SDG 12.5 – By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
We aim to be industry leaders in environmental responsibility, minimizing our consumption footprint and climate impact through reduction, measurement and recovery practices.
- Reduce carbon emissions by implementing a multitude of sustainable practices wherever possible across transportation, décor, food & beverage, venue selection and products used and consumed
- Prioritize venues and restaurants implementing sustainable practices (e.g. serving menus made from local ingredients, utilizing energy efficient lighting and appliances)
- Work with venues to minimize the use of single-use plastics, opting instead for glass or other reusable materials (e.g. remove single-use plastic items from stakeholder hotel rooms and provide safe drinking water in jugs or glassware instead of single-use plastic cups with straws). Where glassware is not feasible, substitute with paper and reusable plastic products
- Strive to use products made from recycled or other sustainable materials (e.g. recycled plastic name badges), and to repurpose products for other events where possible
- Use locally rented material or materials repurposed for other Innovate Canada events in meeting room set-up (e.g. furniture and reusable metal and fabric partition walls for B2B meeting rooms)
- Utilize digital over hard copy communications wherever possible, through email, mobile app, and digital signage
- Facilitate a gift marketplace, offering clients reusable products and enabling them to select only the gifts they’d like to keep, limiting waste from undesired gift giveaways
- Serve plated or family-style meals and confirm the exact number of attending guests prior to each meal to reduce food waste
- Serve only local, sustainably-sourced seafood
- Encourage attendees to book flights with no/minimal layovers
- Encourage clients to pack light, reusable items (e.g. water bottle, running shoes for wellness breaks) and avoid packing single-use plastic items
- Encourage our clients to dim, extinguish or unplug lights and other electricity sources when possible in their hotel rooms
- Offer clients the option to decline daily housekeeping at registration and by displaying signage on doors
- Walk to venues with a 20-minute or less commute, and provide group transportation for longer distances (if possible, electric)
- Work with our vendors and venues to track our carbon footprint through the use of the TRACE software, capturing data on travel & transportation, waste management, food and beverage, energy use, and items produced for the event
- For what can’t be mitigated, offset carbon emissions (including for client and staff travel) by investing in CSA Standard-certified Canadian projects
- Encourage partners to offset their travel by investing in reputable and third party-verified projects