Sustainable events guide

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Looking to integrate sustainability into your event? Explore impactful ways we can guide you in infusing sustainable practices into every aspect—food choices, setup, transportation, energy use, and waste management. Plus, discover how our team is working to fulfill our sustainability goals and what our eco-friendly venue has to offer.

Sustainability Manager Sam Ferrier discusses enhancing event sustainability with the Positive Impact Guide.

What you can do

Choose plant-based: Add more vegetarian and vegan food choices.
Accuracy matters: Order the right amount of food for your guests.
Eco-friendly hydration: Choose water coolers or carafes, not bottled water.
Get exhibitors on-board: Ask your exhibitors not to bring in bottled water.

Event planners incorporating sustainability into their food and beverage choices

What you can do

- Choose plant-based: Add more vegetarian and vegan food choices.
- Accuracy matters: Order the right amount of food for your guests.
- Eco-friendly hydration: Choose water coolers or carafes, not bottled water.
- Get exhibitors on-board: Ask your exhibitors not to bring in bottled water.
- Recycle: Guide guests to use organic and recycling bins correctly.
- Back of house recycling: Let us know pre-event if you’d like us to collect additional waste streams, like timber, plastic, metal, and e-waste.
- Smart packing: Avoid bringing items that can't be recycled through our waste streams.
- Give instructions: Provide clear recycling instructions in exhibitor guides and information sessions.
- Think ahead: Create reusable signage without printed dates.
- Single-use ban: Say no to single-use branded items, lanyards, and unnecessary packaging.
- Offer incentives: Encourage guests to bring reusable water bottles and coffee cups for a 40c discount on coffee.
- Repurpose: Ship leftover goods and supplies for reuse after the event.
- Eco-friendly hydration: Rent a portable drinking station for bottle refills.
- Get everyone on-board: Ask exhibitors to use reusable or recyclable items (no compostable or biodegradable items).
- Give back: Join Bright Sparqe to donate brand-new products to charity (MCEC cannot store waste on your behalf).
- Go digital: Choose digital giveaways and brochures over physical handouts.
- Fair trade: Choose recycled materials for any necessary giveaways, focusing on items of value and utility for guests.
- Repurpose: Design reusable lanyards and collect after the event.
- Use technology: Embrace digital apps instead of printed programs.
- Say no: Create a ban on balloons.
- Embrace digital: Opt for digital signage from our Event Signage Guide [7.38mb] , reducing printed waste.
- Aim for multi-use: Don't use specific dates/locations on signage for multiple uses.
- Recycled materials: Choose synthetic signage with 50%+ recycled content.
- Supplier collaboration: Discuss takeback, reprinting, or reuse with suppliers.
- Prioritise sustainable designs: Encourage reduced MDF use in stand design, especially custom stands.
- Recoverable stands: Request at least 50% recoverable (reusable or recyclable) materials in custom stands.
- Get everyone on-board: Create an exhibitor stand approval process to monitor materials and waste.
- Go green: Encourage and prioritise public transport, walking, and cycling (minimise driving).
- Easy directions: Provide clear transport details and recommended routes for easy access to MCEC. Find out how to get to MCEC .
- Focus on transport: Schedule events with public transport in mind.
- Share rides: Embrace ride-sharing options.
- Save power: Request power be turned off overnight in the Exhibition Bays.
- Reduce lighting: Choose to cut lighting in exhibition bays to 25% or 50%.
- Unplug: Power down unused appliances and equipment.
- Think ahead: Opt for fewer logistics suppliers to reduce truck movements.
- Be energy efficient: Maintain our energy-efficient 21-degree event spaces; avoid onsite temperature changes that stress our system.
- Offset journeys: Reduce delegate travel emissions by calculating carbon footprint and buying carbon offsets from groups like Carbon Positive Australia . Plant trees through them too.
- Green marketing: Share your commitment to sustainability across marketing.
- Communicate: Send a pre-event email to tell attendees about your sustainable choices and initiatives at the event.
- Go digital: Use e-tickets, apps, and online info to save paper.
- Track and improve: Use platforms like Trace by isla to measure your impact and report on emissions and waste.
- Ask and learn: Get guest feedback on how to boost sustainability in future surveys.
- Embrace online: Say no to print and yes to social media for event marketing.

What we do

Support local: Our 100-Mile Menu sources ingredients from nearby farms and markets, backing Victorian food producers and lowering our carbon footprint.
Homegrown goodness: We've set up 36 'food cubes' in our Courtyard , growing herbs, citrus, and flowers for our menus.
Reusable focus: We offer reusable Eco Boxes over disposable lunch boxes. We replace disposable coffee cups with reusable steel ones at catered events.
Food rescue: Leftover food goes to our community partner OzHarvest. In 2022, we donated 16,280 meals, saving over 8 tonnes of food from landfill.

MCEC's sustainable Food and beverage practices.

What we do

- Support local: Our 100-Mile Menu sources ingredients from nearby farms and markets, backing Victorian food producers and lowering our carbon footprint.
- Homegrown goodness: We've set up 36 'food cubes' in our Courtyard , growing herbs, citrus, and flowers for our menus.
- Reusable focus: We offer reusable Eco Boxes over disposable lunch boxes. We replace disposable coffee cups with reusable steel ones at catered events.
- Food rescue: Leftover food goes to our community partner OzHarvest. In 2022, we donated 16,280 meals, saving over 8 tonnes of food from landfill.
- No to single-use plastic: Retail outlets now offer paper straws, bamboo cutlery, and BioPak products.
- Smart waste sorting: Our front of house has three recycling bins (landfill, recycling, organics); exhibition bays have four (landfill, recycling, paper/cardboard, organics).
- We're coffee conscious: Use Returnr reusable cups, get a 40c discount for bringing your own cup, and recycle disposable cups via Simply Cups .
- Pro waste management: Our partner IKON Services, has extensive event waste expertise, tailoring solutions and providing post-event waste reports.
- We donate: We proudly partner with and support Bright Sparqe to connect our surplus products to charities, cut waste, and help vulnerable communities.
- Reduce waste: We're eliminating the distribution of notepads and pens.
- Repurposing: We design and create trade show stands to last. We use reusable components that can be repurposed and recycled at end-of-life.
- Go digital and cut print waste: Use in-house digital displays and wayfinding. Learn more from our Event Signage Guide [7.38mb] .
- Convenience: Our location matters, MCEC's city-centre location offers easy reach via trains, trams, and cycling routes.
- Tram accessibility: Effortless access to the free tram services within Melbourne CBD improves accessibility, reducing car reliance.
- Renewable energy: We purchase renewable electricity which offsets about 15% of our consumption annually.
- 6 Green Star Green Building: Our venue has sustainable features like natural light, sensor lights and solar heating.
- Eco-control system: Our Exhibition Centre has an energy management system with CO2 monitoring and variable speed drives.
- Water conservation: We harvest rainwater from our roof for cooling and irrigation.
- Sustainability certified: MCEC is EarthCheck gold certified.
- Net zero mission: We're measuring our carbon impact and creating a plan to achieve net zero emissions.
- Transparency: Our sustainability commitments are out in the open. Discover our targets and progress reports.
- Zero emissions: We've pledged for net zero emissions through the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, uniting against climate change. You can be part of it too. Sign up.
- Amplify your event: Boost your pre-event buzz and explore our marketing guide [3.24mb] for digital channels and support to amplify your event's reach.

Creating carbon-neutral events

Registered consultants can assist in calculating and offsetting your event's carbon footprint. Carbon neutrality is possible through the Australian Government's Climate Active certification program. Certification comes with a recognisable "stamp" for your communications and collateral.

To start:

Find suppliers and resources at climateactive.org.au .
Engage a registered environmental consultant to help you achieve carbon neutral certification. OR
Explore carbon calculators like South Pole's Climate Calculate or Climate Compensate tools.
Connect with our MCEC Sustainability Manager to receive an excel-based event carbon calculator (not valid for offsets).

Sustainable Events Guide to Create Carbon Neutral Events

Sustainable events guide

What you can do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

What you can do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

What we do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

What we do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

Creating carbon-neutral events

MCEC Partners with Local Suppliers to Showcase the Best Victorian Beverages

How to Build a Sustainable Exhibition Stand

MCEC Event Experts: Sam Ferrier, Creating Sustainable Events

MCEC Makes an Impact - Driving Environmental Change, Social Impact and Economic Contribution

Sustainable events guide

What you can do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

What you can do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

What we do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

What we do

Food and beverage

Waste

Event styling and merchandise

Signage and stand design

Transport

Energy, water and emissions

Marketing and communications

Creating carbon-neutral events

Our sustainability efforts

MCEC Partners with Local Suppliers to Showcase the Best Victorian Beverages

How to Build a Sustainable Exhibition Stand

MCEC Event Experts: Sam Ferrier, Creating Sustainable Events

MCEC Makes an Impact - Driving Environmental Change, Social Impact and Economic Contribution