I recently experienced a first since starting my business: an outdoor event I was contracted for got rained out.
I was running a waste diversion program for the Indiana Sports Corporation’s Corporate Challenge, and the event was of such a large scale that there was no fallback indoor venue. When the rain and lightning kept coming, it had to be totally cancelled.
When the cancellation announcement came down, I wasn’t sure what this would mean for me and my team. The ISC had been working on this event for months. Would they be too disappointed to follow through with the waste diversion program?
A few minutes after the announcement, I had my answer. The ISC wanted to keep going full steam ahead with the program and collect whatever results we could. My team and I were stoked—we weren’t about to let a little rain (or a lot of rain) stop us from keeping waste out of the landfill and incinerator!
I had never been part of a cancelled event before, but I soon realized that from a waste standpoint, it wasn’t that different than if the event had actually happened.
We still needed to capture and sort waste from setup, teardown, and the back of house, as well as from a small lunch that was served to staff and volunteers. We also needed to capture any waste from the supplies that had been ordered for the day, such as banners, signs and t-shirts.
While the majority of the food and beverage procured for the event didn’t end up being consumed, that didn’t take it off our plate. Rather, we still had to ensure that these items were captured for reuse, and not discarded just because they were not immediately needed.
The main lesson I learned from this weekend is that even if an event is cancelled, the need to responsibly manage waste from that event still remains.
You already have all of the supplies, food & beverage, and other materials that would have gone into producing the event. When your event is cancelled, your focus shifts from execution to how to save those materials for future use.
I commend the Indiana Sports Corporation for staying committed to waste diversion in the face of a disappointing situation. Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is watching, and that’s really what responsibly managing the waste from a cancelled event is all about.
How can you communicate integrity to clients? Nothing shows your clients you’re serious about sustainability better than measuring your results. I’ll help you measure your sustainability performance at your next event.