go green with sustainable booth options.
HIRE EXHIBIT RENTALS LOCALLY
Trade shows are a great platform to showcase your commitment to sustainability. What better way can there be to display your green exhibiting eco-friendly commitment than with eco-friendly exhibits.
Renting an exhibit locally can go a long way to significantly reduce your environmental impact. You eliminate the need to purchase trade show materials like lighting, furniture, flooring, and other such likes that otherwise are eventually dumped in landfills once the trade show is over.
When you rent an eco-friendly exhibits, you help to reduce
- Waste resulting from discarded trade show materials. Items that are rented can be reused many times. This helps to reduce waste accumulated through discarded rented items.
- Carbon emissions resulting from the transportation of trade show materials to and from the trade show venue.
- Lighting systems usage. There will be no need to buy and install own lighting systems. Instead, several trade show venues offer eco-friendly alternatives in the form of energy-efficient lighting systems.
Just opting for eco-friendly rentals is not enough. Instead opting for them locally will greatly help to reduce carbon emissions from flying resulting from people-travel which is termed as one of the biggest causes of environmental damage.
When you opt for an eco-friendly exhibit rental, hire local trade show professionals. This helps to significantly reduce environmental pollution when compared to flying out multiple team members like presenters, models, assistants, etc, from other places. Aside from helping to reduce environmental pollution, you also get to reduce hiring costs as well.
BUY SHOW ITEMS LOCALLY
When you opt for an exhibit rental locally, you can as well opt for local vendors for buying trade-show related items. Like for instance, trade show marketing materials can be sourced locally, made and then transported to the trade show venue. Likewise, you can purchase other branded materials locally.
Sourcing from local vendors will give you access to heaps of insider knowledge. This can be beneficial when you look to rent exhibits or other displays locally. If done, they can be transported to your head office and then transited to the trade show.
Eventually, local sourcing helps to reduce carbon emissions to a significant extent.
USE SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
Your exhibit rental can be called truly eco-friendly if it is made of sustainable materials. A good example of this is cardboard material instead of aluminum to make-up the structure of the exhibit rental. Likewise, you can use bamboo fiber materials for banners rather than vinyl materials.
Similarly, use eco-friendly materials for
- Booth materials packaging. Like, recycled cardboard or low-impact, recyclable packaging, both of which are available readily off the shelf.
- Marketing promotional material manufacture. Like brochures, catalogues, flyers, etc, all of which can be made from recycled paper and procured from a reputable source adept in using recycled materials.
- Printing and painting purposes. Instead of chemical-laden inks or paints, you can use water-based inks and low or no VOC paints for printing on eco-friendly nylon-free banners and pop-up displays; and also on literature materials.
Aside from the above, you can opt for bamboo made tables and shelves rather than steel or aluminum made tables and shelves.
USE ECO-FRIENDLY LIGHTING SYSTEMS
Energy consumption has been on the high side in recent years. Events like trade shows and exhibitions consume a lot of energy which can harm the environment. Several trade shows are known to take place in huge convention centres or warehouses that uses energy-guzzling strip-lighting and such likes.
The need of the hour is to reduce the consumption of energy as a part of promoting environmental consciousness.
There are several eco-friendly lighting systems available today. LED lights are extremely energy-efficient and also last for a long time. They are a perfect alternative to halogens or incandescent for displays and greatly help to reduce carbon footprint.
Interactive presentations like multimedia or displays also tend to consume a lot of energy. This can be avoided by switching off electronics when they are not in use, like during lunch breaks. This will help to not only cut down on carbon footprint but also help to reduce electricity costs.
GO DIGITAL INSTEAD OF PAPER-STUFF
Marketing materials like brochures, catalogues, etc, still have relevance. There was a time when a significant number of people would cherish them and keep them as mementoes.
Although they significantly help companies to market their products/services to interested people, they have turned out to be in most cases, a wasteful marketing expense.
Thankfully, in the digital age, you can
- Opt for digital marketing materials rather than paper marketing materials. There are two ways to go about it. One is to give the visitors QR codes to look up a digital marketing material on your website. The second way is to send digital materials like e-brochures, e-catalogues, etc, to the visitors’ emails.
- Rethink on your print needs, by evaluating what information can be sent digitally or seen digitally. ELSE, you can opt for eco-friendly printers. They will help to greatly reduce waste of paper at trade shows; and also avoid carbon emissions that come with logistical and transportation costs
In the digital age of today, a great majority of people do not keep paper materials like brochures, catalogues, flyers, etc, that are generally handed at trade shows. Even if they are forced to take them they finally end-up in the trash can.
Another reasonable green exhibiting eco-friendly move would be the use of Digital Signage. They can be used on walls, headers, etc. Known to be extremely effective in reducing waste, they help to do away with the printing and disposal of new signage’s’ every year; and redesigned as and when required to cater to the needs of the show.
Opting for sustainable booth solutions is certainly a laudable move. To extract the best possible green exhibiting eco-friendly benefits from them, it is advisable to work with a certified and professional exhibit rental company. This will help you to not only realize your eco-friendly goals but also help you to get the benefit of sustainable booth options to choose from for the best final selection.
ALSO READ: Check your trade show graphic design with these 5 important guidelines.
