Eco-Friendly Trade Show Exhibiting

Natural Products Expo East placed a heavy emphasis on “going green” at its 2008 event, and during SupplySide West, exhibitors and attendees were discussing the sustainability of not only the ingredients but the business environment. It’s an ideal time to assess how “green” a company can be at trade shows.

According to a 2007 research report, “An Inconvenient Booth™,” published by Exhibitor Magazine Group, in conjunction with The Bloom Group, nearly half (46 percent) of exhibitors surveyed report their company has instituted some sort of “green” initiatives. Of those, almost three-quarters (73 percent) state their mandate extends to the exhibit function.

Even if there isn’t internal pressure to “green” the company’s trade show practices, booth staffers are likely fielding questions from customers—current and potential —about your company’s environmental commitments. According to the study, half (51 percent) of exhibitors (defined as exhibit managers and other managers and exhibitors at companies throughout the United States) believe their company’s brand and image will be enhanced by incorporating green initiatives. And what is a trade show exhibit but a mobile manifestation of a company’s image?

The bottom line: going green is here to stay and “being” green is every company’s—and every marketing professional’s—challenge. Simon Perutz, president of Nimlok, recommends exhibitors keep a few core principles in mind when evaluating how to upgrade the “green” profile of their trade show exhibit and exhibiting practices. “Look at the entire life cycle of your exhibit,” he said. “By adopting a ‘life-cycle’ approach, you can determine how your exhibit can best sustain our environment, from its cradle to its grave.”

First, look at the materials used to build the exhibit; consider their origins and how recyclable, reusable and environmentally friendly they are. Then, give some thought to the transportation required to get the booth from point A to point B and back. Reducing the carbon footprint in any way possible goes a long way toward achieving established green goals. Even disposal of trade show exhibits plays into the scenario, as companies seek ways to recycle the entire exhibit.

Taking Big Steps

First, reduce the weight and bulk of the booth. A basic audit of how environmentally-friendly your company is will include an assessment of its carbon footprint. According to CarbonFootprint.com, a carbon footprint is defined as “a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment and, in particular, climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, transportation, etc.”

Trade show exhibiting leaves an undeniably large carbon footprint—think about all the trucks that line up to unload exhibits on move-in day, all the gas they use and exhaust they emit—as just one example. But there are many ways to reduce the carbon footprint, including reducing the bulk and weight of the exhibit. Poorly-designed, heavy exhibits don’t pack down “smart” and, subsequently, require more container space during shipping. Heavier loads, with more packing crates, burn more gas and put more trucks on the road; thus, leaving a larger carbon footprint and costing more money.

The smart solution is to design an exhibit that features light-weight materials, such as aluminum extrusions and fabric, and that can pack easily into fewer recyclable cases. This becomes especially important when considering how many times a year the company exhibits ... and where. Are the crates shipped by truck or plane? How many miles each way? The carbon footprint meter for shipping begins running the moment an exhibit is loaded up and ready to go. Less and lighter equals a smaller footprint. Additionally, reducing the exhibit’s bulk and weight will save money; lighter exhibits that pack into fewer cases can reduce shipping costs as they require less space and burn less gas. Fewer and lighter-weight crates make move-in and move-out, plus installation and dismantle, easier, which can reduce on-site labor costs.

Another big step to consider is renting a trade show booth; this embraces the principle of “reuse”—making use of something that already exists instead of using valuable resources to create something new. Rental exhibits are really the ultimate in reuse. On today’s modular exhibit rental scene, the sky truly is the limit. Leading exhibit and display designers can create the sophistication of a custom exhibit, with the cost savings and flexibility only a custom modular exhibit provides, by tapping into a wealth of creative design solutions. As an added benefit of renting an exhibit, the designs can be reconfigured easily between shows as a company’s needs grow or change. Sometimes a show requires a 10x10, other times a 20x30. Renting makes this flexibility simple, smart and environmentally-friendly.

In addition, companies such as Nimlok generally keep substantial rental inventories at strategic locations around the world, meaning an exhibit can be designed virtually anywhere and delivered quickly for shows. For companies that exhibit many times a year, nationally and internationally, the convenient, close-to-site storage of a rental exhibit represents another very substantial way to reduce the carbon footprint. Why ship an exhibit to a tradeshow 3,000 miles away when a rental exhibit can be delivered easily and efficiently from the other side of town?

Turning to “recycling,” consider both building with recyclable materials and recycling the booth when it has fulfilled its purpose. Turn a serious and critical eye to the materials that will be used to construct any new exhibit. With the recent focus on all things “green,” exhibit designers and producers have been working overtime to provide customers with a host of eco-friendly options.