Feeling the fatigue when it comes to sustainability? You aren’t alone explains David Humphreys, ESSA member and Director at Green Circle Solutions, yet there are solutions to help fight the fatigue.

Sustainability fatigue is a real issue for those in the events industry and isn’t unique to just those that have been on their sustainability journey for some time.

It can feel there is this constant pressure to make every event 100% sustainable, and it can sometimes feel like an impossible standard to meet. We all want to do the right thing, but when every decision feels like a sustainability test, it can become exhausting.

A reset is needed when it comes to sustainability in the events industry, and here are some of my top tips to help your business realign, refocus and recommit. .

Get everyone on board

Your business’s sustainability journey is not one to be taken in isolation or something to be delegated to only a handful of people. Sustainability success needs everyone in the business to be part of the journey and that means making everyone feel they are part of said journey.

A lot of that comes down to getting buy in from your teams. When people understand why a small change matters, they’re more likely to stick with it and want to help the business reach that goal.

The best way to fight sustainability fatigue is to show that your efforts and goals are not only just good for the planet, but they’re good for the business and good for everyone involved.

No one person can do it all, but together real progress can be made.

Set realistic goals

Sustainability fatigue tends to rear its head when sustainability goals aren’t met. This can sometimes happen when goals are too ambitious, leading to teams not feeling empowered to be able to reach the goals set, then disillusioned once they inevitability aren’t met.

With sustainability, it’s a game of practicality over perfection. Be ambitious but realistic with your sustainability goals - practical, easy-to-implement solutions that follow a logical order and are measurable will be far better than unrealistic and vague sustainability goals.

It’s also about celebrating the small wins. When we acknowledge and celebrate progress, no matter how small, it helps to keep the momentum going for everyone involved.

Education

Ultimately, it comes down to educating teams. We hear a lot of ‘do better, be greener’ in our industry, but without the practical guidance and right education, it can be easy to become fatigued with sustainability because it can feel impossible to know where best to start.

There is so much information out there, so it’s important to first cut through the noise to prioritise what is important.

Sustainability training courses, such as those offered by ESSA, can be a powerful catalyst for meaningful progress. Firstly, they save valuable time on research by translating complex sustainability concepts into clear, practical steps that businesses can act on straight away.

They help break down perceived barriers, offering a manageable, measurable roadmap that aligns with your business specific goals, immediately alleviating an element of fatigue. Just as importantly, they also provide a collaborative space to engage with industry peers to share ideas and support along the way.

Taking this a step further, accreditation complements this by offering credible, external recognition of your sustainability efforts, helping position your business as a trusted, forward-thinking industry leader, reinforcing your commitment to operating responsibly.

The Stick and the Carrot

We often hear about the carrot and stick approach in events, yet sustainability is a unique field in that I believe that the stick is becoming more important than the carrot.

Essentially, the reward of doing sustainability well (the carrot) is not always as powerful as the forces that require sustainability to be something for businesses to champion in the first place (the stick).

These forces typically come as either regulation and legislation that require businesses to legally adhere to certain sustainability rules and practices, while the pressure also comes from client demands becoming more rigorous, requiring businesses to be able to demonstrate their sustainability commitments and credentials to ensure they align with their own sustainability goals.

While this additional pressure could potentially cause some added sustainability fatigue in the short term, I believe these external pressures in the long term are needed to help reinforce the importance of sustainability and encourage businesses to engage in their sustainability efforts more directly.

Sustainability is a marathon not a sprint, and by following some of these steps, we can undoubtedly make the process much easier for ourselves, to ensure we fight the fatigue so that sustainability remains a priority for us all.

Published in Event Industry News - May 2025