Being eco-responsible, starting with the event’s design
Designing an international event responsibly and taking a CSR approach is the challenge behind Sustainable Brands Paris. Not only does this ambition address today’s issues of preserving our natural resources and ecosystems, it is also a mindset, a more global attitude that is at the heart of the event.
While the purpose of SB Paris is to sensitize, inform, encourage, connect, and support brands and businesses in a responsible approach, the issue is also to design creative, innovative solutions that apply to the event itself. The organizing team is committed to thinking eco-design and is convinced that this involves finding service providers who share these ambitions, as well as giving more overall consideration to how to organize events, which requires anticipation and negotiation with the various stakeholders.
Involvement across the entire value chain
“The event has been designed to limit its carbon footprint and more globally, its environmental impact,” explains Cécile Boulay, in charge of Production Coordination for SB Paris 19. In this sense, from furnishings to catering, all of the event service providers already use ethical, responsible methods or are in the process of implementing them. “For a B-to-B event that talks about the world of tomorrow, it is impossible to not showcase the ecosystems of the Social Solidarity Economy,” says SB Paris CSR Production Manager, Donatienne Lavoillotte-Munier. They represent structures based on the values and principles common to SB Paris: social utility, cooperation, local anchorage, and collective resource management.
“Our job is to help give a second life to the furniture that will be recuperated by the ESS actors, then restored, repaired, and processed with innovative materials,”
explains Cécile. The idea is to identify and collaborate with partners who supply sustainable materials, furnishings, and signing that can be repurposed, reused or recycled. Reuse is essential to ensuring sustainable operations and a new life for the materials! Since the issue for SB Paris is to offer concrete solutions on the topics of innovation and sustainable development, it all has to start with the design of the event itself…
A responsible ecosystem
Carefully selecting service providers and products is therefore a fundamental aspect of the SB Paris design. “Using materials from ethical, sustainable channels is our commitment. Adopting the best solutions for limiting our environmental impact is our goal,” says Cécile.
Repurposed equipment initially headed for disposal is reused in a new setting. A dedicated space will give all the partners a chance to showcase their innovative materials, their interesting properties, and simply their origin, in a materials library open to all participants.
And since food is a key environmental issue, there is nothing like local, seasonal products. The issues of social integration, health, and zero waste are also at the core of the approach.
“The issue of zero waste is fundamental. Identifying the different waste streams produced before, during, and after the event and ensuring their management with all of the service providers will be a real challenge,” explains Donatienne. The priority is to reduce waste and achieve 70% conversion, in other words, composting, repurposing, and reuse. At the end of the event, performance indicators will quantify the results with the aim of improving on subsequent events.
“The idea is also to support our partners in their CSR progress,” continues Cécile.
The SB Paris 19 commitment charter
By supporting and encouraging brands to incorporate the ideas of social and environmental innovation, Sustainable Brands Paris helps make sustainable development a driver for building a sustainable economy. To meet these goals, the Sustainable Brands events are organized according to the highest, most innovative standards.
In this perspective, SB Paris has drafted its commitment charter based on 5 commitments: transparency, respect, inclusion, sharing, and innovation. They form the basis of the overall approach, of the experience, and the choice of service providers who participate in the event.
