Shawna McKinley is an accomplished sustainability consultant, event planner, author, and instructor who helps event professionals take practical, smart steps to improve their events through zero waste and carbon-conscious choices.. She has been recognized as a Meeting Industry Trendsetter by Meetings Focus, Top 40 Under 40 by Collaborate and Top Social Media influencer by both Meetings Net and BizBash. Shawna lives in Vancouver, Canada, and you can catch more about her adventures in event sustainability on her personal blog, Eventcellany.
How the Sharing Economy is Changing Events (or is it?)
In kindergarten you’re taught sharing is good. But is that true when it comes to the event industry? This blog post invites you to weigh in on if and how the sharing economy is impacting and evolving your events. Shared-access Economy Simply put: the sharing economy uses technology to help people rent stuff from each […]
Power up your Event with Green Energy Ideas
From festival light shows to conference attendee air travel, events have a huge energy appetite. We feel it on the bottom line, in terms of costs for power drops, airline fuel surcharges and generators. The planet also feels the impact from resource exploration, development and emissions. Green power solutions for events have become an innovative […]
7 Winning Ways of the Event Food Waste Warrior
Virtually every green event checklist includes a call to curb food waste. Here on Event Manager Blog we’ve shared a few ideas to consider. But how does a meeting planner practically implement a food waste reduction program? After all it’s not all about checklists. What process steps do you follow? I recently shadowed event planner […]
Four Questions for a Winning Event CSR Project
Puppy cuddling and bike building are very nice, but do they create a better event? And if they did, how would you know? Event professionals embed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects into events for altruistic reasons: to give back without the expectation to get in return. However CSR projects that consider only the beneficiary or […]
Zero-Waste Event Makeovers Anyone Can Do
When it comes to eliminating waste at your event, a picture is worth a thousand words. Following are two examples of seriously simple, low- to no-cost ways to reduce event waste that anyone can accomplish. The Break Service Note the following potential for landfill waste: single-serving sugar, non-recyclable plastic creamers and stir sticks, polystyrene coffee […]
Fun Facts and Simple Steps to Inspire Your Sustainable Event
Do your green event efforts seem like a chore? Forget that! Use these fun facts to help you shake the guilty motivation for going green and embrace your inner event sustainability solutionary to save money, help people and protect the planet. Reuse Banners and Graphics If every meeting held in the USA reused one banner, […]
17 Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Planning a Sustainable Event
Working at the intersection of sustainability and events for the last several years, I’ve learned there are a few important items missing from most “green” event checklists. Tips I sure wish someone had shared with me during my Event Sustainability 101! 1. Don’t Waste your Time on Insignificant Issues or Over-sell Minor Steps Paperless events […]
How to be a Food-Waste Fighting Event Superhero
As a major buyer of catering service, event professionals have a significant opportunity to reduce food waste and save money. Global food waste is a major problem. In the two minutes it takes to scan this article: • 15,210 tonnes of food will be produced • 10,267 tonnes of food will be consumed • 4,943 […]