7 Ways to Make your Event Badges and Lanyards More Sustainable
Events spark connections that ignite change
But all these great events come at cost and waste, including discarded brochures, food, lanyards, and name badges. That’s also a lasting impact but certainly not a positive one. This wastage affects the environment, community, and even on your budget.
Agreed. Some of the wastage is inevitable. You cannot control how many people show up; thus, food excess can happen (although that can also be avoided to some extent. But that’s a topic for another blog). But some wastage can be easily minimized, and one such source is event badges and lanyards.
Let’s look at the top six ways to make event badges and lanyards more sustainable.
7 Ways to Make Event Badges More Eco-friendly
Embrace Onsite Event Badge Printing
Seasoned event planners will tell you that pre-printing name badges involves more paper wastage than printing badges onsite. To understand this, let’s take a step back and analyze the entire badge printing process.
Once you have the final list of registrants, you print badges ahead of time. You either outsource it to a professional printing company or do it in-house. Either way, traditional badge printing is costly and time-consuming. It means having no room for walk-in attendees or printing empty name badges for last-minute walk-in guests.
With these limitations, event planners seeking to eliminate event waste are embracing onsite badge printing. With technology like Eventdex, you ensure you only print badges of attendees who show up at your event. These badges are ready to be worn (as they can stick on clothes) and do not necessarily require lanyards.
Printing event badges on-demand ensures no name badges end up in the trash. It’s a sustainable alternative to traditional badge printing and saves both paper and money.
View our YouTube video on Onsite Event Badge Printing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KWM-Sg8380
Ask Sponsors to Supply Badges and Lanyards
Lanyard sponsorship is becoming one of the most popular things at large-scale modern events like tradeshows and conferences. Since lanyards are extremely visible and are often collected by attendees as mementos, ask your lanyard sponsor to use their own at your events.
This way, any unused lanyards can be reused by the sponsor at their events, and you won’t have to worry about getting extra lanyards wasted.
Use Biodegradable Event Badges and Lanyards
The 3Rs of sustainability include recycling, reusing, and reducing. Modern event planners are increasingly using environment-friendly badges that are either recycled or biodegradable.
The best environment-friendly badges are biodegradable or made of recycled material. Event organizers are opting for badge suppliers who promote green badge printing and lower environmental impact. Because of the rising awareness about green events, many badge suppliers are also accepting unused badges, lanyards, and badge holders for re-selling or recycling.
Learn More about On-Site Event Badges: https://www.eventdex.com/event-badges/
While you look for biodegradable event badges, avoid green-washed offerings that falsely label products as green or eco-friendly. These labels are misleading, and as you read the fine print, you’ll notice that the event badges and event lanyards are made of partially recycled material.
The cost of recycling or environment-friendly badges varies from one vendor to another. Make sure to consider them while planning your event budget.
Say No to Plastic
Plastics take a long time to decompose. According to studies, plastic can decompose between 20 to 500 years, depending on its structure and material. For this reason, skip the plastic event badge holder or event badge lamination completely.
Instead, replace it with a strong, thick paper event badge that can easily hold up for 1-2 days. If you have longer events, turn to event badges that clip on the lanyard or use a biodegradable badge holder.
Print More Information on Event Badges
Your event badges can be more than just a piece of paper with your attendee’s name and their organization. It can be innovatively used to house other information like event agendas or venue maps.
You can have a QR code that attendees can scan to view the schedule on their phones. Alternatively, to keep it simple, you can also have a venue map printed on the back side of the event badge. This will eliminate the need to print cumbersome brochures and help you go green in a few ways!
Reduce waste
Don’t give out more event badges than attendees need. Collect event badges at the end of the event and recycle or compost them. To further reduce waste and minimize environmental impact, consider implementing a streamlined event badge distribution system. Instead of providing excess badges, distribute them judiciously based on the actual number of attendees. Implement an event badge retrieval process after the event to collect unused or unwanted event badges. By doing so, you not only contribute to waste reduction but also open avenues for recycling or composting, aligning your event with sustainable practices and environmental responsibility.
Use Plantable Seed Paper Event Badges
What if you could turn your name badges into a beautiful pot of flowers? With plantable seed paper badges, you can adopt a fanciful solution to badge wastage. These event badges have flower seeds, and flowers grow when you plant them in a pot. These event badges can cost anywhere between USD 1.5 and USD 2 for a 4” x 3” event badge.
This is a great way to make an everlasting impression on your attendees and show that you care for the environment.
Here are some additional ideas for making your in-person event more sustainable:
- Use recycled or recyclable materials for all event materials, such as signage, menus, and tablecloths.
- Use reusable plates, bowls, and cutlery.
- compost food scraps and yard waste.
- use energy-efficient lighting and appliances.
- encourage attendees to walk, bike, or use public transportation to get to the event.
- donate any leftover food or swag to local charities.
Parting Thoughts
Embracing sustainable practices is crucial for events looking to enhance their reputation, conserve resources, and cut costs. From sports to festivals and conferences, the shift towards sustainability is evident. Consider onsite badge printing as a small but impactful step to reduce event badge and lanyard wastage. Trust Eventdex, a pioneer in onsite badge printing solutions, to help you make a meaningful difference. For more insightful blogs on event management, visit www.eventdex.com. To witness our solutions in action, reach out for a quick demo at sales@eventdex.com today.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What benefits does Eventdex’s onsite badge printing offer for events?
Eventdex’s onsite event badge printing minimizes paper wastage, dynamically printing badges based on actual attendance, enhancing sustainability and cost-efficiency.
Are Eventdex’s biodegradable badges and lanyards a sustainable choice for events?
Absolutely! Eventdex’s biodegradable event badges and lanyards align with sustainability principles, providing eco-friendly alternatives for event organizers.
Why should events using Eventdex avoid plastic badge holders?
Plastic badge holders take time to decompose. Events using Eventdex can skip plastic holders, reducing environmental impact. Opt for alternatives like biodegradable holders or thick paper event badges.
How can event planners using Eventdex print more information on badges to reduce waste?
With Eventdex, event planners can print additional information on event badges, eliminating the need for extra printed materials like brochures, and contributing to a greener event.
What’s the significance of using Eventdex’s plantable seed paper badges?
Eventdex’s plantable seed paper event badges offer a unique and sustainable solution. Attendees can plant them after the event, turning them into blooming flowers for a lasting and eco-friendly impression.
Can event badges printed with Eventdex be recycled or composted after an event?
Yes, Eventdex’s streamlined event badge distribution ensures badges are judiciously distributed, reducing excess. After the event, unused Eventdex event badges can be collected for recycling or composting.
How do Eventdex’s plantable seed paper badges contribute to environmental care?
Eventdex’s plantable seed paper event badges, embedded with flower seeds, allow attendees to plant them post-event, promoting sustainability and leaving a positive environmental impact.
What other sustainable practices can be adopted for in-person events with Eventdex?
In addition to sustainable event badges, Eventdex encourages using recycled materials, reusable cutlery, composting, energy-efficient lighting, and eco-friendly transportation options.
How can Eventdex’s onsite badge printing contribute to sustainable events?
Eventdex’s onsite event badge printing ensures efficient printing based on actual attendance, reducing wastage, and promoting sustainable practices in event management.