Tips for sustainable event planning

We have all heard, “Reduce, reuse, recycle.” The experts with furniture rental provider CORT Events offer ideas for sustainable event planning, backed up with the company’s sustainability report on its rental model. 

“For outdoor events, having lush greenery is very trendy right now—renting faux foliage that can be used time and time again is more sustainable than bringing in real plants, which will die once they are cut down,” says Kevin Dana, CORT Events executive director of marketing and product development. 

Robin Denny, director of sales for CORT Party Rental, Everett, Wash., offers these suggestions: 

• Start by researching your suppliers, and use companies that engage in sustainable practices. CORT’s focus has been integrating sustainable warehouse practices. The company’s new linen bagger reduces plastic consumption by 40 percent; its new flight machine reduces water consumption by 90 percent. The company also installed new warehouse lights with motion detection to limit energy consumption.
• It’s not enough to just use compostable products. Ask your vendor where and how the products are manufactured. Shipping has a huge impact on a vendor’s carbon footprint, so learn more about where the products will be shipped from and how they will be transported to get a better idea of the environmental impact. 

To understand some of the environmental impacts and benefits of its rental model, CORT Events conducted a supply chain greenhouse gas analysis with the help of ClearCarbon Consulting. The results revealed that when compared to a traditional furniture retail model, CORT’s furniture rental model produces less greenhouse gases. CORT Events transitions rentals to clearance centers, furthering the product’s lifecycle. The average CORT product can be used 2.1 to 6 times longer than a product from a direct sale business model. 

See CORT’s sustainability report at www.cortevents.com/about-us.