When it comes to combating event waste, ICC Sydney appears to have one of the event industry’s leading environmental issues under control.

With the events industry focused on COVID-19 recovery, discussions around the role that sustainable events play in helping to stop an even bigger long-term threat — climate change — have taken a back seat.

We recently wrote about why event industry organizations should implement green teams — cross-functional groups that identify and implement ways to help the organization operate in a more environmentally sustainable fashion.

As the importance of lessening the environmental impact of meetings, trade shows and events only continues to grow, here’s what two Midwestern convention centers are doing to help make sustainable planning easier.

Sustainable practices are fast becoming a must for events.

When Natural Products Expo Group Show Director Lacey Gautier joined New Hope Network (now a division of Informa Markets) more than eight years ago, the two natural products trade shows she now oversees had already established their fair share of extensive sustainability practices.

UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry – has updated its database of initiatives and projects from the exhibition industry that support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations (which TSNN originally reported on here

Ask anyone involved in the green events movement if they’re finding it challenging to move the needle forward on sustainability and you’ll probably see a row of hands, including those of Ryan Harvey, sustainability manager at Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon.

Earlier this month, MGM Resorts International launched a standards-driven social impact program called “Focused on What Matters: People, Community and Planet” that outlines the company’s vision for a sustainable future through environmental and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Several hotel brands and convention centers are jumping on the green bandwagon to help the environment and people in need through an array of sustainability and CSR initiatives.