Event Sustainability: Facts, Fiction, & Future
Sustainability is more than a hot topic or a trend for meetings and events; it’s an investment in our planet and the communities we live, work, and do business in. At Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, we are leveraging our position as industry leaders to make eco-friendly meetings, events, and incentives the standard.
During our recent live event, Event Sustainability: Facts, Fiction, & Future, we gathered some of the top minds in sustainable event planning and strategy to share actionable recommendations to help you make a difference throughout your programs. The on-demand recording is available below, and we also share key takeaways below. Before we get started, let’s get to know our speakers.
Donna Collins is M&IW’s Sustainability Champion, and she recently won the BTN Group’s 2025 Business Travel Sustainability Award. She was joined by Marley Finnegan, founder of PURPOSE Sustainable Event Strategy and PURPOSE Net Zero, and Paige Lowe, Vice President of Customer Success at Copia. The discussion was moderated by Sara O’Neil, M&IW’s Sr. Director of Marketing.
No matter where you are in your sustainability journey, their insights are sure to provide new ideas and a fresh outlook on sustainable event planning. Let’s dive in!
Facts: Foundational Elements of Event Sustainability
More Than a Trend
The panelists started by discussing the fact that contrary to what you may be seeing or hearing, sustainability is not a trend.
“I hear [that it’s trendy] very frequently,” said Marley. “But it’s not a trend. It’s a true investment in innovation for the longevity of your business. It’s imperative that all areas of industry, including the events industry, really innovate to support a more conscious future for many reasons, but really for human and planetary wellbeing. The best thing anyone can do right now is educate themselves… and [ask] questions.”
Donna agreed, adding that she’s “taken the stance of ‘I just haven’t learned that yet’ when it comes to all we’re expected to know about sustainability. It takes the pressure off of all of us to be perfect. We don’t have to be perfect; we just have to continually want to learn and move forward.”
Paige added that moving sustainability forward is ultimately about behavior change. “It can be overwhelming, but sustainability touches so many different aspects of what you do in a day-to-day, what your colleagues do… At the end of the day, we have this common goal, so break it down like any other task and find one, maybe two things that you do… We’re all learning this together and finding the best solutions.”
Emissions, Measurements, and More
One buzzword related to sustainability is “emissions,” but when considering emissions on a global scale, it may be challenging to see how they relate to events. However, “travel and energy are the two largest emissions impacts for large-scale conventions, meetings, and the like,” said Marley. These are followed in order of impact by sourcing, food, and waste.
If you’re not sure where most of your event emissions come from, look at your biggest expenses as they often overlap, Marley added. Knowing the biggest emissions is a good step, but tracking and documenting is where you can make a difference.
“Document everything,” said Paige. “Your progress, what’s working, how you can make something scalable… Documenting measurements is huge, especially if you’re looking to build a case study and get executive buy-in.”
As for how or what to measure, that depends on your audience. A standard measurement for emissions in CO2 equivalent, or CO2e, which is measured in metric tons. But for audiences that aren’t as knowledgeable in sustainability, that may not mean much. Other ways to measure are savings vs. cost or the number of people impacted, particularly in the case of direct community efforts like food donations. It could even be as simple as comparing the number of plastic bottles used year over year.
Marley added that even if clients or executives aren’t asking for sustainable solutions, we should still make sustainability part of our standard operating procedures. “We can do a lot of things without adding extra costs,” she said. “It’s about leadership in a proactive sense… and proving that [investment] over and over again.”
Fiction: Event Sustainability Myths Debunked
The panel then switched gears to address the half-truths or outright myths that are commonly heard when it comes to sustainable event planning. Misinformation can create hesitation, and there’s no time to hesitate when it comes to sustainability.
Paige started with the myth that donating surplus food after your event means you’ll be held liable if someone gets sick. “This is not true,” she said. “In the US, you are fully federally covered. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act was passed in 1996 and establishes federal protection from civil and criminal liability for donations made in good faith to those in need… These protections were even further extended with the Food Donation Improvement Act [of 2021], so you are fully covered.”
Donna then touched on the myth that you don’t have to act sustainably now because there’s no federal regulations that are demanding I do. “Should you stop wanting to be sustainable because you’re not being held accountable for it?” Donna asked. “Absolutely not… You have to keep moving forward. And while in the United States, the SEC regulations for Scope 3 emissions may have stalled, but in the European Union and in California, things are still moving forward. So why wait to be asked?”
Another common myth is that sustainable solutions and services are more expensive, but that’s also not true. Marley discussed how there are so many ways to be creative and sustainable that don’t cost a fortune. For example, instead of buying endless swag for attendees, bring in local artists to curate an experience.
Marley also debunked the idea of seen vs. unseen emissions. “We don’t see our travel emissions, our energy emissions, the sourcing or fabrication of materials that come from across the globe or where they end up afterward. But those are all emissions that add up to the environmental impact. Oftentimes planners will look at what the attendees see—like the waste, the plastic, those types of things—when really we have to take a more holistic approach.”
Future: Where Does Event Sustainability Go from Here?
Shifting Sustainability from Request to Requirement
When asked what the future of sustainability looks like and how she sees it evolving over time, Donna took the conversation in an unexpected turn: “Do we have any Billie Eilish fans out there?”
She went on to discuss how artists like Coldplay and Billie Eilish “are prioritizing eco-friendly tours using electric vehicles and are offsetting the carbon emissions. That’s the future. Watch what the leaders in music and art are doing.” Just as these artists are making sustainable tour plans, the events industry can make sustainable event plans that consider every step of the event journey.
Donna also said that to keep sustainability a priority in the future, we have to make it personal. Ask yourself, “Who am I making the planet more sustainable for?”
Paige then discussed how, when people think about sustainability in the event space, they think it will involve a lot of work or will be too hard. “But there are so many technologies that are out there,” Paige said, “so many cool, innovative things coming up that are changing the game in terms of not only making it easier to make the right choices but also providing data to actually improve the decisions for future events. Sustainability is no longer going to be a nice-to-have.”
A Sustainable Vision for the Future
Marley agreed, sharing her vision for five years from now: “Every event will be measuring attendee travel, and they’re going to strategize on the lowest emission destinations for their group. Planners will be prioritizing destinations based on the renewable energy usage at venues and hotels, including the innovation and prioritization of battery-powered AV providers. Food donations will be legislated and required at a government level, and composting will be mandated municipally as well. Plant-based menus will be the norm with the difference in budget being used to support both food rescue and local community activation.
“Swag will shift from being a purchase to a philanthropic support of the community,” Marley continued. “Events will start volunteering more time and really be more deeply connected to support these local communities with financial and in-person resources. Event design out their single-use everything, and unnecessary waste will be minimized so that local impacts are more acknowledged. It’ll be much more about prioritizing local artists, entertainers, elevating the local community via the experience. Business models will have shifted. Companies that are extractive will no longer be in business, and happiness indexes will have increased. We will have reconnected more deeply to ourselves and to the earth.”
While that may sound like an inspirational dream, much of this is already reality in the marketplace, just not at the mass scale Marley envisions.
“Globally, we’re seeing changes,” Paige said. “People are being held accountable, businesses are being held accountable. Businesses want to make these changes. So it’s here; it’s already happening.”
“While things may have stalled in some areas,” Donna added, “it’s out responsibility to use our voice… and [make] everyone firm in their beliefs that sustainability is not going away. It’s here.”
Take Action: Top Recommendations for Making Events More Sustainable
When asked to share one key takeaway that viewers can implement today, all speakers agreed: Be the leader and keep pushing for action.
“Event planners, you are the experts in what you do,” said Marley. “You know all aspects of your operations, the ins and outs of your choices, and you can make a lot of [sustainable] choices without needing to change your budgets or without needing to do things differently. Address the areas you can and take that leadership role upon yourself.”
Paige agreed, adding, “Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo… If you’re a planner, challenge the venues that are hosting… Challenge your staff, your colleagues, on why you’re doing things the way that you are, what current practices can be improved.”
To do this, Paige shared that it’s about asking “Why?” If you’re told something isn’t possible, ask why, and continue asking why until you get to the root of the answer. “There’s this beautiful opportunity to grow and learn and change what may currently be in place,” said Paige, “and just isn’t really relevant… Take that opportunity, challenge the status quo, hold everyone accountable, [and] don’t accept ‘no.’”
Donna concluded with the advice to be brave. “We’re not afraid to ask ‘Why?’ five times. We’re not afraid to keep pushing it. Just be brave. You don’t have to know everything. Lean into your suppliers, lean into your partnerships. That’s what we’re here for. We have one planet, and let’s just be brave about what we’re doing when it comes to [sustainability in] the meetings and events industry.”
Final Thoughts on Event Sustainability
During the live event, a viewer asked, “What are some top sites or resources that planners or hoteliers can access to get more informed and to plan better?”
Donna recommended sustainability newsletters from different perspectives, such as hotels, food sources, DMCs, and sustainability thought leaders. “I don’t think there’s just one [site or resource],” she added. “I think you need to have different perspectives when you’re thinking about the whole picture.”
Paige agreed that there’s no single source you should rely on, recommending you find a community committed to sustainability. She recommended Trellis, formerly GreenBiz, a peer networking group at the intersection of business, technology, and sustainability. Marley shared that her own organization, PURPOSE, has a plethora of resources and also recommended isla, a UK-based non-profit founded by event professionals and industry leaders.
Another viewer asked, “How can we avoid greenwashing when purchasing event materials?”
“A big trick is to see if there’s any percentage that’s bio-based,” Marley answered. “If it says 91% bio-based, that means 9% is plastic.” Sometimes that information is available on a products label; other times, you may have to scour their website for information.
Paige added, “Vendors should at this point be able to tell you the makeup [of their materials] and where things are coming from. Challenge them, ask them, make sure [their materials are] abiding by the standards you have in place.”
Sustainability at Meetings & Incentives Worldwide
To learn more about M&IW’s event sustainability services and solutions, visit our dedicated webpage or read our blog posts. We lead the industry in sustainable meeting and event planning and meet you where you’re at with actionable, impactful solutions. Contact us to get started. Already an M&IW customer? Contact your Customer Success Manager.
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