MICE gatherings, no matter the type or size, all have one crucial aspect in common: when it comes to working against greening the three Ds apply every time.
Descend
At MICE gatherings individuals arrive at a set destination over a short period of time and whether staying the night or not, the attendees travel by motor vehicle.
Second D is for Devastate
The following are used in vast quantity throughout the event without much thought of the consequences:
Paper Documents are handed out frequently.
Water Plastic bottles adorn the tables and are regularly replenished during the summer.
Electricity Air-con (warm and cool), electric shavers, hair dryers and staging equipment are all major power users.
Food & Beverage Hundreds of plastic containers and paper sachets for milk and sugar are used throughout the event.
Depart
On departure what is left behind can be a severe hazard to the environment if stringent, high standard methods of disposal are not undertaken every time.
More thought and repetitive check lists needed
Although there have been many large capacity gatherings where most environmentally unfriendly aspects have been taken account of long before the commencement, there still remains the taxing issue of the regular type of gathering. While one MICE gathering of 10,000 is probably being accounted for by the green experts, what about the 10,000 MICE gatherings of 100 capacity per gathering?
At the same time certain environmental changes in food and beverages, for example, are unlikely to happen. Eliminating sugar sachets in favour of large bowls of sugar isnt ideal due to hygiene and pilferage factors. The same can be said for plastic containers being replaced by large jugs of milk.
Therefore, a simple checklist encouraging the planner to take precautions is the way to go. The MICE Academy is planning a think-tank on this very subject and the EGF (Events Greening Forum) will be encouraged to be a part of a constructive process to move green MICE forward effectively.
