The event-greening journey can be complicated to navigate with different greenhouse gases to consider, various indicators to stay on top of, and complex carbon calculations. The Event Greening Forum (EGF) hosted a virtual workshop on 26 September 2024 to help members better understand some of these challenges.
EGF member and 2024 Patron Sponsor, GAWK’s, Managing Director Sandro Corrado, spoke first, unpacking the company’s green evolution. He shared that GAWK wanted to increase its penetration of Triga to the US market, so in 2023 Alphons went there on a mission to source new suppliers.
He came across Showdown Displays, which is one of the biggest display hardware suppliers in the country. “The US is very strict about sustainability – you have to be 100% compliant with their FDA laws – and some of the materials in Triga didn’t pass these regulations. So we had to have another look at the Triga system, but at a much more microscopic level – literally,” Corrado explained.
Now, Triga is entirely sustainable. The core component is aluminium, which is energy-intensive to produce but sustainable and recyclable long-term. The plastics are ABS, the connectors are nylon, and the prints are polyester. These all require less energy to produce, are recyclable and can be upcycled into other products.
And, because of the lightweight (45kg for a nine-module system) and compact nature of the design, Triga Go can be slung onto your back, making it easy and environmentally friendly to transport.
Referring to the modular design, he noted that flexibility is key when it comes to sustainability – the more options you give people, the longer they hold onto it. “We have clients who purchased Triga at inception in 2006 and are still using their system 16 years later.”
He explained that this journey was what led the company to the EGF. “As a forum where like-minded industry colleagues can share their insights, we can leverage these learnings to further improve our products and processes.
With collective input, we can reach our net-zero carbon events target much quicker,” he ended.
Understanding your event’s carbon footprint
To help other members on their event greening journey, sustainability expert and Steadfast Greening founder Grace Stead delivered a masterclass on understanding events’ carbon footprint – from the stands to delegate logistics.
She started with the different greenhouse gases, focusing on the three major ones that humans have an impact on: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. We also measure these three gases when we’re calculating an event’s carbon footprint. “Carbon dioxide has a global warming potential of one. We take everything compared to carbon dioxide. So methane, for example, is 21 times worse than carbon dioxide. That means it has 21 times the global warming potential as carbon dioxide. Then we also have nitrous oxide, which is 310 times worse than carbon dioxide,” she explained.
Grace noted that these gases also have a different atmospheric lifetime. “Carbon dioxide will be in the atmosphere for 50 to 200 years, while methane gas will be in the atmosphere for only up to two years, and nitrous oxide could be in the atmosphere for 120 years.”
Your carbon footprint is the estimated amount of carbon dioxide equivalent created whenever you travel, buy and make food, heat your home, shower, light a room, etc. “Some of these activities might have a large impact over a short period of time, like flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg for example. Other activities, like switching on the lights, have a smaller, cumulative effect,” she said. “The cumulative effect can become quite significant in the longer term.”
Grace then explained that, when it comes to reporting your carbon footprint, there are Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. “Scope 1 is your active contributions, like facilities and vehicles. Scope 2 is your inactive contributions, like buying electricity. Scope 3 is when you purchase or distribute services or goods, otherwise known as upstream and downstream business activities.”
Scope 3 is where most events’ emissions lie, she added. “Specifically with events, it becomes very tricky to differentiate between Scope 1, 2 and 3, so it’s important to focus on whatever is practical within your operations.”
She used an example of the Netball World Cup in 2023, which didn’t own or control many direct sources of carbon emissions. The largest scope was 3, which included flights, accommodation, transport, freight, diesel, waste, water and catering.
Alternatively, you can measure it using the Net-Zero Carbon Events (NZCE) approach, which looks at sustainability from a product and lifecycle point of view. “There are activities that happen before the actual event, such as delegate travel, freight and logistics, production of materials, and more. There is energy association with all of these.”
Then there are the activities that take place during and after the event, such as accommodation, food and beverages, digital content and communication.
“At the end of the event, you look at what waste comes out of the event, what energy is associated with dismantling the event components, and the logistical impact of taking things back where they came from,” Grace added.
You should still end up with the same answer, whether you use the corporate carbon calculation method or the NZCE method.
Calculating your event’s carbon footprint
Grace explained that indicators help you set a benchmark for measuring your emissions. “They need a clear description and a standard unit that can be used for comparison going forward. And once you can identify and measure it, stick with it because that’s what you’re going to use to measure your carbon footprint.”
“Identify your boundary, decide what is in or out, then identify and measure the indicators with clear units. Next, you have to identify the emission factor for the activity that you’re measuring and calculate your carbon footprint,” Grace said.
This is where carbon footprint analysts usually come in. “You can hand your indicators and boundaries over to an analyst that determines the emission factors and calculates your carbon footprint,” she added.
“Monitor and track those indicators,” she reminded attendees. “So if you’re a business, you will need to do it every month. If it’s an event, you could do it before, during and after.”