Andrew Hickinbotham, Board Member of the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) and Head of Sales at Tecna, examines how the events and exhibitions industry can strike a balance between moral responsibility and commercial opportunity in terms of sustainability.
Price. Design. Quality. The events and exhibitions industry has always juggled competing priorities. But when it comes to sustainability, the balance looks less like a triangle and more like a seesaw, with moral responsibility on one side and commercial opportunity on the other.
For some, sustainability begins with conviction: the belief that our industry must do better environmentally and socially. For others, it starts with commercial drivers such as client demand, cost savings and competitive advantage. Neither is wrong. In fact, when both ends of the seesaw work together, real momentum is created.
Take the ShelterSuit initiative: repurposing event graphics into weather-resistant sleeping bags for the homeless. It reduces landfill waste and disposal costs while providing vital support to vulnerable communities. Here, sustainability delivers both moral and commercial value.
Crucially, sustainability is a journey, not a destination. Too often businesses hesitate, fearing they aren’t “green enough.” At ESSA, our sustainability accreditation encourages small steps that build both credibility with clients and confidence within our teams. Small wins, repeated and shared, create bigger change.
From sole traders to major contractors and everyone in between, everyone’s sustainability journey looks different. A freelance designer working from a home office might leave a minuscule carbon footprint compared with a logistics-heavy contractor, yet their contribution is no less important.
Make no mistake though, our differences are our strength, proving that sustainability is as much about community and culture as it is about recycling or materials.
We won’t achieve perfect sustainability, but we can achieve progress. Whether large or small, every business has a lever to pull. Collective action is what will ensure sustainability benefits both our businesses and our planet.
Published in the October edition of H&EN magazine.
