Sustainability in the events industry continues to be one of the most talked-about topics around. With corporate bookers constantly on the lookout for eco-friendly Spaces, it means the onus is on venues to ‘go green’.
So as Hosts, what can you do to ensure the service you provide doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment? How do you do that while continuing to provide your Guests with all the amenities they need to run a seamless event, no matter how big or how small? One venue that has found the perfect balance is Meet In Place.
Meet In Place pride themselves on providing ‘a global network of beautifully designed, fully-serviced offsite meeting rooms, from classic conference rooms to home-like salons’ across the capital. Their collection of modern rooms in the heart of the city are perfect for anything from board meetings and presentations to company offsites and one-on-one interviews.
But at the heart of Meet In Place’s core values is sustainability. They believe that being committed to protecting the environment is not just something you do – it’s a part of who you are.
To find out how Meet In Place are making sustainability a priority and for advice on how other venues can turn their attention to going ‘green’, we spoke to Head of Sales Rebecca Bain.
Why did you make the decision to become a more sustainable venue?
As a former leader in SodaStream, the founder of Meet In Place Yaron Kopel, believes that all products and services should aim to be as sustainable as possible in today’s age, and so it has become a part of our DNA.
We feel that, particularly as an event venue, using plastic means you are becoming a major polluter and with the number of people passing through our doors daily it becomes a huge amount of unnecessary pollution.
What are the key things you do – or don’t do – to ensure you are a sustainable venue?
There are a number of things that we do. Using reusable glass cups for water and cold drinks and reusable china cups for coffee and tea for a start. With one reusable bottle, we can save up to 3,000 disposable bottles every year.
In order to save paper we provide whiteboards and digital media, plus, each room has the lights and temperature individually controlled so that if they are not in use they are not being used unnecessarily.
For venues who want to become more sustainable but don’t know where to start, what is your advice for taking the first steps?
Using filtering and sparkling water machines and ensuring you do not use plastic bottles! That was the first thing that we did at Meet In Place.
Venues need to look at all their aspects and make sure they create as little waste as possible as a result of the meetings that are conducted on their premises.
Do you have any future plans around becoming even more sustainable? If so, what?
We are looking at using sustainable materials while building our spaces.
Are there any myths around sustainability that you feel are stopping other venues become more sustainable?
I think in today’s world, becoming a sustainable venue is all about just being mindful and caring about the environment and this is something we can all do every day.
To check out all the state-of-the-art meeting rooms available to hire at Meet In Place, take a 3D Tour of the venue here.
For more insights on how the events industry can become more sustainable, read all about our most recent HeadBox Connect panel event, ‘A Guide to Sustainable Events’, which took place at ZSL earlier this year.
