Booking a Sustainable Venue

You have read our top tips on how to book a sustainable event. It’s now time to find a sustainable venue that will be perfectly suited to both your guests and your eco-friendly initiative. This is where we come in, as experienced venue finders and event planners, with our free venue-finding service

Venues are always looking for new ways to cut their carbon emissions and be more environmentally friendly. Many have put in place things like paperless offices, eco-friendly lighting, natural ventilation and using local suppliers. Other ideas include reducing food and drink packaging and planting trees.

Green Initiatives

Several companies have emerged to help and guide businesses with their green initiatives – here are a few:

Green Key

Green Key is an initiative which demands a leading standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry.

Green Tourism

For over 25 years Green Tourism has assessed and accredited the sustainable practices of businesses. They have now created a new standard specific to meetings and events venues; over 700 venues and hotels have already joined this scheme.

Visit England

Any business that has this ‘green’ label will have implemented initiatives across its business that contribute a significant benefit to the environment and to responsible tourism.

Take a look at a couple of examples of how you could host your next green event in a sustainable venue:

Heathrow Marriott

We had a team meeting back in the Summer of 2023 at this hotel, and we were given a tour of the kitchens. Along with the usual sustainability practices, they also showed us how they reuse their waste, which we think is worth sharing!

• They use the stems from lettuce and celery to re-grow them, which are later planted in the Greenhouse
• Coffee grounds are great for the Garden, so on quieter days, they get together and mix the coffee grounds with eggshells and the cardboard from the egg trays and make garden boosters, which can be used to water your plants!
• They keep the skin from vegetables and dry it to use to make vegetable stock
• They use banana and watermelon skin for vegan dishes; for example, shredded banana skin, which, when mixed with BBQ sauce, has the feel of pulled pork!
• The greenhouse on the roof of the hotel has been fully stocked with herbs and vegetables to be used fresh or dried.
• They use biodegradable bags for general waste.
• Green buckets are used for food waste instead of bags.
• They donate waste to the local council garden plots in Berkshire.
• They’ve started making cosmetic and gardening products out of items that used to be thrown out.
• As well as all the above, they also work with WeKnow London to provide sustainable rides to guests from and to the airport with the new Jaguar I PACE.
• Meeting rooms have Write-on Walls to reduce the use of flipchart paper, and tablecloths are avoided as much as possible. Old appliances are recycled for displays.

Dalata Hotels

Dalata Hotels have created their own environment movement ‘Living Green’, which inspires care for their environment as a ‘Way of Life’ throughout their hotels, for both staff and their guests. Each hotel has a dedicated ‘Environment Impact Team’ who ensure they are continuously reducing their environmental impact.

All of their hotels have been awarded the Gold Award from Green Tourism.

Some of their environmental initiatives include:

• All hotels have electronic water meters, which allow them to measure consumption accurately. A target has been set to reduce water consumption by 15% per sleeper by 2026 (2019 baseline).
• Biodiversity is driven by their hotels at the local level. For example, Maldron Hotel Parnell Square has a roof garden, a pollinator garden and a herb garden. These gardens were introduced to not only help with reducing carbon dioxide but also help with heat insulation and create an ecosystem for local wildlife.
• All food waste is converted to a fertiliser digestate using an anaerobic digestion process through partnerships with FSM (Food Surplus Management) in Ireland and RE-Food in the UK.
• All electricity is purchased and certified from 100% renewable sources.

The Hotel Brussels, Brussels

The Hotel Brussels partners with Eurostar. Brussels as a destination can be easily reached by train from other European Countries

Did you know your carbon footprint from one flight can be the same as making 13 journeys via Eurostar?

Green Procedures the Hotel has put in place:

Electricity

The Hotel is powered by 100% green electricity derived from renewable sources, ensuring a cleaner and greener energy supply. To further reduce their carbon footprint, they have implemented energy-efficient LED lighting throughout 80% of the hotel.

CO2

The Hotel has six electric vehicle charging stations, encouraging guests to choose eco-friendly transportation. The Hotel’s location offers easy access to public transportation, with a mere three-minute walk to nearby transit options.

Water

To encourage responsible water usage, there are in-room collaterals that ask if guests wish to skip housekeeping services to let them know and reuse their towels during their stay. They have also implemented a sophisticated system to quickly detect and localise any leaks within the building so they can take immediate action and minimize water waste.

Chemicals

90% of the products used for cleaning are chemical-free, ensuring a healthier and greener environment for everyone.

 Waste

To reduce food waste, they have eliminated buffets for meetings with less than 20 people, opting for personalised and seasonal choices that reduce excess food. The Hotel is partnered with ‘Too Good To Go’ to distribute any excess food to those in need, ensuring it does not go to waste.

Throughout the hotel, there are selective waste sorting bins available so guests and staff can help with sustainable waste management efforts.

In the bathrooms, they have installed big pumps for soap and shampoo, minimizing single-use plastic waste.

Sustainable activities

And don’t forget your team-building events can also be sustainable.

There are several teambuilding options which offer superb team spirit while being environmentally aware, from building a bike for charity to ‘Green House’.

This last activity is a great opportunity to inspire your teams to reduce their carbon footprint. The idea is that teams are asked to build and maintain a water filtration system and create a renewable energy source, as well as looking to reducing their carbon footprint with insulation and recycling tasks. These are just a couple of suggestions

We only have one planet, and we should all be working to protect it and we think the examples above show that venues are doing their best to make events as sustainable as possible.