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Paperless or Sustainable Stationary

27/01/2020

With a naturally high consumption of energy, paper products and food, the creation of sustainable meetings and events has come into focus for everyone organising business events, whether it's an international association conference for 5,000 or an internal training workshop for 15.  

Sustainability at Croke Park Meetings & Events

Truly savvy corporations and associations are cynical about mere “green washing” and want evidence of sustainability commitments embedded in the business ethos and policies of the venues they contract with.
 
At Croke Park, sustainability is not only about addressing the energy and waste impact associated with hosting over a million match-goers every year, the venue wants to use its status as the third-largest stadium in Europe to become an example in terms of policy, practice and innovation.
 

"Since 2014 Croke Park has maintained a zero waste to landfill record, with all rubbish produced in and by the stadium recycled, repurposed or reused"

Croke Park was the very first stadium in the world to obtain certification to the newest international Environmental Standard ISO 14001:2015 and was the first stadium in Ireland and Britain to secure both ISO14001 and ISO 20121 standards. That naturally extends to sustainable meetings and events as Míde Ní Shúilleabháin who is responsible for sustainability at Croke Park, explains:

“Sustainability is mainstreamed across all aspects of Croke Park’s operations. Since 2014 Croke Park has maintained a zero waste to landfill record, with all rubbish produced in and by the stadium recycled, repurposed or reused with a focus on single use plastics. The ongoing stadium upgrade to LED lighting across all departments is part of a broader energy-efficiency programme that will reduce the stadium’s energy usage footprint and the introduction of compostable tea and coffee cups, has been a significant step in the move away from single-use plastics.  Our sustainability programme now extends to exciting projects such as our Croke Park farm and a range of biodiversity projects.”

No Plastic Bottles and More Paperless Meetings

The stadium is continuing its pioneering focus on reducing the amount of waste, with sustainable meetings & events very much at the heart of these initiatives. Single use plastic bottles have already been eliminated from meetings replaced with sustainable water bottles.

Previously all meeting rooms were automatically laid out with pens and paper so the decision was taken to remove stationery from meeting sets ups and make it available on request only.  This approach avoids needless waste and we have since ensured that stationary available on request only is 100% sustainable stock with our new pens made from 100% recycled cardboard and our pads made from responsibly sourced and carbon balance recyclable paper.

Every Little Helps  

“Sustainably sourced notebooks and pens are available but making them ‘request only’ helps reduce waste and encourages our clients to join the wider sustainability community in thinking about the choices we make and about how in our everyday lives we make small decisions that can have big impacts. 

5 Tips for a More Sustainable Meeting or Event

1. Replace bottled water with filtered water served with ice in attractive re-usable jugs
2. Serve coffee and tea in reusable mugs or, at least, in compostable paper cups
3. Insist on LED and low wattage lighting for all event needs
4. Go paperless by only using digital platforms and screens for all meeting and event communications and if using stationary make sure it is sustainable stock
5. Avoid food waste by reducing serving sizes

Talk to our team about sustainability when booking your events - email us or call us on +353 1 8192300.
 

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