M&IW Difference Makers: Sustainability Champion Donna Collins
Since taking on the role of Sustainability Champion in 2023, M&IW’s Donna Collins has transformed event sustainability from lofty concept to practical reality for meetings, events, and incentives of all scales. The strategies and solutions she continues to introduce both within M&IW and for the programs we manage make a positive impact for our planet and for the people and communities we work with.
Learn more about Donna and her role in this exclusive interview and experience the difference event sustainability can make for your organization.
Q&A with Sustainability Champion Donna Collins
Prior to becoming M&IW’s Sustainability Champion, you were a Senior Customer Success Manager (CSM) with us for seven years. What inspired you to switch paths?
I actually retired from my CSM role in December 2022 with the goal of restructuring my personal and career “Act 3” to focus on my family. After a short hiatus, I returned to M&IW in a part-time capacity to focus on the critical issues of sustainability in events and how M&IW can be the industry leader in this area.
What are your primary responsibilities as Sustainability Champion?
My role is to create a culture where sustainability is a mindset, not an initiative. I advocate for sustainability by developing sustainable strategies and best practices and by educating and training M&IW’s employees, customers, and supplier partners.
How is M&IW leading the industry in event sustainability?
We lead the charge by being bridge builders. What I mean by that is M&IW meets everyone where they are when it comes to sustainability, and then we take it one step further. We educate, advise, and empower our customers and supplier partners to build the bridge between company-wide initiatives and practical ways to make a positive impact.
If you could only pick one, what is the most impactful sustainable practice that should be included in every event?
I would pick food sharing and donations to be a core pillar of every single live event. Approximately 34 million people in the US experience food security. Each year, there are 1.8 million meetings and events held across the US. If each meeting shared food with only 19 people, we would have an enormous impact on our country’s food security.
What is one misconception about sustainability in the events industry that you’d like to dispel?
Many may think adopting sustainable practices automatically means you will have higher costs for a meeting. While it’s true there are some costs attached to practical sustainable efforts, the impact of reducing, reusing, and recycling leads to overall cost savings. When we don’t have to create everything from scratch, we use less resources.
What role does technology play in making events more sustainable?
Paperless meetings that use a mobile app instead can have a significant impact on sustainability. Additionally, technology allows a story to be told by collecting data and measuring where you started and how far you have come with sustainable events.
How do you predict event sustainability will change in 2025?
It remains a slow process despite the interest and desire to be sustainable. I think we will start to see movement as we begin to use our data to tell the story of how things can change. I predict we will see less single-use plastic at events and more food sharing and action around reducing, reusing, and recycling.
What advice would you give to event planners who are just starting to incorporate sustainable practices?
Find one way to bridge your company’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations with your meeting and also find a way to measure the impact. For example, if your ESG goal is to be net zero by 2030, swap out printed agendas with a mobile app as I mentioned earlier. If your ESG goal involves making a social impact, incorporate a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project in the local community where the event is being held. Be bold, be creative, and create an atmosphere of FOMO where other planners in your company will have a “fear of missing out” and want to follow your lead in sustainability.
What sustainability certifications or standards do you think are most valuable for event professionals to pursue?
There are so many good accreditation options, so find one and go for it. I personally have the PURPOSE Sustainable Event Strategy Accreditation. Being a lifelong learner when it comes to sustainability is more important than achieving a one-and-done accreditation, so be open to always learning.
If you could have a dream project to revolutionize event sustainability, what would it look like?
Every event would be designed with circularity regarding waste and using the lens of sustainability on all five of the main event emissions: travel, energy, suppliers, food, and waste.
- Events would measure their travel carbon footprint, which accounts for 70%–90% of the overall footprint. Energy from the venues, which accounts for another 8%–10%, would also be measured.
- Customers would make an investment in an offset or inset project to balance all carbon emissions from both travel and energy.
- Suppliers would all bring at least one sustainability solution to the event such as zero idling time for transportation vehicles or serving plant-based meals.
- Unused food would automatically be shared and donated back into the community.
- CSR events would be standard, again giving back to the community the event is held in.
- Events would be designed ahead of time to be zero-waste events, diverting 90% of the event waste from landfills by recycling and composting.
- Metrics to measure all of the efforts would be gathered to help move the needle on the scale of sustainability.
Learn More About M&IW’s Event Sustainability Solutions
Experience the difference M&IW’s sustainability solutions can make for your meetings, events, and incentives. Whether you’re looking for best practices for just one event or your entire M&E program, we’re here to help. Contact us to learn more. Already an M&IW customer? Contact your Customer Success Manager.