A couple months ago, Las Vegas held one of its biggest trade shows of the year. There were millions of networking opportunities and product demos to showcase with over 140,000 attendees. However, it came with a cost of 1.7 million pounds of trash.
During the four days the expo was held, it was estimated that the attendees alone created 1.7 million pounds, or 846 tons, of waste. The waste included everything from leftover food to brochures they accumulated throughout the exhibit hall. As exhibit designers, it is our responsibility to offer eco-friendly trade show options for our clients. Here are our top five tips and tricks for greener exhibiting!
Rethink Swag
While giveaways are a great way to promote your brand, they are also huge energy-consumers with all their shipping and handling, and in most cases, they tend to end up in the trash. The first way to be more sustainable is to trade your usual swag for something more eco-friendly!
This can look like reusable water bottles, utensils, grocery bags, sandwich bags, or digital gift cards. One idea we like is having a hydration station directly in your booth (or a coffee station if you’re like us!) Going to a trade show all day, you are bound to get thirsty. If you have a refillable water station in your booth as well as some free, branded reusable water bottles, it encourages visitors to stay longer and to keep coming back to your booth.
Companies like Green Giftz offer sustainable, branded merchandise or can even create totally ‘upcycled’ promotional products using your company’s own scrap materials or old booth graphics.
Go Digital
Instead of handing out printed literature that could get lost or put in the trash, go digital! Without the need to ship heavy printed materials to and from the shows, going digital in your booth can be a way to be conscious of the environment. If you have a big product, a lot of different products, or you know you’ll be switching graphics a lot, using televisions within your booth can be an eco-friendly way to save energy in the shipping process. Instead of printed literature, put QR codes around your booth! (This can also be an excellent way to collect email addresses!) There are many other ways to transform your booth digitally, but these will make your booth shine among the others.
Rent Instead of Buy
Did you know you can rent a totally customized trade show booth? Well, other than the graphics – those are yours to keep! Renting is a way to ensure that no part of your booth goes to waste as hardware and frames are being used all the time for different companies. Figure out if renting is the way to go here.
Adding plants to your trade show booth is a powerful tool that captures the attention of all the attendees who pass by. There is just one problem: the plants get thrown away after your show! To make your experience less wasteful, you can rent plants for your exhibit. Plants freshen up your booth’s look and add beauty to your space while saving you money long-term.
Ship Smarter
We all know shipping is a hassle and a half. However, there are ways to conserve energy throughout the process. At OnePoint, we can consolidate your shipment to allow for less shipments to and from the exhibit hall. We also use lightweight materials that pack smaller and reduce the weight of our booths, such as custom modular exhibits.
Think Beyond the Show
Building your booth with the environment in mind is one big way to become more sustainable. There are many ways to think more about the future:
- Build a custom modular booth instead of your typical booth. A custom modular booth is made from recyclable aluminum and steel and can be reconfigured and reused for many years. Read more about our recyclable booths here.
- Get your graphics from OnePoint! We offer graphics produced from 100% recycled materials. Check it out here.
- Recycle old or worn-out graphics. If you return your old graphics to One Point, we can recycle them! Old graphics can be turned into anything from pet beds to flooring. Check out our blog on this here.
- Your exhibit flooring is also important. Instead of renting from the show, purchase carpet or rollable vinyl that can be reused at different shows.
- If your booth is getting old and worn out, consider recycling or donating it instead of throwing it out.
With these tips and tricks for going green at your next trade show, you are guaranteed to positively impact the planet while still getting leads and engaging with your target audience.
Want to build eco-friendly trade show booths? Contact us for a FREE consultation and design today!
